I get asked this question pretty frequently, usually in response to me challenging Christians to live missionally and be involved in “building the Kingdom.” It’s a very reasonable question, and a humble one. The heart behind it is basically “It’s God’s Kingdom, so isn’t in arrogant to think that we can build it? Isn’t that…
Details
Manuscript from this past week’s message from James 5:1-6 at Mission Hills Church: The Case for Condemnation Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify…
Details
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:5) I suspect that James wrote these words while thinking of what he’d seen of God in his…
Details
It’s a simple reality that we can easily forget: those places we are most comfortable are precisely the places we’re most likely to be disobedient. Am I comfortable in my marriage because things are going pretty good? I’m probably not listening for God to tell me how to love my spouse better. Am I comfortable in…
Details
I can’t remember if it was Andy Stanley or Craig Groeschel (or maybe both) who said that the greatest danger to future success is present success. I couldn’t agree more. But I’ll take it a step further: great success in what God has called us to in the past is the greatest obstacle to discerning what…
Details
As Jesus neared Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he sent two disciples ahead to a small village along the route, telling them to retrieve a donkey and her previously unridden colt they would find there. Anticipating that the owners would have some questions about what the disciples were doing, he instructed them to say “The Lord needs them”.…
Details
I’ve been hearing this question a lot recently. It’s an old thought, this idea that all roads lead to God, but I suspect that The Shack movie has given it new life recently, with its implicit universalism. (For the record, I’m not an anti-Shackian…it had some excellent insights into God’s nature that are perfectly biblical.…
Details
I attend a lot of meetings. And the thing is, I don’t mind most of them. I won’t call them a joy, but I wouldn’t call them a “necessary evil” either. The truth is somewhere in the middle. But…there are some meetings that really suck the life out of me. Please don’t hold one of…
Details
Faithfulness isn’t a complicated concept, but it is one that requires constant attention. Faithfulness is more than just doing the right thing. It’s often about doing the brave thing…but not the stupid thing. As usual, Jesus said it best: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the…
Details
Here are the two most important leadership truths I’ve learned since becoming a lead pastor: Culture eats vision for breakfast Vision without strategy creates a culture of apathy Culture eats vision for breakfast I don’t know who said it first, but I’ve heard it many times from different leadership thinkers…and I’ve thought about it constantly over the last…
Details