Articles
What Should We Preach?
To be effective in ministry, the gospel must be central in everything we do: every sermon we preach, every devotional we write, all of our small group curriculum, and in every aspect of the life of our churches. If the gospel is not central, our churches will be built on sand and will eventually collapse into a religious relic or a glorified version of a self-help pep rally. If we’re not preaching the gospel, we are preaching a cubic zirconia version of the divine diamond of the universe- the gospel.
What in The World is Chris Dew Ministries?
On Christmas Eve 2010, I heard the gospel and Jesus saved me. From that point on, nothing was the same. I had a taste of the pleasure I had been looking for my whole life. The hopelessness I once felt was filled with unshakeable hope. Shortly after that, I felt a call to preach the gospel. Over the next 4 years, Jesus began to heal my speech and open up opportunities to love people, share my story, and preach the gospel.
Secret Places
This one thing has been behind EVERY spiritual leader who has ever been disqualified. This one thing is behind EVERY moral failure in a person’s life. This one thing is behind EVERY broken marriage. This one thing will either ruin or fuel our lives, marriages, and ministries. This one thing is: the Secret Places of our lives and hearts.
Who are you when nobody's watching?
How I Got Arrested On My Honeymoon (seriously)... and 3 Other Thoughts
I literally got arrested coming back from my honeymoon…
Kathleen and I got married on January 7th. The wedding was incredible. The honeymoon in Punta Cana was even better... until we got back into the US and had to go through customs. Kathleen and I were flagged and put in a room with less than 10 other people (not a good sign). The room eventually cleared, and it was just us (really not a good sign)...
3 Ways To See More People Saved When You Preach
Do you want to see more people saved when you preach? Do you sometimes feel as if your preaching lacks the teeth to see genuine life change? Do you sometimes feel like no matter how long you work on your message, it still lacks the saving power you and God both desire?
6 Keys to Executing a Successful Student Event
God often uses student outreach events to multiply ministry momentum, attract the lost, and create space for discipleship to take place. They are an absolute game changer for the life and effectiveness of a student ministry. But, HOW do we execute a student event with excellence to reach MORE students with the gospel, get the MOST momentum, and give God MORE glory?
3 Reasons Outreach Events Work In Student Ministry
Do you want to reach lost students in your city with the gospel? Do you want to help your students become more like Jesus? Do you want to multiply the ministry momentum that your church is experiencing? If you’re a student pastor, I hope the answer to those questions is resounding YES. If it’s not, you should probably quit your job and try to get a job at Starbucks. But, for the rest of us, I believe there is a way to multiply ministry momentum, attract the lost, and create space for discipleship with STUDENT EVENTS.
The Most Important Thing - Church Leader Devotional
It's more important than systems, strategies, and staffing. It’s more important than learning, growing, and disciplines. It’s more important than your team, your kids, and even your marriage. If we get this, we will enjoy ministry more, be exponentially more effective, reach many more people, and have a greater possibility of finishing well. If we don’t get this, we will fall into joyless duty, spin our wheels in meaningless hard toil, and have a greater possibility of quitting early.
8 Lies Pastors Believe
Pastors struggle just like everyone else. We believe lies that cripple our ministries and lead us to operate out of fear rather than out of love. We are discouraged more than we'd like to admit. Here are some of the lies that we believe, that we need to drag into the light if we're going to thrive in ministry.
Permission to Dream Bigger
What is the dream that you have for your life? What is the vision God has given you for your life? What is your dream for your church or ministry?
If those dreams don't give you butterflies and make you feel fairly uncomfortable, they're probably making God yawn. Better yet, they are probably insulting to Him.
4 Things To Do When Leading in a "BLEH" Season...
We all go through seasons in ministry where we just aren't "feeling it." We wake up… we go through the motions… we do the meetings… we preach the sermons… we lead the family… but on the inside we are in a deep valley. We often feel unqualified to be in ministry and we feel like we're the only one in the world that is feeling this way. What are we supposed to do with these seasons?
3 Ways to Multiply Ministry Momentum
All of us have experienced ministry momentum... The church is growing... People are meeting Jesus... Things are just falling into place... Doors are being opened... Numbers are increasing... But, what is the best way to leverage that momentum to experience its full effect?
Here are 3 things that God has shown me recently to help intensify ministry momentum rather than kill it.
6 Church Growth Game Changers
We all love to see our churches grow! Growth means more people are being reached with the gospel! Growth means more families restored! Growth means more addicts set free! Growth means heaven gets more crowded! But if we're honest, sometimes church growth becomes our golden calf and we lose sight of WHY we care about church growth. These 6 church growth game changers will help us get the right perspective in growing our ministries and reaching the world with the gospel.
I Want to Go Back to Rehab...
After speaking at a rehab and hanging out with some of the residents, I was surprised to find that these 40 guys (most of them less than a month clean from hard drugs) acted more like the church should act than many churches today. I love the church, but there's a lot of wisdom we can glean from these guys. Here's a few things I noticed that would change the game for our churches.