Blog
Blog
Shining God’s Light on the Darkness of Depression | by Chris Hodges
Some headlines grab your attention, but this one cut right through me: Pastor’s Suicide Leaves Many Heartbroken . While we had never met, I knew this pastor’s name and was aware of the friends and acquaintances we had in common. I’m sad whenever I...
In the Company of Christ | Pastor Jeff Manion
Throughout the centuries people have reckoned with two questions: Who is Jesus and what does it mean to follow him? The focus of Mark’s gospel is setting up those questions and answering them. What we find is that he is our servant king who wants...
Helping Your People Connect with God in a Unique and Transforming Way | Gary Thomas
Everyone of your parishioners needs to exercise. Everyone of your parishioners needs to eat. But not everyone will exercise in the same way. Some will take walks, some will run marathons, some will play basketball, others may prefer to bike. When...
How to Guard Against Spiritual Identity Theft | Stasi Eldredge
I’m going to make a confession. Every now and again I like to shop. Not buy. Shop. Look around. Get ideas. Become inspired. One of my favorite places to do this is Target. I like to go. My husband John, however, does not—not even a little bit. So,...
Dear Women's Ministry Leader | Anne Graham Lotz
For the last few months, I have parked myself in John 17, the prayer the disciples overheard Jesus praying the night He was betrayed. The truly stunning element to this prayer is that facing the horror of His arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death,...
Embrace the Cape from Jesus | Sarah Jakes Roberts
Am I the only person who grew up watching Baywatch and wondered if I could heroically respond in a moment of crisis? I always assumed the answer to this pondering was no. Don’t get me wrong I can swim, but I’m not sure I’m proficient enough to keep...
3 Barriers that Prevent Churches From Being Multiethnic | Dr. Derwin L. Gray
Pastor, I have a question for you. Why is it that the church in America is so segregated? Recent metrics have shown that 13 percent of churches are considered multiethnic in our ever-growing multicolored country. Unfortunately, the insight of the...
How to Partner with Disciples of Christ in the Marketplace | Hannah Stolze
We all read the bible through the lens of our own context. What if we read the bible through the lens of marketplace ministry? This would not be a tent-making perspective or a worldview that reduces business practice to wealth generation. What if...
Rescue Eve | Sarah Jakes Roberts
The unspoken tension of ministry is that we’ve been called to lead while still needing to be led. We’ve been called to feed, but often we serve others when our souls are hungry. When Eve eats from the forbidden tree in Genesis there is no...
Is Church a Place for People Who Have Everything Together? | Philip Yancey
Jesus reserved some of his harshest words for the Pharisees, and that used to puzzle me. They were, after all, the most “spiritual” people of his time. They studied the Bible, and strove to keep every one of the 613 laws in the Old Testament. They...
How to Help Everyone Fall in Love with Revelation | Margaret Feinberg
Imagine Jesus standing before you with a golden envelope. It contains an invitation to know and experience him in ways like never before. If you tear open the contents, you’ll discover Christ anew in his breathtaking beauty, staggering strength,...
Teen Parenting Hack: Pray the Scriptures Over Them
When our son Robbie was six or seven years old, I tiptoed into his room late one night to give him a kiss. I was surprised to find him awake—and concerned when I realized that he was crying. “What is it?” I asked, feeling his forehead to see if he...
No Time to Waste | Tim Timberlake
We often find ourselves wondering where time has gone. “How is it already 5:00pm?” “How is my kid already in high school?” “When did my hair turn grey?” Among these questions—and the countless other ways we question the passage of time—emerges a...
How to Reach a Generation on the Road to Emmaus | Tyler Stanton
A Quiet Crisis in the Western Church It’s no secret that today’s church is shrinking. Sociologists are beginning to make predictions about a looming death awaiting the American church. The statistics are compelling, if not depressing. This decline...
What if the Ache is the Gift? | Stasi Eldredge
I have always wanted to read a novel or enjoy a movie where the heroine was a normal, average-looking woman with an ordinary life who was not a concert pianist, brain surgeon, underwear model, or superhero in her spare time. I want to read about a...
Everything You Actually Need to Know About Real Life | Nora Bradbury-Haehl
A few decades of ministry with teens and twentysomethings has taught me that faith communities have a lot to offer young people. We can provide stability, support, mentorship, leadership opportunities, and a gateway to belief. This work has also...
Free Resources
Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?
Here are some tools to help:
The Small Group Tool Kit includes two mobile-friendly invitation cards, reflection cards to enhance your small group experience, and a worship song playlist curated by Hosanna Wong that can beplayed during small group meetings or personal Bible study time.
The Church Tool Kit includes a downloadable poster, bulletininsert, invitation card, and Power Point slide.
Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.
Shawn Johnson, lead pastor of Red Rocks Church, gives a
searingly honest portrait of anxiety and depression and shows readers how to fight back and live free. He also has put together three free tools pastors can use to help their congregation have a productive conversation around mental health, including a discussion guide, sermon notes and key Scripture verses.