Thom S. Rainer

Latest

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  Jun 9, 2015

  7 Concerns About Christians and Tipping

  Hopefully, such stories are rare. But we do have reasons to be concerned when church members and Christian leaders treat restaurant servers and other service employees so poorly. Allow me to outline seven key concerns.

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  Jun 2, 2015

  7 Trends in Worship Service Times

  If your church has one service at 11:00 am on Sunday mornings, it is likely in the minority. In a recent reader survey we conducted with 1,649 responses, slightly over half of the congregations had only one worship service on Sunday morning, and the times of that single service varied.

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  May 31, 2015

  3 Types of Church Revitalization: Introducing Church Answers Monthly

  God addressed the issue in two primary ways. First, He spoke to three key leaders for them to be His catalysts for rebuilding (Haggai 1:1-2). Second, God commanded the people of Judah to change their behaviors, to move from selfish behavior to selfless behavior. They obeyed (Haggai 1:12). They rebuilt the house of God (Haggai 1:14).

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  May 30, 2015

  10 Things You Should Never Say to a Guest in a Worship Service

  Indeed, these unfortunate and ill-timed comments almost always guarantee that you will offend guests and make them very uncomfortable. Most of the time guests are already ill at ease since they are in a new place and a new environment. By the way, each of these quotes was actually communicated to a guest in a worship service. My guess is that all ten of them have been said many times . . . too many times.

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  May 28, 2015

  14 Key Reasons for the Breakdown of Church Unity

  So what are some of the key reasons we are seeing the breakdown of unity in our churches? Though my list is not exhaustive, allow me to share fourteen of those reasons.

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  May 27, 2015

  8 Common Characteristics of Successful Church Revitalizations

  There is one type of church revitalization that is more successful than all others. The church closes its doors for a season, and then re-opens, usually with a new name and new leadership. I know this approach is not an option for most of you, so I gathered data from the "other" category. This category includes churches that kept the same name and, for the most part, the same leadership.

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  May 19, 2015

  9 Stupid Things I Did as a Pastor

  1. I neglected my prayer life and time in the Word too often. It sounds absolutely insane as I write it, but I got too busy for God. As a consequence, I operated out of my own insufficient power too many times.

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  May 16, 2015

  Fourteen Key Reasons for the Breakdown of Church Unity

  So what are some of the key reasons we are seeing the breakdown of unity in our churches? Though my list is not exhaustive, allow me to share fourteen of those reasons.

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  May 3, 2015

  7 Reasons Some Church Members Don't Want Their Churches to Grow

  It is highly unusual to hear church members say that they don't desire their churches to be obedient to the Great Commission. Indeed, it is common for the members of a pastor search committee to tell a prospective pastor that they are looking for a leader who will guide the church toward growth.

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  May 2, 2015

  8 Reasons People Are Leaving Denominational Churches for Non-denominational Churches

  While working on an unrelated research project, I recently came across some data published by the Hartford Institute of Religion Research. Though the information was five years old, it still seemed highly relevant today. In essence, the data showed that non-denominational churches are now the second largest Protestant group in America. Only the Southern Baptist Convention is larger.