Thom S. Rainer

Latest

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  Jan 1, 2014

  14 Predictions for American Churches for 2014 (Part 1)

  Predicting is as much of an art as it is a science. And if any prognosticator is honest, he or she will tell you that they don't always get it right. I know. I certainly don't always get it right. But I don't pull my predictions out of thin air. To the contrary, each of them has a reasonable explanation. For these fourteen predictions, I gleaned from several sources:

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  Dec 13, 2013

  7 Reasons Why Church Worship Centers Will Get Smaller

  A seismic shift is taking place in American church facilities, a shift that will become even more noticeable in the years to come. Church worship centers or sanctuaries will become smaller than they were the past 40 years. As church leaders decide to build, a large number of them will decide to build smaller than most of their predecessors have in previous years.

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  Dec 7, 2013

  One of the Biggest Mistakes Pastors Make

  I love pastors. I love affirming pastors. I love speaking positively for pastors. That's why this article is a bit different for me. Pastors, I want to talk frankly and, hopefully, with a spirit of love, about one of the biggest mistakes I see many of you make. Most pastors have little emphasis, or sometimes, even knowledge about the content that is taught in groups in their churches.

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  Dec 4, 2013

  7 Ways Pastoring Has Changed in Thirty Years

  In early 1984, I began serving as a pastor for the first time. I would ultimately serve four churches as a pastor and nine churches as an interim pastor. In 1984 I was a young 28-year-old pastor without a clue. Today I am 58-years-old, and I'm still not sure I have a clue. So much has changed. So much has changed in pastoring in just thirty years. Let's look at major ways the pastorate has changed in that time.

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  Nov 27, 2013

  Thoughts on the Court Ruling on the Ministers' Housing Allowance

  Almost as soon as the ruling was made public, I began to receive inquiries through social media, by email, by text, and by phone. U. S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of the Western District of Wisconsin ruled unconstitutional a provision in the U. S. tax code that allows ministers to declare some or all of their ministerial income as a housing allowance. That allowance is not subject to federal income tax. Though it is still too early to gauge the full implications of this ruling, there are sev

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  Nov 24, 2013

  4 Steps Forward for the Very Sick Church

  Where is the hope in God? Do I not believe He can perform the miracles necessary to reverse the courses of these churches? Of course I do. But in Scripture, God usually works with a willing people, at least a willing leader. When He delivered the Jews from the bondage of Egypt, he had a leader named Moses. That leader was initially reluctant, but eventually He obeyed and the people followed.

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  Nov 23, 2013

  Very Sick Churches

  I like to be a bearer of good news. I like to be able to be positive about situations, especially when those situations involve churches. At the same time, I refuse to deny reality. Such denial can only lead to a worsened condition. Churches typically do not move from good health to dying overnight. It is usually a more subtle deterioration. I have identified five simple stages:

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  Nov 10, 2013

  Thank You Pastor's Wife

  Thank you pastor's wife. You may have one of the most selfless roles in the world. You are expected to be at the beck and call of church members, regardless of your own schedule. You are expected to adjust your life to the life of the pastor, who just happens to be your husband. You really have no independent life of your own.

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  Nov 8, 2013

  3 Signs Worship Wars May Be Ending

  While I'm not crazy enough to predict the total cessation of worship wars, I am willing to say that they will be ending in many churches. Here are three reasons why.

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  Nov 1, 2013

  5 Questions to Ask to See If Your Church Is Dying

  Please forgive me for the morbid and depressing title and content. I don't think posts such as these encourage many of you. I guess the impetus for writing such an article is the work I am doing to finish my next book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church. I have dealt a lot with the death of churches in my research and writing for that book.