Saturday Links

Links for your weekend reading:

3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don’t Leave the Church

There are three traits of youth who stay in the church. Jon Nielsen looks at the opposite angle of “Why do young adults leave the church?” and gives three main reasons why a youth will stay in the church:

1. They are converted;
2. They have been equipped, not entertained; and
3. Their parents preached the Gospel to them.

D.A. Carson on Expository Preaching

D. A. Carson was asked, “What do you consider to be the essential elements of an expository sermon?” He defines preaching, and then states that expository preaching is never less than that, but more. This is his abbreviated response.

How to Preach Like D.A. Carson Without Sounding Like Him

Here are three of the things Carson does well in his sermons that you should try to do, too.

Don’t Pack Too Much in Your Sermons

As preachers or Bible study leaders, we can’t pack everything into every message. Let me give you a few reasons why and then how we can pack it more effectively: 1) Why You Can’t Pack Everything, and 2) How to Pack More Efficiently.

When Christians Fire Christians

Firing someone is one of the most difficult tasks of a leader. It is especially a challenge in a Christian organization. But sometimes it is the right and courageous thing to do. Sometimes the greater danger is doing nothing.

Stop Doing that Event!: 10 Signs that It’s Time to Eliminate an All-Church Event

Whatever you do, don’t continue scheduling the event because you’ve always done it. That’s one of the reasons why events are killing the church. A chart to guide your decision-making as you think about renewing an event for next year.

The most ENORMOUS little subject in the Bible

Here are five reasons that Biblical generosity will stay at the forefront of the church

Thinking About Money

Many marketers work overtime to confuse us about money. They take advantage of our misunderstanding of the time value of money, of our aversion to reading the fine print, of our childish need for instant gratification and most of all, our conflicted emotional connection to money. 16 things to keep in mind about money.

Three Problems with Small Goals

If you lead a team, you don’t serve the team or the individuals well if you offer them easy or boring goals. Even worse if you offer them no goals at all. If you fail to rally them around a God-inspired, overarching vision, you fail to lead them well. Here are three problems with small goals:

1. Boredom
2. Discord
3. Missed Opportunity

Twenty types of tweet: how many do you use on Twitter?

If you ever run out of things to tweet about, here are twenty ideas to get your creativity flowing again.

7 Concerns about How Technology Shapes “Modern” Life

It’s worth realizing that concerns about technology and quality of life are nothing new. Here are seven surprisingly ”modern” concerns about technology from over 100 years ago.