Church leadership

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Can Christianity survive in a churched culture?

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Can Christianity survive in a churched culture?

We are on the road in Holland, Michigan. This is church country. 

Holland is a pretty and very upmarket tourist community with heated sidewalks to ward off the winter snow, and open gas fireplaces on the street to counter the chill wind. You can buy Christian-themed merchandise in almost every shop. Plaques and mugs are only the beginning. We even saw a plaque with a quotation from the Heidelberg Catechism. The window of the ladies’ wear store was festooned with verses between the dresses. “Fearfully and wonderfully made” was one of them. The toy shop had childrens’ devotionals. And the conversation was similar. In the art store, both conversations we overheard were on local church topics. We did not visit the craft brewery to see whether there were Bible verses on the beer mugs, but being Reformed country, it is possible there were. 

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Why do we lose vision?

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Why do we lose vision?

Most leaders start off as visionaries but wind up as managers. Or worse, as drop-outs.

I realize that’s a sweeping statement. And maybe one made to catch your attention. But I believe there is truth in it.

As a young man, I had an enormous vision for God. It propelled me to do all sorts of things that were way beyond my comfort zone and my ability. Some of those things were more successful than others, but at least I got out of the boat and headed out onto the water.

And then the waves hit, just like they did with Peter. We criticize Peter for getting his eyes off the Lord and beginning to sink, but at least he got out of the boat! The others sat in their seats and watched.

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What are we building?

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What are we building?

The building in the photograph doesn’t look like much. In fact, it doesn’t even exist any more. But it has quite a story to tell. And something to teach us about building the church and extending the kingdom.

I’ve been thinking a lot about buildings lately.

Here in southwestern Michigan, where we have spent a large part of the winter, the church has completed a major addition to the building, which in turn has enabled us to knock out the walls of the original structure, which is only ten years old, to create a much larger auditorium. This has created lots of excitement as it nears completion. And the Lord will use it in all sorts of ways.

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How firm a foundation

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How firm a foundation

Back in 2010, work began on a massive recreation centre in our small city of Owen Sound. Everything was on target until the contractors hit a layer of quicksand.

Work was delayed for the better part of a year while engineers constructed concrete platforms which would carry the weight of the building given the presence of the quicksand. Needless to say, millions of dollars were added to the project’s cost.

If the work had not been done, nothing would have happened for a while. But at some point, the whole thing would have started to tilt or sink.

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The greatest key to successful leadership

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The greatest key to successful leadership

Yesterday I turned 65. I don’t believe I’m that old, but neither the calendar nor my 97 year old mother lie. Here’s another statistic. I have been in Christian leadership now for 44 of those years. I started leading a student group at the University of Toronto at the age of 21, and never managed to escape leadership in one form or another. I have at long last laid down local church leadership, but have exchanged it for something that in the end will probably prove more demanding yet.