The Greek ekklesia, translated “church,” is used 118 times in the New Testament. It was a word already in usage in the Greek language  before the New Testament, and it meant, “assembly.” A church is an “assembly.” Another term given to the church, that is a metaphor, by the Apostle Paul is “body.” “Body” and […]

In the last few weeks, I’ve read a few articles and then discussions about the absence of young men becoming pastors. The idea was that it just isn’t happening that boys are growing up and surrendering to pastor a church or plant a church and pastor it. The detriment of this is that churches in […]

The emphasis on the building for a church originated in Roman Catholicism. We know from the New Testament that congregations met in houses. We don’t read, if you meet in a house, that will be very bad and the church will never grow if you do that. However, today people don’t think you are a […]

When you look at the calendar for the year, you can see some strategy as it relates to the will of God for a church and for you in the church. During certain times of the year, our church and you are better off with ministry that is more family and personal, those right around […]

I heard someone call his church once, “A small church with a big ministry.” By almost anyone’s judgment of size of church, our church isn’t very big. A lot gets done by our church if you consider especially what people do at Bethel Christian Academy. I recognize that I want more as leader of our […]

This month will end the 29th year since the first service here in the Bay Area, meaning that the following October 18 will mark 30. I can say in those 29 years that God has never been unfaithful to me and that He has not failed in those 29 years to keep His promises to […]

When you say “church” to most people, they don’t know what it means. You hear a lot out in the world. You hear “building,” a church building is a church to many, even though it isn’t a church. It’s often a denomination, like the Lutheran Church, which isn’t a church. Some call “church,” organized religion. […]

I was reading something this week about the coach of the Golden State Warriors, who claims to be a born-again Christian, as do others on the Warrior team. I’m not endorsing the playing of professional basketball on Sunday as a practice, but the article said that Mark Jackson, the coach, was in part at odds […]

Leaders of churches today face a particular conflict.  They want to grow in numbers, but the kind of growth taught in scripture isn’t compatible with the type of life that church members want to live.  Church leaders have developed programs that enable their members to participate in a way that requires little to no faith […]

Let’s just say that someone in church, a church, or a religion somehow mistreated you. In so doing, let’s just say that the person who has mistreated you has now misrepresented what you think about Who God is supposed to be. That could be bad, especially if what you think is the same thing that […]