Peter -n- Melodye

Years ago I had a cupboard built over/around our washer. It is more than 3 feet deep and is nearly as high as the ceiling, so we use the top shelf in the back as long-term storage for stuff we don't often need to access. Recently the moths have attacked again. About once a year we get an infestation of moths that perform miracles far greater than Houdini ever did -- they can infiltrate even air-tight tupperware containers and sometimes even new products still sealed in plastic. Tonight my wife decided it was time to root out the problem and decided to start on that top shelf to see if she could find any moth larvae. Rather than go look for a ladder she hit on the creative idea to make use of our youngest son (aka "the monkey") to help him climb up on the top shelf and get the stuff at the back, handing it down to her on the ground. Since it was going to be a long climb she lifted him by his belt loops (commonly known as a wedgee -- of "Wedgee Tales" fame --...

I'm more of a discipleship kind of person rather than an evangelist... I agree that some people find it easier to evangelize than others. Some people are not nearly as intimidated by changing the subject to a spiritual topic, maybe even by "cold call" evangelism. Whether that "not nearly as intimidated" relates to a spiritual gifting or to training or to personality or simply to faith is a question I will leave to Greek scholars and sociologists... But I will submit that the Bible is pretty clear as to which believers are expected to carry out the Great Commission -- it's a command given to all believers. And, whether I like it or not, even little old "but-I-don't-have-the-gift-of-evangelism" me is included in "all believers." So it comes down to faith and obedience ... or lack of faith and disobedience. But that doesn't mean that I need to start knocking on doors and preaching on street corners tomorrow. In fact, there's a...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about multiplication in churches. What are the keys, what's the "silver bullet" to get a church growing by multiplication rather than addition. I realized I'm getting way too complicated. There's no huge, complicated strategy. It's simple. Churches where just a few people are involved in evangelism will grow by addition. The rate of addition will be in direct relation to how many people are evangelizing and how often/effectively they do it. Churches where everyone is involved in evangelism will grow by multiplication. A little-known statistic: Most churches would be thrilled with an annual growth rate of 10% (at that rate a church would double in size about every 7 years). In order to achieve a growth rate of 10% every person in the church needs to evangelize and bring into the church 1 person every 10 years. Not "1 person every week," not even "1 person every year", but rather "1 person ever...

I had a really neat conversation with my brother today. You know how usually conversations stay in "lite mode", talking about kids and activities and stuff. (And I don't have any problem with that -- relationships are largely built on shared experiences and it is these experiences that gradually build up a firm foundation of mutual care and ultimately relationship.) Well, today my brother broke through in our conversation. He had very interestedly inquired into my work for several minutes, asking details and stuff. Then he asked (somewhat hesitantly - which told me this wasn't a "glossy" question but heart-felt) "If so much of your church planting work is completely dependent on the Holy Spirit then what very specific requests can you give us so we can be praying?" Then he went on to ask for names of people I'm coaching or discipling, names of people I'm evangelizing, what big-picture things need to be kept in mind, etc. Then he asked...

When you rent a house sometimes it's hard to know where to record the height of your boys as they grow. My parents always had a door that they marked our height on. But in the absence of a permanent door, a blog will suffice. On September 1, 2010... Christopher is 4'10.5" Joshua is 4'6" Jonathan is 4' even