Different Gifts but the Same Spirit

(The following is the July 22 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read 1 Corinthians 12 and pay close attention to verses 4-21.) God displayed masterful creativity in making the human body. How internal systems cooperate and depend on each other is evident, especially when something goes wrong. The failure …

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The Christian’s Body: A Temple of the Holy Spirit

(The following is the July 10 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read 1 Corinthians 3 and pay close attention to verses 16-17.) Paul asked the Corinthians several related questions: “Don’t you yourselves know you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, …

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Why Numbers Matter to Churches

(The following is the May 20 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Acts 11 and pay close attention to verses 19-26.) Churches can have a love-hate relationship with membership, attendance, and other statistics. We may interpret increased growth as God’s blessing, but how do we perceive lower or trending numbers? Do …

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Book Review: “Fusion” by Nelson Searcy with Jennifer Dykes Henson

As the Sunday School Director at my church and as a Christian who wants to effectively help bring new believers into the body of Christ and new church members into our congregation, I read with great interest the book Fusion by Nelson Searcy and Jennifer Dykes Henson. I read the older 2007 version rather than the …

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