Category: growth
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From the series: Empowered — Discovering and Developing Your Spiritual Gifts There’s a particular kind of frustration that settles into a church over time. It’s not the frustration of conflict or crisis. It’s quieter than that. It’s the frustration of watching the same small group of people carry everything — Sunday after Sunday, meeting after…
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There’s a quiet assumption running through much of the Western church that goes something like this: spiritual gifts are for a certain kind of Christian. The upfront ones. The confident ones. The ones who seem to have a direct line to heaven. The rest of us? We just serve on the welcome team, give our…
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Harvard confirms what the Bible already knows. Everyone wants to be happy. That’s not controversial. The question isn’t whether we want it — it’s whether we know how to find it. Arthur C. Brooks is a Harvard professor, bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading researchers on human happiness. He teaches the most oversubscribed…
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Sent, Not Self-Sent Paul was sent, he didn’t commission himself. That’s worth sitting with for a moment, because it challenges an image many of us carry without realising it — Paul the maverick, the lone genius, answering to no one but God. The reality is far more interesting. Paul was the most sent person in…
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When Teams Break If apostolic teams were only ever a story of triumph, we’d have reason to be suspicious. The New Testament is too honest for that. The previous posts in this series have painted a picture of something remarkable — Paul’s divinely commissioned, gift-diverse, Spirit-formed teams achieving extraordinary things across the Roman Empire. All…
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How Apostolic Teams Form Nobody applied for a job on Paul’s team. There was no recruitment drive, no interview process, no job description circulated around the churches of Asia Minor. And yet Paul assembled one of the most effective missionary teams in history. How? The answer matters because it challenges almost every assumption we bring…
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Paul the Team Leader “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.” Two names. One apostle. That line opens 2 Corinthians, and versions of it appear across Paul’s letters. Timothy gets named. So do Silas, Sosthenes, and others. But the pattern never varies: Paul names himself first, Paul…
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The Wait is Over: “Empowered” is Here!I can hardly contain my excitement as I write these words: “Empowered – Discovering and Developing Your Spiritual Gifts” is finally here! After months of writing, editing, and anticipating this moment, I’m thrilled to share this passionate project with you. This isn’t just another book—it’s a message I believe…
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It’s Mental Health Awareness Week—a moment to pause, reflect, and talk honestly about the invisible battles many face daily. Mental health is no longer a fringe topic; it’s on every podcast, in every workplace policy, and part of our cultural conversation. And yet, despite rising awareness, mental health outcomes are not improving. Which tells us…
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By Paul Benger We live in a world obsessed with outcomes. Show us the metrics. Give us the results. What’s the function? But in the Kingdom of God, function isn’t the starting point—it’s the result of a deeper, more intentional process. Before God ever asks us to do anything, He forms us. Then He fills…
