Virginia Tech is having freshman orientation this week and I have a friend’s son headed off to Tech this fall. It got me thinking about my own college days and the things that became important. While social networking is much different today, students will still seek out various organizations like fraternities or clubs on campus. 
 
As [...]

I recently discovered a way to tell the difference between a teacher and a shepherd in Sunday School: ask the question, “What are you teaching right now in your church?”
 
The one who says they are teaching a five-week class on First John is the teacher; the one who says they are teaching middle school boys [...]

I recently read about George Gallup, who years ago delivered a speech at Princeton Theological Seminary where he shared six basic spiritual needs of all people. This is from the famous survey and research guy…
 
1.   The need to believe that life is meaningful and has purpose – The success of Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Life may [...]

We may agree that building relationships is essential to the mission of Christ and the evangelization of the world, but what are the barriers to our building relationships? Jay Dennis suggests these six “enemies” and I challenge authentic followers of Christ to find ways to overcome them: 
 
1.  Past hurts – Everyone has been hurt in a [...]

If Christianity is nothing else, it is about relationships; with God and with others. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. It’s pretty direct yet ambiguous as to how to do it, but a [...]

Gary Chapman of the Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network reminded me of the recent movement termed “missional.” To me, this makes sense:
 
You’ve likely heard the term, “the missional church”, in conferences and conversation.  Simply put, it is a call to churches to be biblically faithful to be Christ’s presence in their local community.  In Breaking [...]