Cell Church Legalism

I remember visiting a cell church with a group of pastors a few years ago. Because I was coaching these pastors, I had been encouraging them to lead their own cell group in addition to their main role as senior leaders in their churches. And in fact, all of them were...

Jesus Died to Set Us Free

Today on Good Friday, let us remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross to set us free. And let us remain free! The Galatian church walked in Christ’s freedom for awhile but then allowed Judaizers to take them back into the legalistic bondage. Paul had to...

A Return to the Weslyan Heritage

At the end of last Saturday’s seminar in Champaign, IL, Roger Ross, the senior pastor of the host United Methodist church, said to me, “Joel, thanks for reminding us of John Wesley and our Methodist heritage. Our Wesleyan heritage is the one foundational...

Learn from Your Failures and Press on

Myth: if you fail once in cell church ministry, don’t try again (continued) Truth: you need to be willing to fail several times to get it right (continued) I’ve had the excellent book, Boundaries, on my bookshelf for several years and never read it. About a...