Rick Warren's Online Community for Pastors and Church Leaders
Saddleback released the 40 Days of Purpose church-wide campaign in 2002. Although they had previously launched internal spiritual growth campaigns, this one really was a just-add-water option. Of course, in 2002 it really was just about the only option.
Today, there are lots of options and there are more all the time. …
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The biblical text should be the grand centerpiece of every sermon. But we often take what should be the centerpiece, and move it to the front of what we have to say. In most cases, reading the text should come first in importance, but not first in the order of a message. Whether you’re looking back at Plato or Jesus, virtually every …
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“…I will station myself…” Habakkuk 2:1 (NIV)
If you want to get God’s vision for your life and ministry, you must want to hear it, you must withdraw to hear it, and then you must wait to hear it.
The New International Version says, “…I will station myself…” (NIV) What does it mean to station yourself before God? It …
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“Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines.” -Brian Tracy, personal success coach. Whenever I feel my dreams losing steam, I always think of Booker T. Washington. Born a slave in 1858, his childhood years were anything but pleasant. The family’s farm cabin had no glass windows, and any opening to let in light also let in the …
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The average size church in America, I'm told, is 75 people. When I served as a teaching pastor in a large, mega-church I remember wondering how a church could remain less than a hundred people for long. Now that I've been a church planter for almost 3 years, God has greatly tempered my previous ignorance. If the average size is 75, …
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At what age will I be considered an expert about life? It is a troubling question to me.
Personally, I have traveled the path of professional education in an attempt to master knowledge. The result is I have more classroom credits than anyone in his or her right mind should ever think of getting, yet I am still puzzled, perplexed, …
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Hi, Pastor! I got your note saying you don’t think you can do what God is telling you to do in your ministry.
You may be surprised to hear me say this, but I agree! If God called you to do it, then you shouldn’t be able to do it without him. In fact, if you could do it without him, then it’s really not a God-thing.
I know you …
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What’s Going On?
Do you feel pressured to be entertaining, captivating and fun? We are competing with Youtube, texting, smart phones and iPads, all of which find their ways into church services and Bible studies. They are great tools that can be used in both settings to read Scripture, look up information, and share it on social …
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“I will climb up into my watchtower…” Habakkuk 2:1 (NLT)
If we want to fulfill God’s vision for our lives and ministries, we must continually hear from God. We must believe that hearing from God daily is a requirement for us to truly shepherd our congregations. It is not just an add-on to our list of things to do; it is a …
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Editor's Note: In a special blog post for pastors.com, Matt Redman asks about the language of worship: “Statistics suggest … we are struggling the most to connect with males. So let’s create ways of doing church that when a ‘bloke’ comes to Jesus … he doesn’t need to surrender his masculinity also --
A while back I …
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