If you are a rural church pastor, you may be wonder, “Can my church successfully grow generations of disciplemakers?” The question is understandable. Often, disciplemaking strategies are geared toward churches in urban settings where diversity and population density are significant factors in planning. While conversations regarding the urban church are vital, the rural church faces…
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb As Navigators, our collective desire is to advance the gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost. This means attuning ourselves to the ways God is leading us…
I am so proud of each of you as you follow God’s call on your lives! My greatest prayer is that you learn to hear from Him, cultivating a deep and abiding relationship with the one who loves you perfectly. As He leads you further into your calling, be the kind of leader who will…
Desperate. She was desperate. The hope she once held had dried up like an autumn leaf: fallen, blown about, and trampled underfoot. Pain and longing replaced the hope she had once known. When would relief come? Thirst. It was as ravaging as anything she had ever known. At times, it consumed her. But her…
#womenofthebibleseries A frigid wind struck me head-on as I climbed out of the car and turned to face the door of a century-old church building. Trying to keep from spilling myself on the freshly powdered snow (and whatever lay beneath it), I tightened my coat around my neck with both hands as I ran for…
It took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected to connect with my daughters’ choice of movies. Super Heroes? Not my genre. Woman Power? Not my mantra. War and destruction? No thanks. There were many reasons to find something else to do while the family streamed Wonder Woman 2017, but wanting to be present with my…
Shame can be a powerful enemy. It lurks unseen around the pain in our hearts, devising its evil game of hide-and-seek unbeknownst to our conscious minds. Shame, which was meant to be a barrier between us and evil, has been twisted by the enemy since our days in the garden, degrading our souls with a…
Wisdom from Mary#womenofthebibleseries Mary was young and innocent, a mere teenager. Promised to a man of her father’s choosing, her hopes and dreams were like any other girl her age. She would marry, bear children, and enjoy watching them grow. One day Messiah would come, and if it were in her lifetime, she would see…
All That Glitters: Thoughts about Phoebe, the Deaconess from Cenchreae#womenofthebibleseries We know only a little about Phoebe, benefactor of the Apostle Paul. We do know she was highly regarded by the veteran apostle, trusted to carry his letter to the church in Rome. This letter, e.g. the Book of Romans, would later become the quintessential…
Our true connection started with a question. “What is your greatest desire for the church today?” We’d already been talking for thirty minutes, give-or-take. We’d introduced ourselves and explained what we do for a living. We’d found common ground in our commitment to sharing the gospel, to the Word of God, and to our desire…