From the outside looking in, the idea that there is a single Being in the universe who is powerful enough-or arrogant enough in some people's minds-to presume to have a plan for every other being in the universe, amounts to little more than magic or superstition. Christ-followers affirm the truth that the Almighty does indeed have a plan but add that His plan is one of love for His creation. We counter the superstitious assumptions, but many of us seek to find God's will in superstitious ways: "If a blue bird lands on my car during … [Read more...]

Jason Hayes and Michael Kelley discuss this question from our 2008 Connect Conferences in this episode of the Threads podcast. … [Read more...]

When our Threads team met in December to talk about what kind of content we needed on this site for the next few months, we came up with a pretty good idea. We decided to take the most asked questions we received at Connect Conferences this fall and answer them in detail. Here is Question 1: “What would you say was the number one reason programs/attempts to reach young people aren’t successful?” Great question. It’s going to be impossible to boil it down to one key reason, so I will throw out several … [Read more...]

Whether you call them Sunday School, small groups, connect groups, life groups or discipleship groups, nearly every church I have ever heard of, has groups. The question is, what is their purpose and where are you trying to take people spiritually in these groups? If you haven’t pondered why you do groups, and what different types of groups you may need, January is a great time to tackle that exercise. My friend, David Francis, whose job is to know all about groups at Lifeway, gave us some great information last week I thought … [Read more...]

I remember when I first realized that Hulk Hogan wasn’t really as tough as I thought he was. Suddenly, my world of back suplexes, DDT’s, and submission holds came crashing down around me as I realized that professional wrestling … is … not … real! Difficult? Yes. Physically demanding? Absolutely. But real? In the realest sense of the word? No. Fake. Here’s the truly funny thing—I wonder how many people look at the church in the same way they look at professional wrestling? The question with … [Read more...]

I heard a sermon this week surrounding Exodus 13:17: When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, "The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war." The Lord paved the way for His people’s deliverance. Through a series of plagues, He proved His dominance over the gods of the Egyptians, and so convincingly delivered His people that they left their enslavement with gifts from their captors. Then He led them into … [Read more...]

A couple of weeks back, I received an unexpected blessing. As a part of my volunteer work for Operation Christmas Child—Samaritan’s Purse’s great ministry to the world’s children—I made pickups of shoeboxes in the Mount Juliet, Tenn., area where I live. The central collection center where I took the shoeboxes was Mount Olivet Baptist Church, a church I had never visited. The church was established in 1801, on the same grounds where it meets now, on the old stagecoach road that once ran between Lebanon … [Read more...]

My friend Jason Smith sent me a link to a story that confirms something I have been seeing first-hand for a while. If you’re going to do effective young adult ministry, you must be willing to help people fight through addictions and psychological issues head on. One in five young adults ages 19 to 25 suffers from a personality disorder that affects everyday life and an even higher number is struggling with some sort of addiction, according to an article released by the Associated Press on Monday. Alcoholism and drug abuse are … [Read more...]

Remember those DTR talks you had in high school? The whole idea of sitting down to "define the relationship" was typically awkward and uncomfortable. What if the other person didn't want the same thing you did? What if you were rejected? It was a gamble. Maybe that's why the "hanging out" phenomenon started in the first place. An alternative to traditional dating (the kind where a guy asks out a girl, picks her up, and takes her on an actual date where they talk), "hanging out" is a foggy relationship without commitment. And it's … [Read more...]

I don't know a single Christ follower who hasn't gotten stressed out over trying to figure out the will of God. We want to solve the mystery of the will of God the way we solve a Sudoku or crossword puzzle. But in my experience, intellectual analysis usually results in spiritual paralysis. We try to make God fit within the confines of our cerebral cortex. We try to reduce the will of God to the logical limits of our left brain. But the will of God is neither logical nor linear. It is downright confusing and complicated. A part of us … [Read more...]