Blog

Many years ago when our church began revitalization, we prayed and asked God who He was calling us to reach ...

When I first came to Oak Ridge, they were using a traditional Sunday School model. Having been engaged in strong ...

I've been listening to sermons for over 40 years now and attempting to preach for over 20 years. There are ...

As of this writing, there are 23 staffers serving at our church. Over the last 20 years, we have seen ...

Erosion occurs when the forces of the environment eat away the foundation on which we are relying. The American family ...

Vacation Bible School (VBS) was born out of an evangelistic passion of Mrs. Walter Aylett Hawes, a doctor's wife. Her ...

Everyone seems mad. Everywhere you look people are mad and they’re taking their anger to the streets. With signs waving ...

In 1999, when I graduated from seminary and prepared to take my first pastorate, there was far more that I ...

Recent events have reminded us that racial tension is alive and well in America. Tempers flare and sides are quickly ...

What I saw from the many comments on my previous post - The Church Isn't Meeting My Needs - Part ...

Over the years I've watched many people come into the church excited only to be MIA within a few short ...

I’ve struggled with depression off and on for many years now. Sometimes it’s been severe but lately it feels like ...

It all began in the United States on January 20, 2020. That was the date of the first confirmed case ...

What’s spreading as fast as the coronavirus? FEAR. Fear is one of our primal emotions. Healthy fear can save your ...

The Coronavirus pandemic is literally changing everything! In our state, Maryland, the restrictions have changed rapidly.  On Thursday, March 12, ...

I've been to a few dozen conferences over the last 20 years and I've always walked away with at least ...

I've been coaching pastors for over a decade now and I've noticed that we (yes, I include myself) often struggle ...

I recently talked to one of our members out in the parking lot who told me they had a funny ...

"Say Wally." "Yeah, Beaver." "Can I borrow your tie for church?" "Sure Beav. Just hurry it up so we aren't ...

When I started ministry in 1999 I had passion and vision, but not a lot of strategies and tools. There ...

Susie just gave her life to Christ, but she's living with her boyfriend. John just prayed the prayer, but he's ...

I usually write on topics of church leadership, but this time I want to get very personal. Like most couples, ...

Although it doesn't take an advanced degree to determine that the church is in trouble, recent research findings confirm the ...

The numbers are alarming. Southern Baptists, once a leading denomination in evangelistic effectiveness, continue to decline year after year. The ...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! With the guests all arriving the greeters are thriving; we're so glad ...

Processing the Pain of Senseless EvilPosted by Oak Ridge Baptist Church on Monday, November 6, 2017 “Sometimes something useless happens ...

Recent events have reminded us that racial tension is alive and well in America. Tempers flared and sides are quickly ...

My daughter recently shared this with me and it was too good not to pass on. So today, I'm sharing ...

OAK RIDGE INTERNATIONAL PEACE UPDATE The West Africa PEACE team just returned from our second PEACE trip to Benin and ...

It's seems the church world has gone leadership crazy. Everywhere you turn, there's an article on leadership: How to Spot ...

I came across an interesting story in my daily Bible reading. In Acts 15 we find possibly the most critical church ...

Recently a pastor asked me, "What are the top 3 to 5 things your church does to reach the unchurched?" ...

I had quite a bit of blog traffic this year coming from all over the world. I am thrilled that ...

Churches that have a desire to use an outreach event aimed at reaching their community for Christ struggle with strategies ...

"WHAT!?  You're not having services on Christmas Sunday? Pastor, are you out of your mind?  What kind of church doesn't ...

For over a decade our church invested a huge amount of time, money and volunteers to pull off an annual ...

THREE REASONS I NEED TO RETAKE THE CLASSES Someone may have thought (not you, but some other person), "I love the ...

I have lived through twelve presidential election cycles. In each one the candidates work hard to point out what's currently ...

There he is again. The guy at the corner holding his sign, hoping that sympathetic travelers will donate some money ...

In my last article I looked at the 3 Principles of Effective Leadership. Delegation and empowerment are easier to write ...

When it comes to leadership, perhaps the most often used passage in the Bible is Exodus 18. This is the story ...

I just returned from my third trip to our partner church in China. We are now reaping the tenfold fruit ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

How did they balance being so funny and being such respected artists?” This question was recently posed by a visitor ...

When the genocide occurred in Rwanda, I was a young father with two small children working 60-80 hours a week ...

I've been a Christian for over 35 years now. I remember the excitement I felt when I first learned about ...

I've heard people say, "I don't like the new music because it's all about performance. I like the hymns because ...

In my last blog I shared why we stopped doing an annual Fall Festival. If you have not read that ...

It's happened again. Unbelievable atrocities as terrorists erupt violence on hundreds of innocent bystanders. The images filling our screens and ...

Our church had been hosting an annual Fall Festival for decades when we decided to switch to a Christmas community ...

The date was May 21, 2008. I was meeting with a local pastor talking shop when an urgent phone call ...

Ever felt like the odds are stacked against you? Like whatever you try goes bad? Yeah, well then you're in ...

Unless you've been in a coma for the last few days, you've heard that on Friday, June 26, 2015, the ...

Ah, summer.  That time of the year when disgruntled church members, under the cloud of vacation season, do a little ...

