Texas church experiences turnaround after refocusing on core principles
LAVON, Texas – God has chosen to bless First Baptist Church in Lavon with numerical and spiritual growth as the congregation has emphasized prayer and discipleship to make Christ known in the community.
FIRST-PERSON: Men and the specter of failure
“Every man lives with the specter that he is letting someone down,” a pastor once told our men’s group.
Lifeway’s NextGen conference equips leaders for ministry amid ever-changing culture
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – At ETCH (Equipping the Church and Home), Lifeway’s NextGen team equipped ministry leaders to respond to the speed of culture with wisdom, intentionality and urgency. The annual NextGen ministry conference took place at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn., Oct. 27-29.
State of the Bible: Nearly quarter of U.S. adults say Bible ‘just another book’
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (BP) -- Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults think the Bible is “just another book of teachings written by people,” the American Bible Society (ABS) said in its latest release from the 2025 State of the Bible.
FIRST-PERSON: Life wins
What a month it has been. News of tragedy from back home. The skies here are threatened. It can feel like some great darkness is encroaching.
Most churches rarely evaluate their discipleship strategies
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Most pastors are confident their churches are helping people grow as Christians. Just don’t ask them how they know that.
FIRST-PERSON: Trading appearances for real abiding
Real, true Jesus-following is daily leading yourself to depend on the Lord, to acknowledge the Creator and Savior, to thank Him and ask Him and bless Him and cry to Him. To run to His Word for life, guidance, comfort, and help. To turn your eyes from false, flimsy, or short-lived sources of hope and run to the true and living source.
FIRST-PERSON: Spiritual formation in the Age of the Algorithm
We are shaped and formed by our loves and affections. They inform what we think is important and what we value. As Augustine reminds us, our loves drive us toward a trajectory of worship.1 We worship what we love, and we live based on what we love. But, you and I know that because of the Fall, we have to be supernaturally directed by God to rightly order our worship and our loves.
Inspired by seminary instruction, SWBTS alumni start family discipling ministry
FORT WORTH, Texas – When Dallas and Martha Harvey packed up their life in New Jersey to move to Fort Worth so that Dallas could begin pursuing his Master of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, their goal was to be prepared for future church roles. Three years later, however, it has stirred a calling that has launched a ministry reaching families across the country.
Emmanuel Farmington evangelizes to disciple
FARMINGTON, N.M. – Emmanuel Baptist Church boils its evangelism down to the single digits: Who’s Your One?
