Good Ideas For Churches

Talking about giving in church is always a loaded conversation, with several ways for people to walk away feeling guilted or offended. Colorado Cmmunity Church, in Aurora, CO has a  plan they call 5+5 that leaves people excited about the topic. At the core, their approach is deeply spiritual, and gives people a ton of personal choice and responsibility. I'm very grateful to Robert Gelinas, their Lead Pastor, for joining me to share how it works! Know someone who prefers their podcasts on YouTube? Consider sharing the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel with them. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Social media is the chief discipler of our age, and it isn't even close. Chris Martin has spent the last 10 years managing 100s of social media accounts for large Christian publishers. This has given him a unique window into how these platforms have a negative impact on people. He's also written two books on the topic, as well as a regular newsletter on substack. His first book is Terms of Service. His substack is under the same name. And his newly released The Wolf in Their Pockets is written specifically for Christian leaders to help them overcome the all-pervasive power of social media on the people they lead and love. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Team Preaching typically is the territory of larger churches with a larg staff. But it can work in a small church too, and brings a lot of benefits beyond just sharing the load. I'm joined in this episode by Eric Hoke. Eric is a co-vocational pastor who works on wall street in addition to pastoring. This is Eric's story of how he set up a preaching team for his fresh-out-of-the-box church plant in the Bronx. He also has an incredible ministry to pastors with a coaching business. Eric specializes in helping pastors find additional work, or transitioning to a career in business. You can contact him from his website at https://www.ihelpastorsgetjobs.com/home.   I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

How do you help someone heal, and continue to trust God when they've experienced unthinkable trauma? I learned so much from this conversation with Jennifer Greenberg, and hearing explain her own process of healing. Her book, Not Forsaken: A Story of Life After Abuse: How Faith Brought One Woman from Victim to Survivor, is a great resource for someone who has been abused, or for a leader who might be looking for a starting point to help someone. She also has a great, free resource for church leaders at her website. You can download her Not Forsaken: A Shepherd's Guide here. She's also a musician, and you can find her music here as well, or wherever you stream. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

This is the story of how a church in GA did some self-examination during Covid shutdown, and came back with a radically different minsitry. In the process, they made some important discoveries about who they wanted to be, and found a lot of benefits they didn't see coming. Special thanks to Madison Tompkins, the 1-Service Church evangelist, and Lead Pastor Justin McTeer of His Hands Church in Woodstack, GA for sharing their story with me! Crowdsource requests: If your church has started a second-language service, I'd love to hear from you. Hit me with your best Easter outreach ideas so we can all steal them. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. This episode will have bonus content, hearing directly from Madison, the Youth Pastor at His Hands about how this benefited the youth ministry specifically. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.  

Supporting police has become a controversial idea in the US. Some communities, for good reason, have lost faith in the institution because some officers have abused their trust. Many others are trying to do good in a system that's broken, and face incredible pressures. All of it invites the question: What could we do to make it better? This episode provides a first step toward something that could help. Spoiler: I think it applies to any area of ministry. My guest is Jared Altic, who is a Full Time pastor, but also volunteers as a police chaplain in Kansas City, MO. Jared also hosts the Hey Chaplain podcast. Burner phone re-upped for another 30 days! Have a question or just want to connect? I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to give me a call and I'll do my best to pick up during normal business hours, US Mountain Time. New number is (605) 484-4146. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. It'll be all the same episodes, with occasional bonus content, as well as a place to leave comments. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Is watching a sermon on my phone the same as going to church? Does the device change the message in any way? Shouldn't we be utilizing these devices to reach & connect with people? Smartphones and the internet aren't going away, & every ministry needs to wrestle with these questions.  Now a classic, Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, has a lot of wisdom for the world we find ourselves in today. My guest is Dr. Arthur Hunt, a retired Professor of Mass Media & Communications, and an expert in Postman's ideas. One organization has even created a Postman Pledge for those who would like to take an extra step in putting the concepts into real life! Burner phone re-upped for another 30 days. Have a question or just want to connect? I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to give me a call and I'll do my best to pick up during normal business hours, US Mountain Time. New number is (605) 484-4146. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. It'll be all the same episodes, with occasional bonus content, as well as a place to leave comments. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Spiritual Formation: How does it differ from discipleship & and how can we think intentionally about the habits that shape us? This concepts means something different to anyone you ask. But I guarantee it is something that is happening to all of us. In this episode I'm joined by Rev. William Mack III to explore the idea and consider how we might think about our partnership with the Holy Spirit a little differently. “Mack” is credentialed as a Spiritual Director, and serves as the Director of Pastoral Care with Rooted Ministries – a resource to help pastors know the love of God and stay mentally healthy. Some Resources on Spiritual Formation: Two books by Dallas Willard have been very helpful for me, Renovation of the Heart, and the first few chapters of The Spirit of the Disciplines.  “Renovation” was also converted to be slightly more accessible in this book. Two books recommended by Mack: Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Church that Transforms, by Jim Wilder; Anatomy of the Soul, by Curt Thompson Donald Whitney has also written some very good titles: Praying the Bible, & Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. I'd love it if you'd consider subscribing to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. It'll be all the same episodes, with occasional bonus content, as well as a place to leave comments. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

