The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
Category: Rural Church Health
This is NOT DiY – #5 Rebuilding, Restarting, or Starting Fresh?
When the Foundation Needs Repair Hebrews 12:1-4 — “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our …
Grasshoppers!!!
This post was originally published on my other blog, MinistryPlace.Net Numbers 13:31-33 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had …
Windmills…
Lessons from a windmill field In my workshop at the 2018 RHMA conference, one of the examples I gave for the need to network for ministry in your community is a windmill field. There are some lessons we can take from these pieces of wonderful technology as churches. They have a purpose that is simple …
This is NOT DiY- #4 Time For Repair
2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Galatians 5:14 ESV 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Colossians 3:13 (ESV) 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each …
This is NOT DiY – 3# You Need Professional Help
The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Church Ephesians 4:11-16 — “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” There is a myth in rural ministry that says the church should be self-sufficient. We should be …
This is NOT DiY – #2 Does it look like the Neighborhood
Does Your Church Look Like Your Neighborhood? 1 Peter 2:4-10 — “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.” Peter’s metaphor is beautiful. The church is a spiritual house, built from …
This is NOT DiY – #1 Check the Foundation..
What Does the Foundation Look Like? Acts 1:8 — “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Matthew 28:16-20 — “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing …
Farmers and Suicide Rates
The Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight If you work in a rural community, there is something you need to be aware of. Farmers are hurting. I am not talking about poor harvests or lack of technology. Farmers have a significantly large suicide rate. The CDC has retracted numbers on their last study, deeming coding errors …
The Rural Brain Drain
The Phenomenon That Is Reshaping Rural America The phrase “Rural Brain Drain” originated from a book called Hollowing Out the Middle, which looked at the effect that adults were having in their community by preparing their best and brightest to be shipped off to colleges and universities, sometimes never to return. Many outlets have since …