The Rural Think Tank
…It's Different Out Here.
AI for bivocational pastors can save time on support work, but it should never replace pastoral judgment, doctrinal care, or human ministry.
Small churches do not need panic or hype about AI. They need a practical framework for using AI in small church ministry with truth, stewardship, and discernment.
This post was originally published on my other blog, MinistryPlace.net “Why do we do this ministry every year?” “Well…kinda because we’ve always been the ones to do It?….” We have all had that conversation in our churches. There seems to be that one ministry in every church that is a sacred cow that happens every year only because it …
The Bible was written in farm country We live in a world where context is vital to our understanding. One of the reasons our society struggles with parts of the Bible is that it is set in an agrarian context. Jesus and Paul used that backdrop and crafted wonderful illustrations. Lets look at a few …
Isaiah 60:1-7 The Future Glory of Israel 1 [b] Arise, shine, for your light has come,and [c] the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,and thick darkness the peoples;but the Lord will arise upon you,and his glory will be seen upon you.3 [d] And nations shall come to your light,and kings to the brightness of your rising.4 [e] Lift up your eyes all around, and see;they all gather together, they come …
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 …
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 …