“Do you guys need a larger building for your Columbia location?” a supporter asked. It was as though he’d read our minds. We’d outgrown our current building and were about to contact a realtor. The supporter continued, “My church has prayed for years that an active strip club in Columbia – the last one in Lancaster…
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We asked a few questions, and Jolene described the pressures in her life. Two children. Two prior abortions. Two part-time jobs. “My boyfriend thinks we can handle it, but I don’t.” A few days later Jolene and her boyfriend Jeff came to us for an ultrasound. As the baby’s image appeared on the screen, Jeff looked…
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Has the Lord ever given you a desire of your heart? A few years ago, a hummingbird built its nest just beyond our deck. I could easily watch its comings and goings, and marveled at how tiny the two baby hummingbirds were. Within weeks they’d grown to nearly full size, and as I watched one day, I whispered to the…
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As Christian leaders, we believe our hearts are postured toward the Lord. We’re eager to engage with our teams in worship and in the Word. Or are we? We made a recent board decision to rotate leadership for our engagement with God at board meetings. We want each board member to share in leading this core aspect of our…
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As I’ve been saying in recent blogs, every leader, every believer, has a 24/7 calling to share Jesus with others. When we don’t talk with others about Him—which is more frequent than we’d like to admit—we often blame it on not feeling led. Let’s press into this concept of “feeling led.” Of course, being led…
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Jesus, the greatest leader of all time, saw the individuals in the crowds around Him and was moved to compassionate action. As Christian leaders, we consciously engage with the people in our ministry world. But do we do the same with the people in our everyday world? Last week I shared that God’s been leading me to interact…
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If mission is king, culture is queen. A vital mission without an honoring culture will eventually wilt. But a life-giving culture enables the mission to flourish. Let’s learn how. Twenty years ago God began imprinting His culture on our hearts. He did it by pointing out how weary we’d become from running “fast and furious”…
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