A preacher asked the audience, "If you squeeze an orange, what comes out?" "Orange juice!" someone yelled out. "Wrong!" he ...

When I first came to Oak Ridge there was only one other family with young children. As the leadership worked ...

(Live or Memorex? This is a picture of our video feed from our Unplugged Service in our Theater Venue) In ...

Every church I know of holds weekend worship services. Most of them hold at least 52 a year. Nearly all ...

One of my favorite movies of all time is Braveheart. This movie is chock full of life and leadership lessons ...

One of my favorite parables from Jesus is found in Luke 12:16-20: “Then he told them a story: “A rich ...

I know, I know. This doesn't sound like me at all, but hear me out. I just finished reading a ...

Over the past several months my heart has broken as I watched the demise of one of America's largest multi-site ...

This past Sunday night we celebrated the retirement of our Family Pastor, Janice Bailey. Her and her husband, Bob, are ...

I just returned from a trip to Japan where  I assisted Saddleback Pastor Dave Holden. We trained Japanese pastors on ...

Nearly every Christian is familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15.  However, many do not ...

This weekend I shared one of the the BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES God has ever opened up to ORBC. If you missed ...

Disappointment is an unavoidable reality in life. Disappointment is when my expectations do not match life's realizations. Whether it is ...

It takes a TEAM to fulfill a DREAM. It takes TEAMWORK to make the DREAM work. Most people have heard ...

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of 40 Days in the Word from Oak Ridge on Vimeo. 1. Attend ...

As Americans enjoy this Labor Day holiday away from work, it occurs to me that work is one of the ...

I have never met a long term Christian who has not experienced the ebb and flow of spiritual growth. Most ...

Choosing the right fit for the right reason is a big deal. That's why God created different environments for different ...

The beauty of using social media as a church is that every member of our community is already empowered to ...

When I was at seminary one of my preaching professors became quite zealous while lecturing our class one day. Waving ...

I just watched a sermon on TV from the pastor of one of America's largest evangelical churches. He stated emphatically ...

At ORBC we like to say come as you are but please, don't stay that way. Our church is an ...

It's summertime! Summer means so many different things to different people. For a leader, any TIME is a loan from ...

Yup, that's me with my dad in 1969. As I reflect on this Father's day six years after his passing, ...

By far the most difficult season of life for my wife and I were the years of dealing with wayward ...

"How'd you grow your church?" I get asked that by church leaders a lot. I'm always stumped because there's not ...

The Daniel Plan Hits ORBC by Storm I can't tell you how overwhelmed I have been by your response to ...

Several have asked me my thoughts on this movie. Since I have not read the book nor seen the movie ...

This Easter we baptized more people than we have ever done on a single weekend.  It was our most powerful ...

Jesus was the most extraordinary leader who ever lived.  His brief life, and even briefer ministry, did more to change ...

I've had many frustrated pastors ask me, "How do you get your people to invite?" What they should be asking ...

I read Acts 20:13-38 today as a part of my daily devotion.  This is an emotional passage. Paul gathers the ...

We're better together! Alignment is a big deal in all organizations, whether it's a family, a business or a church.  ...

What if I could offer you a chance to do REAL missions work that could change lives and it won't ...

As I shared in my last blog, our church leadership is working on three disciplines in 2014: Clarify our mission ...

On a recent trip to visit North Coast Church in southern California to check out their multi-venue model, I had ...

As a father and a grandfather, I have a radically different view of college than I did growing up.  I ...

It's that time of the year again! Now that the initial flurry of New Year's resolution articles have subsided, I ...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Santa's list is filled with the names of CHANGED LIVES!!! Thank you for INVITING, ...

1. Because people who may be resistant to visit church are incredibly receptive to a special Christmas service. Even people ...

I was blown away once again by our church's unbelievable unity. We just held a business meeting where we unanimously ...

New Improved Volunteer Check-In System Coming Soon! We will soon be installing customized check-in modules in each of our volunteer's ...

Santa versus Jesus Most Christians are aware that the modern day Santa Claus traces his roots back to Saint Nicholas ...

On Monday, November 11, 2013, I met with our Real Estate Broker to discuss the status of the contract on ...

What should I do if I want to tithe, but my unbelieving husband doesn't? This is actually a complex question ...

One feedback I've gotten over the years (sometimes second hand) has been, "I serve regularly with an organization outside the ...

What are the Ingredients of Growth? The goal of Christianity is not heaven.  The goal of Christianity is to become ...

WE'RE BETTER TOGETHER One of the coolest verses in the Bible about the power of unity just might surprise you.  ...

FOUR REASONS I NEED TO RETAKE THE CLASSES Someone may have thought (not you, but some other person), "I love ...

Ok, this is the 4th or 5th time we've had a major event planned that required decent weather and we ...

Church leaders have asked me, "What is the secret to church growth?"  And the first answer is that there is ...

EXPAND THE DREAM In the ten years from 1999-2009, God resurrected a dying church and breathed new life into ORBC!  ...

The Power of a Purpose Rally I remember in school everyone would meet in the gym for pep rallies.  Bringing ...

Thursday morning I put my youngest daughter on an airplane to begin her 5 months on mission.  There must have ...

As a senior pastor of a large church it's hard to grow yourself in your position without feedback.  That's why ...