We moved around the room silently. One person was given a watch. Graciously receiving it, he silently prayed. Should he keep it or pass it on to someone else? Another person turned to his neighbor, he gave him a newly purchased jacket. The power of generosity was being released in the room as we did …
They stood in front of my gate, a group of angry men. Impatiently, they rang the gatebell again and again. They came with demands. Emotions ran strong. Who were they? Angry Hindu fundamentalists? No. Surprisingly (or not), they were a group of Christian pastors from our city. A sometimes unexpected obstacle we frequently face in …
“You are like a bulldozer,” he said. That was an unusual thing for someone to say! I wasn’t sure I liked that classification. What did it mean? As time has passed, I’ve come to understand what this prophetically gifted man was referring to. To release Disciple Making Movements (DMMs), you need to bulldoze your way …
“Here is water! Can you baptize me?” Philip was asked this question by the Ethiopian (Acts 8:36). Without hesitation, he immediately took action to help this new believer obey Jesus’ command. I wonder if we would have done the same. We may have said, “I’m not sure I am allowed to do that. I need …
“My children’s school is far from my ministry field,” a trainee said. “I need to live where my children can go to a good school.” How important is it that we live among the people we’re trying to reach? If we can’t live on-site how much will that affect our fruitfulness? It is important to …
Our beliefs about who we are dramatically impact our behavior. In a recent blog, I wrote about the reality that we are people God has chosen to bear much fruit. We are God’s chosen instruments. It is a beautiful thing to be chosen by Him to do His work. In this article, I will focus …
I stepped out the door for my early morning run. A heavy fog hung on the streets. It reminded me of times in Nepal when fog would hang low in the valley where we were church planting. The sun didn’t come out to clear away the fog until mid-morning. Until then, it was hard to …
One of my favorite things to do on a day off is to play in my garden. I’m not a “green thumb” by any means, but something about being out in the yard with my hands in the soil is deeply relaxing. God often speaks to me about spiritual things while I am gardening. As …
Imagine someone running in a baton race carrying a large, heavy piece of wood. It would be hard to pass on to the next runner, right? One person may be large and strong and able to run with it. But the next runner may not. Discipleship groups are very similar to this. The baton …
Burnout! A common condition we hate to see fellow workers walk through. Depression. A mental health issue more common in ministry leader’s lives than you would think. Marital difficulty or divorce. Again, not unusual. Heart attack! Almost predictable in busy leaders who don’t take care of their health. As I write that, I think about …