How can churches better support their missionaries? What would your missionary want to say to you if they felt they could? How can we support kids who have grown up in a missions context, and now feel displaced back ‘home?' In this episode I talk with Alan Steier. He and his wife Judy work fulltime with Barnabas International to provide spiritual and emotional care and support to a flock of 100 missionaries in Japan. He's spent years as a missionary, and serving missionaries and has invaluable wisdom on how churches can better serve and partner with the missionaries they support financially. Bonus: I want to connect with you! For the month of December (through Dec. 21) I have a spare number and I'd love to hear from you - (605) 484-0735. If you call during business hours, U. S. Mountain time I'll do my best to pick up. Let's have some fun! I'd love it it you all would subscribe to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. It'll be all the same episodes, with occasional bonus content, as well as a place to leave comments. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Not all of us will be church planters, but we all need to shift our mindset to thinking like church planters. In the post-Christian west, fewer and fewer people have a context for Christian terms and meaning. My guest, Nathan Dean planted and served a church in downtown Atlanta for 12 years. He and his wife were very successful in explaining the Christian life in ways that were not just clear, but appealing. They're now planting Blue Mountain Church in Blairsville, GA. He's also written "The Song: The Story of Our Hope and Rescue," a picture book, to explain the biblical story to beginning readers. Bonus: I want to connect with you! For the next 30 days (through Dec. 21) I have a spare number and I'd love to hear from you - (605) 484-0735. If you call during business hours, U. S. Mountain time I'll do my best to pick up. Let's have some fun! I'd love it it you all would subscribe to the Good Ideas for Churches YouTube Channel. It'll be all the same episodes, with occasional bonus content, as well as a place to leave comments. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

How can we help someone who is deconstructing their faith? That is a critical question for any church leader today, and the topic of this episode. My guest is Ian Harber, who was gracious enough to share his own story of deconstructing and rebuilding his faith in Jesus. Ian is part of the Truth Over Tribe team, and writes at Back Again with Ian Harber at  https://ianharber.substack.com/. He also starts lots of interesting conversations over @ianharber on Twitter. Ian has also put together a playlist of resources that helped him rebuild his faith on Spotify, titled Reconstructing Your Faith - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1nSlmL6Fh3EdZzv1nxHPxZ. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special Episode for Pastor Appreciation Month! I'd love to pray for you and your minstry by name. Reach out and let me know what I can pray for. Here's Matt's original video. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

In this episode I talk with Dr. Joshua Chatraw about his book, Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age. We all have underlying stories that we use to make sense of our lives, and the gospel story is the only one that really meets all our longings. Dr. Chatraw is executive director of the Center for Public Christianity, lead teacher for New City Fellows, and theologian-in-residence at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh, NC.  I also tell on myself for trying to order cocaine in Brazil. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

