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Showing posts from December, 2022

How Much More? Praying with Persistence

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by Bart Denny Have you ever noticed how persistence changes outcomes? Parents know this all too well. A child wants a cookie before dinner, or a toy at the store, and the answer is “no.” But the request doesn’t stop there. They ask again. And again. Eventually—sometimes just for the sake of peace—we give in. Persistence works. But here’s the question: if persistence can move us—imperfect parents and imperfect people—what happens when persistence is brought before our perfect, loving, just heavenly Father? That’s the point Jesus drives home in Luke 18:1–8. He tells a parable “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” The story contrasts two characters: a corrupt judge with no fear of God, and a powerless widow who had no advocate but one weapon—persistence. And persistence won. If a widow could win justice from an unjust judge simply by refusing to quit, how much more can God’s children expect from the most just Judge of all when we persist in prayer? Let’s expl...

Successful Revitalization of Small Evangelical Churches Hinges on Leadership Development

My doctoral dissertation, focused on how successful church revitalization pastors act to develop and empower next-generation leaders. A Phenomenological Study of Pastoral Leadership Development Behaviors in the Revitalization of Small Evangelical Churche s Available at https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4002 Abstract Church revitalization has received renewed interest in the last several years. Rainer (2014) says that a congregation’s failure to develop and empower next-generation leaders is one of the leading contributors to church closure. Likewise, Clifton (2016) and Stetzer (2007) highlight the importance of developing next-generation leaders during church revitalization.  The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the leadership development behaviors of senior or solo pastors who successfully led revitalization in a small evangelical church. This study defined a small church as one averaging 65 or fewer in attendance at the beginning of the past...