Success As Measured by the New Testament
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 Posted in Baptist Life, Church, Culture, Les Puryear, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »I've been reading a wonderful little book entitled, Small Churches Are Beautiful. It somewhat dated as it was published in 1977, however, many of the principles cited are still valid. One point the author makes is we must measure success ...
Is Congregational Polity a Baptist Distinctive?
Friday, June 20th, 2008 Posted in Baptist Life, Ecclesiology, Les Puryear | 11 Comments »One of the speakers at the 2008 Pastors Conference in Indy stated that his church had not had a business meeting in two years. When someone asked him about it, he asked "Is the church still here? Are the lights ...
Do You Have a Sunday Night Service?
Friday, May 23rd, 2008 Posted in Church Life, Les Puryear, Worship | 17 Comments »It's amazing how traditions are different around the country and even within each state. I have served in places where every church had a Sunday evening service and others where Sunday evening services were not held. In the church where ...
A Kinder, Gentler SBC Blogosphere?
Friday, April 18th, 2008 Posted in Baptist Life, Les Puryear, SBC Issues, Unity | 15 Comments »A few days ago Tim Guthrie had a good post about blogging conduct entitled the "The Wal-Mart Challenge" In his post, he said the following: "We will be respectful and we will not allow people to attack other people, including Christians ...
Separatist: Is Thy Name “Southern Baptist”?
Monday, April 7th, 2008 Posted in Baptist Life, Les Puryear, SBC Issues | 76 Comments »According to dictionary.com a "separatist" is: 1. a person who separates, withdraws, or secedes, as from an established church. 2. an advocate of separation, esp. ecclesiastical or political separation. Recently, I've noticed separatist rhetoric coming from several different blog sources here, here, here, and ...
Small Church Leadership Conference Begins Tomorrow
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 Posted in Les Puryear, Pastoral Issues | No Comments »The culmination of a year's work will come to fruition at Lewisville, NC on March 27-29. That's when the Small Church Leadership Conference will be held. If you aren't able to attend this year, we will have video and mp3 ...
What Does It Mean To Be “Blessed”?
Thursday, March 13th, 2008 Posted in Culture, Les Puryear, Missions | 2 Comments »What does it mean to be "blessed"? Is material wealth a "blessing"? If one is dependent more on material things than God, that doesn't seem to be much of a "blessing", does it? American Christians are not persecuted like Christians are in ...
Five Things Only God Can Do
Friday, February 29th, 2008 Posted in Bible, Church Life, Discipleship, Evangelism, Les Puryear, Ministry, Missions | 7 Comments »In “Experiencing God,” author Dr. Henry Blackaby says over and over that we should “watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.” How do you know where God is working? What are the characteristics of ...
Do Not Fear
Monday, February 18th, 2008 Posted in Les Puryear, Pastoral Issues | 3 Comments »Many people are struggling with fear. Fear adversely impacts our walk with Christ and the results can be dismal disobedient despair. God does not want us to live in a spirit of fear. The Bible says in 2 Tim. 1:7, ...
What Is “Revival”?
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 Posted in Church, Church Life, Discipleship, Evangelism, Les Puryear, Ministry, Missions, Theology | 11 Comments »Martyn Lloyd-Jones defines revival as “period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church. Revival means awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it to the surface again. It happens primarily in the Church of God, and amongst ...
