Saturday Links

Links for your weekend reading:

Forgive Us These Faults

Newton lays out a convicting and specific example of the kinds of Christian people who coast on their strengths but do nothing about their weaknesses and so rob themselves and others of joy and God of his glory …  Over the years I’ve gone back again and again to this list in the manner he directs to use in my personal self-examination (not as a way to find fault with others).

7 Deadly Diseases of Pastoral Ministry

Full time ministry is dangerous. The temptation toward spiritual pride is deadly, and it infects the body like nothing else. Pastors suffer uniquely with this temptation … With that in mind, here are 7 dangerous diseases particular to full-time ministers of the gospel…

Five Reasons for Church Planting

1. People Need the Gospel
2. Communities Need Churches of Reconciliation
3. God Needs Laborers for His Harvest
4. Christ, the Head of the Church, Needs a Body
5. The Local Church Needs a Reproducing Mission

Six Recent Lessons I Learned from Turnaround Churches

1. They led the church to become highly intentional about starting new groups.
2. They led the church to a culture of inviting people.
3. They began new member classes.
4. They began a major community ministry.
5. They began to pray for the lost and unchurched by name.
6. The leaders began to focus less on negative people and circumstances and more on God’s possibilities.

When Your Sermon is Only a Single

In all honesty, there are many Sundays my sermon feels like a poorly executed bunt that I have to hustle out to first base. So what are you to do when you just hit a single?

God Doesn’t Need Your Kick-Butt Worship Band Or Your Flaming Sermon

God doesn’t need us. He’s managed to achieve quite a bit without our help, thank you very much. In his kindness he allows us to participate in his mission. Let’s strive for excellence. But more importantly, let’s place our confidence in the God who does great things through weakness.

God’s Mercy in Messed Up Families

If your family is not the epitome of harmony, take heart. God specializes in redeeming messes. See yours as an opportunity for God’s grace to become visible to your loved ones and pray hard that God will make it happen.

TGC13 Media Now Available

By God’s grace, all of our TGC13 conference media —78 talks— are now available, with translations of all plenary sessions and selected workshops in Mandarin, Farsi, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. All of this content is free to be used and shared around the world.