Location: Jackson, Tennessee Pastor: Michael D. Stover Worship Times: 11:00 AM (Central Time) Fast Facts: Pray for Ararat Baptist Church as they seek to share the gospel at the Travel America Travel Center at exit 68 off of I-40 in Jackson, Tennessee. They hold a chapel service there each Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. At 9:30 AM each Sunday, the church holds another chapel service in their ministry center in the Whispering Pines Community in West Madison County. The church also provides a homework assistance program for students in this community on Tuesday afternoons and a ladies coffee fellowship on Thursday mornings. Read the full article…

This Friday’s giveway includes a new book from Matt Boswell and the Mission of God Study Bible. First is the new book by Matt Boswell, Doxology and Theology. It’s a resource by worship leaders for worship leaders that clearly articulates how these two pieces join together. Contributions from eleven respected worship leaders around the country including Matt Papa (Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham), Aaron Keyes (Grace Church, Atlanta), Michael Bleecker (The Village Church, Dallas), and Zac Hicks (Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, Denver) unite worship with themes of mission, disciple-making, the Word of God, the Trinity, family, and more Also included is the latest Read the full article…

By Chuck Lawless The question didn’t surprise me, but I wasn’t ready with an answer. I was a young church consultant, and the church’s leadership team had several questions. The one for which I had no answer at the time was, “What characteristics have you seen in churches that seemed to be dying, but that experienced growth after a consultation?” After many more years of consulting, here is my answer today. The leader is preaching the Bible. Numerical growth can occur without preaching the Word, but genuine personal and congregational transformation doesn’t happen apart from the Word. The struggling churches Read the full article…

This week’s giveaway includes something for practically everyone. First is a signed copy of my new book I Am a Church Member. Based on an idea originally taken from this blog, I Am a Church Member discusses the attitudes and responsibilities of church members. I address in detail what congregations should really be focusing on—praying for church leaders, being a functioning member, treasuring church membership, and more. Six chapters with these titles include study questions to guide the discussion: I Will Be a Unifying Church Member I Will Not Let the Church Be About My Preferences and Desires I Will Pray for My Read the full article…

Location: Versailles, Kentucky Pastor: Justin Rader Worship Times: 11:00 AM (Eastern Time) Fast Facts: This 212-year old church averages just under 100 in morning attendance. Pastor Justin Rader wants to lead the church to be an outwardly focused congregation. Please pray for their mission trip to Honduras this July and for their recently formed Men’s Ministry. The last three years have been difficult. While they have witnessed God’s healing hand, Pastor Justin needs prayer for wisdom in serving families that remain in pain. Website: http://www.glenscreek.net “Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these Read the full article…

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts Pastor: Adam Mabry Worship Times: 9:25 & 11:00 AM (Eastern Time) Fast Facts: This has been a tragic week for the city of Boston. Please pray for this church and other churches in Boston as they minister to their communities in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent manhunt. Pastor Mabry penned these words on his blog about the events of the week: So as the smoke clears, what’s the church’s move? Walking through downtown I found myself asking, “Lord, show me what you want us to do.” I walked. I wondered. After some Read the full article…

By Chuck Lawless I know very few people who don’t struggle with prayer. We know we should pray, but doing so consistently and fervently is not easy. Most of our praying is reactionary – that is, in response to a problem – rather than proactive, lifestyle praying. Sometimes we try to fix this problem by seeking to become a prayer warrior overnight. That approach seldom works, and we get discouraged. A better approach is to build your prayer life one step at a time. Here are some simple strategies for increasing your prayer: Establish some prayer “triggers.” Associate prayer with Read the full article…

My giveaway this Friday is a King James Version Study Bible. 2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, a landmark that gained worldwide media attention and researched estimates that more than one billion copies of KJV editions have been sold to date. Indeed, the beloved, historically rich rendering of Scripture is an ongoing favorite among Bible readers. This new KJV Study Bible features 15,000 study notes, 141 photos, 62 timelines, 59 maps, 40-page concordance, 20 articles and essays, 16 illustrations and reconstructions, 15 charts, and a helpful glossary of 17th century expressions relative to the Read the full article…

The exercise was simple. I made a list of over 30 of the most unified churches I know. Some of them have been my clients in the past. I then made a list of over 40 fragmented churches (they were easier to find). From that point I began to answer my own questions: What makes this church look like it’s unified? What makes this other church look like it’s fragmented? I then compared my two columnar lists to find the greatest contrasts between the two groups. When it was all said and done, seven characteristics stood out. Longer-term pastorates. The Read the full article…

By Chuck Lawless I keep in my desk a Father’s Day card from a student in whom I invested significant time.  That card encourages me to press on when I get tired of the bureaucracy, paperwork, meetings, and tedious tasks that sometimes come with the job of being a seminary dean.  It also reminds me that most churches have not yet figured out how to do discipleship. Most churches—if they do discipleship at all—still do it programmatically.  That is, they organize a program, teach some classes, and evaluate the program’s success based on numbers attending. The more who attend, the Read the full article…