Insights

Randy Alcorn

Start Giving Before You Inherit

Millennials may inherit over $68 trillion from previous generations by 2030. According to Newsweek, some experts believe this "could be the largest transfer of wealth in the history of humankind." What will younger generations do with that wealth? Studies show the younger someone is, the less he or she tends to give financially. Not just [...]

pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386289 hand and 50 bill

Year End Giving to the Church

Charitable fundraising statistics about giving during the last month of the year tell us that 30% of annual donations are given in December and 10% come during the last 48 hours of the year! So, be sure to send an email to everyone in your church and cover these four things: #1. Say Thank You! A [...]

A farrier preparing to hammer a nail to secure a horseshoe on a horse's hoof, shot in shallow depth of field

The Later List

As a pastor, the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s was a time when I heard and used the word “later” a lot! If I tried to set up a meeting with someone or schedule a committee meeting, the response was usually “Can we do it later?” And for good reason. We are all busy [...]

Brave Parachutist with red helmet jump out of the plane

It’s Imperative To Jump

I used to think it would be fun and adventurous to skydive. Now? Not so much. IF the plane was sure to crash and someone happened to slap a chute on my trembling body, I might strongly consider fearfully jumping. In the account of the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10, Luke 18, and Matthew 19), [...]

crack in the building, restoration of the building

Deferred Maintenance: 5 Ways to Tackle the Looming Crisis

“It’s a custom color. Bradenton plum.” The church council member and I laughed together about the project in front of us. He had been part of the original capital campaign in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “The color was popular then, but I think it’s time for an update,” he said as we prioritized [...]

Empty Church Edit

Update on “Autopsy of a Dead Church”

In 2014, Thom Rainer released a 102-page book called “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” which became a number-one bestseller and a must read for all church leaders/pastors.  In this little book, Rainer shared his research by identifying 9 reasons churches die and 12 ways to keep your church alive. If you don’t have a copy [...]

2023.05.04 - JWiebe at Mosaic 2 Wide

Real Life Sermon Series

Jon C. Wiebe recently spoke at Mosaic in Denver, preaching a 2-part sermon series entitled "Real Life". In his message he walked through I Timothy 6:17-19 finding clues as to how each person can take hold of real life as talked about in this passage. The challenge comes from addressing three questions: How do you [...]

Scales

What Does Your Investment Do?

I have developed a phrase over the last couple of years composed of two questions; "Does it make sense on paper"? and "Does it make sense on purpose"? I use these questions to describe to a potential church borrower how we generally consider their loan application, but I think the same questions could be posed [...]

Monkey Trap Illustration - cropped

You Cannot Serve God and Money

At some point in my pastoral ministry I came across a story about catching monkeys.  A person just needs a hollow gourd with a small hole barely big enough for a monkey to put his hand inside the gourd.  Next, find a tree with monkeys and tie the gourd to the base of the tree.  [...]

Vintage book and magnifying glass on wooden background

Too Close to the Margin

Why do we have margins on our paper and in our books?  I first thought it might be so that my teachers would have plenty of room to add their red ink comments.  It turns out, according to Google, books needed margins in the old days because mice like to eat paper.  Since they start [...]

Heart and Brain in Hands - wide

Change of Heart or Change of Mind?

If you had the opportunity to change someone’s heart or change their mind, which would you choose?  We often change our minds – what to wear, which meal to order, call vs text, where to go on vacation, etc.  But a change of heart isn’t as common since we often wrestle with our worldly selves. [...]

pexels-sora-shimazaki-5668849 looking at paper

Retirement Plan Checkup

According to a recent summary of the MB Associational 403(b) Retirement Plan, 220 pastors participate in the denomination's plan with an average account balance of $59,375. Of the active participants, average employee contributions total $5,808 per participant while the employer is contributing $3,935 per year. The final observation from our plan report is that according [...]

pexels-arthur-ogleznev-1252893 sun in glass ball cropped

King Solomon and the Current Economy

When it comes to our economy and investment markets, the wisdom of King Solomon is true when he states in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “History merely repeats itself, it has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” We can’t reference all the way back to Solomon’s time, but in recent history there have [...]

pexels-timur-weber-9532323 homeless hungry 16x9

Walk Like a Samaritan

When I was a pastor I enjoyed my children talking to me about my sermons.  Well… most of the time.  I had just finished preaching from Luke 10:25-37 about the Good Samaritan or to be true to the text, “an example of being a neighbor”.  I hit the main points – two Jewish men returning [...]

Dahsboard pexels-mike-b-887843 (1)

What is Your Church Dashboard Telling You? – Part 2

In the last Insights, I introduced the concept of a dashboard for church leaders.  A dashboard is a visual summary of key indicators of church health, using significant data points to help leaders assess the current conditions and what actions to take. In this article, we consider what to measure, how and how often to [...]