Author: howellbible

Wanted: The Ideal Church Model

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Church Growth

(This post originally appeared on Fourth Year Ministries blog)

I’ve been exposed to a lot of church growth books and materials over the years. I’ve seen programs, systems, agendas, theories, and campaigns.

A question we must wrestle with is how do we measure success?

Perhaps you’re expecting me to diminish a focus on numbers and reaching the multitudes and emphasize spiritual factors that are harder to quantify. Things like spiritual maturity and growth in Christ’s likeness.

Actually, I’m not suggesting that we focus on or emphasize either to the neglect of the other.

Continue reading →

Show Me Your Glory!

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Show Me Your Glory

If the Bible recorded your life story how would it describe you?

David is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Joseph, Mary’s husband, is simply described as a righteous man (Matthew 1:19).

Nabal lived up to his name which simply means “fool” (1 Samuel 25:25).

So how would the Bible describe you if your life was recorded in its pages? Continue reading →

Resurrection Monday

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Jesus is alive

Another Easter Sunday come and gone. Next Sunday almost everything will be back to normal. Attendance will shrink back. Extra services will be stored away until Mother’s Day and/or Christmas.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe it won’t always be.

We can’t change our culture in an instant. We also can’t make other people’s choices for them. That’s a fool’s errand.

What we can do is examine our own choices, attitudes, and actions. We can – by the grace of God – be changed. With that in mind I want to invite you to celebrate Resurrection Monday.

No, it’s not a new holiday I invented. I won’t try to sell you candy, gifts, cards, decorations for your home, or any other such thing. Continue reading →

Learning To Walk

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Father helping his son for the first steps

One of my priorities as a Dad is to help my children learn to walk. I take this seriously. Our sixth child walked the earliest so far. She was walking one day before she was 9 months old.

We’ll see if I can have our seventh walking before that.

My wife doesn’t always share my enthusiasm. With so many young children in the house it can be nice to have a few that are limited in their mobility.

However, I figure they’ll never move out if they can’t walk on their own. Might as well get started as soon as we can. (I’m mostly kidding.)

I want my children to grow to maturity. I enjoy helping them take their first steps. I also enjoy watching the momentum build as they grow more and more into who God designed them to be.

This is true in my household. Also in the household of faith.

Continue reading →

You’re Invited To…

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You're Invited!

I don’t invite people to attend our church.

Does that seem strange to you?

It’s not because I don’t want people to come. I do. We don’t turn people away. We feel incredibly blessed whenever someone chooses to gather with us.

It’s also not because we want to keep our congregation as small as possible. I look forward to the day when people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people gather to worship our God together in unity. Worshiping among the multitude that no one can number is going to be awesome. Truly.

But inviting people to church is putting the cart before the horse. It has deep implications on our gatherings. I believe it’s harmful.

So, I don’t invite people to come to our church. I invite people to come to Christ.

Continue reading →

Shifting The Church’s Foundation

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Flimsy Foundation
My wife and I have seven children (so far). The oldest is 9. The youngest is 4 months. Nope, no twins. We’re not trying to set a world record. We don’t want our own reality TV show. We just seem to be particularly fruitful in this area.

As we teach our children about the Bible it’s delightful to see them grow in their understanding of who God is. I enjoy seeing them get the bigger picture. It makes me laugh when our kids realize they can answer many questions by blurting out “God” or “Jesus.”

This practice is not restricted to children. It is a mark of spiritual immaturity. It is often praised for its simplicity and child-like faith. However, children are supposed to grow. So are we.

If I were to ask you, “What is the foundation of the church?” what would you say? Would you blurt out “Jesus!” without thinking? If so, you’d be close.

But you’d be wrong.

Before you burn me as a heretic look what God’s Word says about the foundation of the church: Continue reading →

The Problem of God’s Goodness

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The Problem of God's Goodness

Many people have heard of the “problem of evil” or the “problem of suffering” – but the problem of God’s goodness? For many people that’s a new one.

As I’ve shared the gospel over the years I have heard people bring up the problem of suffering many times. The basic version asserts that any god who is all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing would eliminate suffering and ensure that bad things don’t happen to good people. Yet, clearly the world contains much suffering.

Many people who are seemingly decent have terrible things happen to them. Human action can’t account for all of the suffering either. Natural disasters bring suffering to both kind and unkind people equally.

Of course, this philosophical objection is merely a straw man. It may be a strong argument against the god of the philosophers. This god exists only in theory. It is a non-argument against the living God revealed in the Bible. The reason is not because the logic fails. The reason is because the argument fails to account for God’s goodness.

The problem of God’s goodness is the one we need to worry about. Continue reading →

Bold Humility

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Increase and Decrease

I always enjoy seeing how different movies characterize John the Baptist. In the portrayals I’ve seen he usually looks like a wild-eyed lunatic.

I get it. He lived in the desert. He ate bugs and honey. He wore a belt.

None of this means he lived like a crazy person.

No doubt John was a bit eccentric. Jesus had pretty high praise for John, though.

I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. (Matthew 11:11a NET)

There are many noteworthy characteristics in John’s life and ministry. However, one always stands out to me. And it wasn’t that he ate honey or that he wore a belt. Continue reading →

Four Promises For Christians

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Four PiecesAs the year comes to an end there are no shortage of things to think about. Many people are thinking about goals for the New Year. Others are making resolutions. Some may even keep them!

The final chapter of Philippians provides four promises for Christians. These are things worth thinking about year-round. They provide me with comfort and hope. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ they should bring you comfort and hope, too.

These promises are wonderful. They are not automatic. Each promise follows an encouragement to walk closely with our Lord. When we walk with Him we can be assured that He will respond by doing these four things. Continue reading →

Christmas Past, Present, and Future

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Merry Christmas

I love Christmas.

You probably wouldn’t know it by observing my activities.

I don’t decorate my house. I couldn’t care less about having a Christmas tree. I’m pretty sure I haven’t gone Christmas shopping in over a decade. I don’t dream of a white Christmas. Sugar plum fairies don’t dance in my head.

We don’t play Santa, Elf on the shelf, or any other reindeer games.

Bah. Humbug.

I will admit that I eat my fair share of Christmas cookies. Otherwise, Christmas for me is pretty much like any other time of year.

So why do I love Christmas? Continue reading →