I’ve been reading a fascinating book by Kenneth E. Bailey recently. The title, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels is an accurate description of the contents. Bailey has spent decades in the Middle East and he brings a very different perspective on many stories and ideas—such as the parables of Jesus, the… Read More
There is one key skill that each of us needs to develop if we want to multiply disciples. I was spending time with the Lord one morning, watching two squirrels play a game of tag in the oak tree outside my window, when, out of the blue, a thought came to mind. “You are to… Read More
It’s 2001, and Tony and I are in India where we are speaking at a conference. Another of the speakers is from India, and he’s someone we’ve wanted to meet for a long time because we’ve heard that he’s in the middle of an extraordinary, multiplying church planting movement. So in every break, I take… Read More
Sadly, we Christians are renowned for our negative attitudes. According to David Kinnamen in his book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity…and Why It Matters, we are thought of by ‘outsiders’ (ie those who are not involved in church) as firstly, antigay (91%), secondly, judgmental (87%), and thirdly, hypocritical (85%). This is a tragedy!… Read More
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What in the world is God up to?
God is doing incredible things all around the world. There are probably more Christians in China now than members of the Communist Party. In Asia, the T4T training has resulted in more than 1.7 million baptisms over the past 10 years. In India, a Hindu nation, one house church network with which I am familiar,… Read More
This last weekend, we had a round table in Dallas based on our book, The Black Swan Effect. It was an extraordinary time, with a sometimes overwhelming sense of the Lord’s presence. God spoke to us clearly. The climax of the day was a powerful time of ministry led by Brandon Chase, where on behalf of… Read More
Jesus told his disciples who fished for a living, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Commercial fishermen are disappointed if, when they pull in their net, there is only a single fish flopping about. They hope and expect to catch multiple fish at a time. Remember Peter’s dejection when he’s fished all night and… Read More
Mongolia is a landlocked country. The dream I had while we were there was therefore all the more surreal. In the dream I was with a small group of people. As I handed them a book, I told them, “This is a book on how to become a commercial fisherman!” End of dream. The dream… Read More
Sometimes the thought crosses my mind, “Are you just making all this stuff up about men and women working together as co-equals in the church? Who do you think you are? You aren’t qualified to make judgments about the Scriptures–you don’t have any training in these areas.” And it’s true. I don’t. So I love… Read More
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Lessons from my vegetable garden
I enjoy gardening–especially when the weather is cooler. Usually I don’t have too much difficulty getting a reasonable crop from my vegetable garden. This year, however, was different: I’ve had a great supply all year of chard. I can’t keep up with the peppers and okra. Tomatoes, not so good this year. Lack of water, perhaps?… Read More