A few years ago, I came across an Indy Star (the major newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana) article that featured statements by several lay Christians about the Gospel and the Christian sexual ethic. At a time when many Christians tripped over or muttered a response to such issues, I was impressed by these Christians’ ability to winsomely […]

More than half of the states in the U.S. have seen their suicide rates increase by 30% in the last two decades.1 This suicide epidemic is hitting home everywhere–from Mayberry to the metropolis. Even the Church is not exempt. For example, Pastor Andrew Stocklein of Inland Hills Church recently took his own life. So, what […]

Your city doesn’t need Christians. Let me explain. Your city doesn’t need Christians who just sit in pews or chairs on Sunday, amen at the right times and then leave their Christian “mask” at home on Monday morning. Your city doesn’t need people who embrace a Christianity-lite that does little more than produce evidence for society’s […]

Conflict is a part of life and especially church life. But, in my experience as a former pastor’s kid, a church leader and an attorney, Christians are spectacularly bad at handling conflict. If we are going to significantly impact our communities, we will have to first overcome the obstacle of unhealthy church conflict. Stated differently, […]

Reaching out to the town hall for the first time can be intimidating. But, what if your “town hall” is in the form of a 28-story city-county building? That’s a tall order! In this episode, Pastor Tim Lindsey II discusses the practical steps he took to connect with the leaders of his city and to […]

Many church leaders that I speak to express concern about a growing apathy in their congregation toward spiritual things.This manifests in all sorts of ways. People don’t prioritize church. People don’t see the need to invest their time in the ministries of the church. People don’t see the need to give anymore, etc. So, what […]

Every church leader I’ve met wants to make a real, meaningful difference in his or her community, and we (at BCI) are focusing our resources on helping churches do just that. With that in mind, I have to point out that the “Big C” Church seems to be taking a less than holistic approach to […]

Church planters have a unique opportunity to take the “heartbeat” of their community and to build an outwardly focused ministry that has significant spiritual impact in their community. Pastor Matthew Sims is a great example of just such a church planter. Pastor Sims planted Charity Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana in 2006 and has been […]

I recently received a great question. A pastor asked me (and I paraphrase) whether a church should prioritize community impact efforts given the Church’s first priority of fulfilling the Great Commission. My response is essentially this: community impact is a Biblically motivated “outreach” method that is, in the long run, as effective or even more […]

Racism in the United States remains an intractable problem. As hard as we have tried, we cannot legislate or gavel it away. Why? Because racism is an issue of the heart. Therefore, racial reconciliation is an opportunity for the Gospel-preaching Church to do what it does best–change hearts and minds through the power of the […]