Talking about giving in church is always a loaded conversation, with several ways for people to walk away feeling guilted or offended. Colorado Cmmunity Church, in Aurora, CO has a  plan they call 5+5 that leaves people excited about the topic. At the core, their approach is deeply spiritual, and gives people a ton of personal choice and responsibility. I'm very grateful to Robert Gelinas, their Lead Pastor, for joining me to share how it works! Know someone who prefers their podcasts on...

Social media is the chief discipler of our age, and it isn't even close. Chris Martin has spent the last 10 years managing 100s of social media accounts for large Christian publishers. This has given him a unique window into how these platforms have a negative impact on people. He's also written two books on the topic, as well as a regular newsletter on substack. His first book is Terms of Service. His substack is under the same name. And his newly released The Wolf in Their Pockets is...

Team Preaching typically is the territory of larger churches with a larg staff. But it can work in a small church too, and brings a lot of benefits beyond just sharing the load. I’m joined in this episode by Eric Hoke. Eric is a co-vocational pastor who works on wall street in addition to pastoring. This is Eric’s story of how he set up a preaching team for his fresh-out-of-the-box church plant in the Bronx. He also has an incredible ministry to pastors with a coaching business. Eric...

How do you help someone heal, and continue to trust God when they’ve experienced unthinkable trauma? I learned so much from this conversation with Jennifer Greenberg, and hearing explain her own process of healing. Her book, Not Forsaken: A Story of Life After Abuse: How Faith Brought One Woman from Victim to Survivor, is a great resource for someone who has been abused, or for a leader who might be looking for a starting point to help someone. She also has a great, free resource for church...

This is the story of how a church in GA did some self-examination during Covid shutdown, and came back with a radically different minsitry. In the process, they made some important discoveries about who they wanted to be, and found a lot of benefits they didn't see coming. Special thanks to Madison Tompkins, the 1-Service Church evangelist, and Lead Pastor Justin McTeer of His Hands Church in Woodstack, GA for sharing their story with me! Crowdsource requests: If your church has started a...

Supporting police has become a controversial idea in the US. Some communities, for good reason, have lost faith in the institution because some officers have abused their trust. Many others are trying to do good in a system that’s broken, and face incredible pressures. All of it invites the question: What could we do to make it better? This episode provides a first step toward something that could help. Spoiler: I think it applies to any area of ministry. My guest is Jared Altic, who...

Is watching a sermon on my phone the same as going to church? Does the device change the message in any way? Shouldn't we be utilizing these devices to reach & connect with people? Smartphones and the internet aren't going away, & every ministry needs to wrestle with these questions.  Now a classic, Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, has a lot of wisdom for the world we find ourselves in today. My guest is Dr. Arthur Hunt, a...

Spiritual Formation: How does it differ from discipleship & and how can we think intentionally about the habits that shape us? This concepts means something different to anyone you ask. But I guarantee it is something that is happening to all of us. In this episode I’m joined by Rev. William Mack III to explore the idea and consider how we might think about our partnership with the Holy Spirit a little differently. “Mack” is credentialed as a Spiritual Director, and serves as the...

How can churches better support their missionaries? What would your missionary want to say to you if they felt they could? How can we support kids who have grown up in a missions context, and now feel displaced back ‘home?’ In this episode I talk with Alan Steier. He and his wife Judy work fulltime with Barnabas International to provide spiritual and emotional care and support to a flock of 100 missionaries in Japan. He’s spent years as a missionary, and serving missionaries and has...

Not all of us will be church planters, but we all need to shift our mindset to thinking like church planters. In the post-Christian west, fewer and fewer people have a context for Christian terms and meaning. My guest, Nathan Dean planted and served a church in downtown Atlanta for 12 years. He and his wife were very successful in explaining the Christian life in ways that were not just clear, but appealing. They're now planting Blue Mountain Church in Blairsville, GA. He's also written "The...

How can we help someone who is deconstructing their faith? That is a critical question for any church leader today, and the topic of this episode. My guest is Ian Harber, who was gracious enough to share his own story of deconstructing and rebuilding his faith in Jesus. Ian is part of the Truth Over Tribe team, and writes at Back Again with Ian Harber at  https://ianharber.substack.com/. He also starts lots of interesting conversations over @ianharber on Twitter. Ian has also put together a...

Special Episode for Pastor Appreciation Month! I'd love to pray for you and your minstry by name. Reach out and let me know what I can pray for. Here's Matt's original video. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected].

In this episode I talk with Dr. Joshua Chatraw about his book, Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age. We all have underlying stories that we use to make sense of our lives, and the gospel story is the only one that really meets all our longings. Dr. Chatraw is executive director of the Center for Public Christianity, lead teacher for New City Fellows, and theologian-in-residence at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh, NC.  I also tell on myself for trying to...

This episode is about church revitalization. How can we see new life breathed into a local church? Many thanks to Gary Kniseley for taking the time to share his story with us!  Gary is the pastor of Maywood Evangelical Free Church in Rockford, IL. The stats I mentioned. A couple highlights: - 70% of churches are plateaued or in decline. - Only 7% of churches have helped launch a new congregation ever. - Those churches who have helped start more than one new congregation were...

How do you evaluate your ministries? When is the time to quit something or double down? Matt Whitman joined me to share a plan he used to answer these questions called a Ministry Audit. If you'd like a free PDF outlining how to do a Ministry Audit, email me at [email protected]. Matt is the host of The Ten Minute Bible Hour YouTube & podcast, The Ironwood Rhino podcast, and co-hosts the No Dumb Questions podcast with Destin Sandlin. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project...

Karl Vaters joined me to discuss how to manage change in the church in ways that spiritually healthy. Karl is pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, CA, the author of several books, and the host of the Can This Work In a Small Church podcast. His book, Small Church Essentials, was the jumping off point for our conversation today. You can follow his other work here, or at @KarlVaters on Twitter. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The...

Super big thanks to Daryl Paluch of The Tennis Center of the Black Hills for coming out to play ball with us! His work gives us a great picture of what we often refer to as church assimilation. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected].

Special thanks to Shane Heilman for joining me to share his wisdom about disarming tension and conflict before it becomes a problem. Shane is the Producer and Chief Songwriter for the Psalms Project, where he is putting every psalm to music. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear...

Special thanks to Jon Sanders for joining me on this episode! You can check out his learning community at EntrePastors.com. He also is a ministry coach for The 95 Network. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected].

Special thanks to Nathan Jenkins for joining me! He serves as a pastor at loonmtnministry.com in Lincoln, NH. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected].

Special thanks to Justin P. Taylor for joining me on the podcast! Here’s the webpage for Integrity Hockey League. Justin also dabbles in music, and you can find his single, ‘Kingdom Citizen,’ at Amazon, Spotify, Apple and Pandora. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you!...

Special thanks to Kurt Earl for joining me! You can check out his work with coaches at culturecoordinator.com. He also serves as an Elder at First Street Bible Church.   To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, by Daniel H. Pink.   For fun, I took Kurt’s challenge to think of 10 ways Information Symmetry is changing everything. Here’s a quick list of what I came up with in only a few minutes. College and Professional athletics has been impacted by this trend. Even at...

Special thanks to Seth Gehrke for joining me and sharing your story with us! Seth is on staff at St. John Lutheran Church, in Cypress, TX. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected].

Thanks to Pastor Steve Vetter of Turtle Lake Baptist Church, in Turtle Lake, North Dakota for sharing your story with us! https://www.facebook.com/turtlelakebaptist/ Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? We'd love to hear from you! Shoot us an email at [email protected]