Assimilating People into an Effective Discipleship Process
by Tommy Swindol Among the many elements of a healthy church, three are particularly important concerning the assimilation of newcomers: maintaining an effective discipleship process, ensuring the right people are leading each ministry, and creating the right church culture. By effective discipleship process, I mean that we want to create a scope of spiritual development into which we can assimilate people. Once we align our...
Recommended Books (Spring 2018)
The information revolution has cheapened words. We are awash in a sea of verbs and nouns hastily typed into digital existence. To avoid drowning under the crashing waves, we have learned to scan documents for keywords or, worse still, hashtags. Even in the world of print, we can find thousands of books in community libraries anywhere in the nation. Such a wealth of material was unimaginable to the vast majority of premodern men. But,...
What I’ve Learned from Practical Church Planting Books
While I was in college, I began to think that God was calling me to the ministry of church planting. I considered opportunities in southern California and the Midwest. Ultimately, God opened the door for me to plant a church in Gallatin, Tennessee. When I began considering all that planting a church would involve, I quickly noticed two common approaches in church planting books. The first approach was more theoretical in nature,...
Nursing Home Ministry: Getting Started
In my previous essay I provided a biblical rationale for the ministry of nursing home visitation. But what may such a ministry look like practically? Ministry is always contextual. Fulfilling this ministry will look different from place to place. However, despite where or who you may be, here are some suggestions for church members and leaders. Remember the Difficult Conversations People Are Having: Ministry requires teachers to equip...
Nursing Home Ministry: A Critical Need
Visiting widows with my mother is a vivid memory from childhood. My father and mother did much to help the elderly in our small community, but they especially cared for widows who were either childless or whose children didn’t live locally. For my mother, this ministry often meant preparing a pecan pie and taking me with her on a visit to someone’s home. I recall these visits well for two reasons. First, I remember trying to entertain...
Love and Marriage and Literature
I’ll be getting married this June. Thus, I have been thinking about what love is; how I should love well; what a good, Biblical marriage looks like; and how I should live as a wife. Fortunately, I have not been left alone in my search for answers to these questions. God, in His grace and sovereignty, grants His children insight into these matters through a variety of means. First, I am thankful most of all that God Himself has given...
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