Author: Administrador

Jeso Carneiro photo – Flickr By Bruce Ashford Recently, the Pew Research Center published a study demonstrating Americans have difficulty distinguishing between fact and opinion. Only 26 percent of adults correctly identified five factual statements as such, and only 35 percent were able to do the same for five opinion statements. The research also found … Continue reading “3 Ways to Communicate Truth in a Fake News Era”

jim jackson photo – Pexels By Nancy Guthrie It’s inevitable—you will have someone in your congregation, workplace, or neighborhood lose someone they love. Often, we have good intentions, but don’t know exactly what to do or say. Over the years since I experienced the death of my daughter, Hope, and my son, Gabriel, I’ve interacted … Continue reading “10 Ways to Comfort a Grieving Person”

Felix Mittermeier photo – Pexels By Bob Smietana One of the largest faith categories in the United States is the so-called “nones”—people who claim no particular religious identity. About 1 in 4 Americans fits that category, according to Pew Research. Many of these unaffiliated Americans believe in God. But they have a lot of questions … Continue reading “Most ‘Nones’ Dislike Religion, But Don’t Mind God”

90 jiang photo – Unsplash Mystery Guests Share What Keeps Them From Coming Back By Aaron Wilson As churches drift into ministry routines, it can be easy to overlook blind spots—aspects of the church service or culture that keep guests from returning. For this reason, the company Faith Perceptions sends mystery guests to churches to … Continue reading “The 4 Biggest Blind Spots of Churches”

Pxhere photo By Laura Petherbridge  April 7, 1984 was the worst day of my life. It was the day my marriage died. My husband was having an affair, and he no longer wanted to be married. No amount of crying, begging, promising, or counseling could change his mind. I was a new Christian when we … Continue reading “10 Things I Wish Church Leaders Knew About Divorce”

rawpixel.com photo – Pexels Taking the Guesswork out of Guest Relations By Aaron Wilson Did we make a good impression?I wonder what they thought of us?Will they be back next week? Questions like these are on the minds of church leaders each week as they watch first-time visitors leave service. To help get answers, churches … Continue reading “5 Things That Matter Most to Church Visitors”

L- Ken photo – Unsplash By Daniel Bowman Jr. During the coffee hour before the service, strangers smile wide, pump my hand, and ask classic small-talk questions that should be simple, but aren’t for me, like, “How are you?” I don’t know, and I’m not sure if they want a real answer. I tend to … Continue reading “Cringing at Church: What It’s Like as an Autistic Person in Your Congregation”

By Mark Dance No preacher should expect to hit a walk-off home run every Sunday. It is realistic, however, for us to avoid fouling out any Sunday. As I was reading through the sermon notes of a sermon I preached several years ago, I realized that sermon stunk so bad it was unpreachable. I even … Continue reading “5 Marks of a Bad Sermon”

Phillip Pessar photo – Flickr By Sam Rainer I’ll never forget the tears. Stooping down, I swept the 4-year-old child in my arms. The whisper in my ear still rings loudly: “Why did the needles kill my mom?” The funerals of addicts are especially hard. Wounded families and shell-shocked children are left behind. One of … Continue reading “4 Ways Churches Can Help Alleviate the Addiction Crisis”

Best Practices to Keep Ministries Compliant with Copyright Law  By Aaron Wilson With all the weighty responsibilities churches deal with, it can be tempting for leaders to view copyright law as a trivial concern compared to the more pressing demands of ministry. Unfortunately, leaders who bring a casual attitude to copyright infringement put themselves at … Continue reading “6 Things Your Church May Be Doing Illegally”