This guest post written by Cathy Lynn Grossman explains just how much is left out of the new movie Unbroken, a film about WWII hero Louis Zamperini. The movie will be released on Christmas day. Two October evenings in 1949 brought together an alcoholic war hero and a fiery young evangelist. From then on, neither would be the same. The preaching in that rented … Read More
The Power of a BIG DAY (Weekend Sale)
It’s Friday and I’m in the office getting ready for Sunday. No, not two days from now (we’re already set for THIS Sunday). I’m in the office getting ready for our next BIG DAY at The Journey! A Big Day is defined as: an all-out push toward a single Sunday for the purpose of breaking the next growth barrier and setting an attendance record … Read More
Q&A: The 5:100 ratio – A powerful evangelism measurement tool
This is Kerrick Thomas – and for the last 12 years I’ve served alongside of Nelson Searcy as Executive Pastor of The Journey Church. I’m guest blogging today and wanted to share a question I received from a Ministry Director from Dover, Ohio. Q: “I follow you quite a bit. I’ve read Activate and Fusion. Both great books! Thanks for all the … Read More
5 Points of Encouragement for Evangelism
This week in gearing up for fall growth, we’ve been focusing on evangelism. Today we’ll take a look at this mission through the eyes of our people. This guest post from KC McCauley, contributor to The Christian Post, addresses the intimidation factor that our members may feel in sharing the Good News and provides 5 ways we can help them move … Read More
7 Factors that are Hindering Evangelism in Churches
Evangelism is one of the key systems of healthy churches. With a goal toward revitalization, in today’s guest post Dr. Thom Rainer encourages you to “look in the mirror” when it comes to measuring the evangelistic temperature of your church. (You have an opportunity to meet Dr. Rainer in a couple of months – for details see the P.S.) There … Read More
McGavran on Goal Setting – A Saturday Quote
“Nothing focuses effort like setting a goal. As Christians seek to do effective evangelism, they need to set membership goals. This focuses their efforts on the main task.” – Dr. Donald McGavran
God Wants His Church to Grow
“God wants His church to grow.” This idea from Donald McGavran was pretty profound then. In some seminaries, in some places today that’s still very profound. When I teach the Growth Theories Workshop, I still have some people who are blown away by this idea that the church is expected to grow, and there should be an expectation that people are saved. … Read More
Church Revitalization: The Heart of the Matter
Here’s a thought-provoking article written by Christian Post columnist Wallace Henley in which he looks closer at a turnaround church and suggests what he believes is at the heart of church revitalization. In 1978 the congregation of Houston’s Second Baptist Church met in a stately building whose mighty steeple towered over its rapidly growing community, and whose imposing appearance might have … Read More
Drop “us vs. them” mentality
Here is an engaging article written by RNS columnist Jonathan Merrit about his interview with the innovative James Emery White, senior pastor and author of the new book “Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated”. When it comes to navigating the interface between faith and culture, there aren’t a lot of pastors I look to. Most … Read More
Learning Evangelism from G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis – Reasons and Rhetoric (Part 2)
I want to share the second part (click here to read part 1) of an interesting post I came across from Dan DeWitt (dean of Boyce College at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). The back story shows a connection between a person’s impact on conversion to Christianity, and later C.S. Lewis’ impact on the conversion of Joy Davidson – the woman who … Read More