Common sense says I’ve got some work to do. Twice now I have met in a debate with the same Muslim speaker, and handled questions from a curious, polite, mostly Muslim audience. And on each occasion I have heard an intake of breath as if I have said something that has possibly stepped over the
A new S curve doesn’t cause failure. But it seems to. Think through the initial phases of a new curve as we’ve seen them: the hidden hard yards, and then the resultant growth. Those hidden hard yards take time, and money, and prayer, and committed people away from the original curve. And for quite some
Obviously, sometimes it’s necessary to bust through the internal shape of an S curve and defy its inherent decline. We need to do something new – start a new service or ministry, or even add someone to the staff. The question is, when is the right time? Can you do it too early? Of course.
Reposted. Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net – Beloved Australian evangelist John Chapman has fallen asleep in Christ at the age of 82. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their
Very rarely does a church grow larger than 150 (plus or minus). Very many are smaller, and a handful are larger – they tend to be the ones we have heard about, so if we are not careful we assume they are the norm. But they are not. The pattern seems to be that a
The ‘S’ curve. So many things seem to follow this shape that it’s easy to think it’s entirely and irresistibly natural. Mathematicians call it a Sigmoid curve – a horizontal line lifts up, and then gently falls. In the next few blog posts I want to think about some aspects of it for gospel ministry, so
Just read proofs for ‘Encountering God Together’ by David Peterson – new book from IVP due out in Jan/Feb. It’s very, very good – so save up those Christmas tokens!
The world is just waking up to Christmas and grumbling about receiving the first card, but you’ve been living it for months. When did you start focussing on it? June, probably, before the schools broke up and you could get the muso’s together. Planning well ahead is one of the secrets to feeling that you’re
Today’s news is that the Charity Commissioners are considering abolishing the right of churches and other Christian groups to claim charitable status.  Charities act in the public good, but churches benefit themselves, not others, it is argued, and so they cannot claim to be properly charities. QED. Let’s forget for a moment the hundreds
Woody Allen’s movie, Sleeper, has his character transported to the future, and explaining the present world to bewildered researchers. He’s given a series of photos to explain, and of one he says, “This is Billy Graham. Very big in the religion business. You know, he knew god. Personally.” Do you? How do you know you
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