This episode is about church revitalization. How can we see new life breathed into a local church? Many thanks to Gary Kniseley for taking the time to share his story with us!  Gary is the pastor of Maywood Evangelical Free Church in Rockford, IL. The stats I mentioned. A couple highlights: - 70% of churches are plateaued or in decline. - Only 7% of churches have helped launch a new congregation ever. - Those churches who have helped start more than one new congregation were statistically 0% for this study. Some other interesting surveys that ask the question differently, specifically related to membership (not necessarily participation). Membership trends for U.S. individuals from a Gallup study. Membership trends among some protestant denominations.   Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

How do you evaluate your ministries? When is the time to quit something or double down? Matt Whitman joined me to share a plan he used to answer these questions called a Ministry Audit. If you'd like a free PDF outlining how to do a Ministry Audit, email me at aron.eyesup@gmail.com. Matt is the host of The Ten Minute Bible Hour YouTube & podcast, The Ironwood Rhino podcast, and co-hosts the No Dumb Questions podcast with Destin Sandlin. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Karl Vaters joined me to discuss how to manage change in the church in ways that spiritually healthy. Karl is pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, CA, the author of several books, and the host of the Can This Work In a Small Church podcast. His book, Small Church Essentials, was the jumping off point for our conversation today. You can follow his other work here, or at @KarlVaters on Twitter. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Super big thanks to Daryl Paluch of The Tennis Center of the Black Hills for coming out to play ball with us! His work gives us a great picture of we often refer to as church assimilation. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Shane Heilman for joining me to share his wisdom about disarming tension and conflict before it becomes a problem. Shane is the Producer and Chief Songwriter for the Psalms Project, where he is putting every psalm to music. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jon Sanders for joining me on this episode! You can check out his learning community at EntrePastors.com. He also is a ministry coach for The 95 Network. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Nathan Jenkins for joining me! He serves as a pastor at loonmtnministry.com in Lincoln, NH. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Justin P. Taylor for joining me on the podcast! Here's the webpage for Integrity Hockey League. Justin also dabbles in music, and you can find his single, ‘Kingdom Citizen,' at Amazon, Spotify, Apple and Pandora. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Kurt Earl for joining me! You can check out his work with coaches at culturecoordinator.com. He also serves as an Elder at First Street Bible Church.   To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, by Daniel H. Pink.   For fun, I took Kurt's challenge to think of 10 ways Information Symmetry is changing everything. Here's a quick list of what I came up with in only a few minutes. College and Professional athletics has been impacted by this trend. Even at the highest levels, coaches who just demand respect and insist their players ‘just do as I say' aren't succeeding, and even losing their jobs. The relationship between doctors and their patients has been radically impacted by this trend. 1000s of online sources, written by credentialed MDs, with studies cited, means more and more patients are coming to their Dr. with a plan of care already in mind. A number of laboratory services have begun giving customers the option to order their own blood tests. Pharmaceutical companies have also leaned into this by advertising directly to prospective patients. Related, more people are open to trying natural medical options, or a combination of natural & conventional options because of so much information available to them. In short, people increasingly expect to be an active partner with their health, and maybe the driving partner. The same effect with pet owners and their veterinarians. This trend is spreading to public education as well. The number of people choosing to educate their children themselves (homeschooling) continues to grow for both religious and non-religious reasons. Facebooks sale groups, and other online selling forums have empowered us all to go directly to one another to buy or sell things, some evening making it a side-hustle. The last decades have seen an incredible erosion of the ratings and influence of so-called legacy media, and the proliferation of indie journalists, podcasters, and content creators going directly to their audience. The traditional gatekeepers are increasingly sidelined. Churches and abuse reporting: The expectation for real, meaningful transparency is more critical now than ever if churches and institutions want to maintain credibility in the public eye.   Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Seth Gehrke for joining me and sharing your story with us! Seth is on staff at St. John Lutheran Church, in Cypress, TX. Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com.

Thanks to Pastor Steve Vetter of Turtle Lake Baptist Church, in Turtle Lake, North Dakota for sharing your story with us! https://www.facebook.com/turtlelakebaptist/ Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? We'd love to hear from you! Shoot us an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com    

Good Ideas for Churches is a joint project between Matt Whitman's The Ten Minute Bible Hour and Eyes Up. Have a good idea? Something that's helped your church? Something that's made the Gospel make sense to people in your community? We'd love to hear from you! Shoot us an email at aron.eyesup@gmail.com