What makes a church beautiful?

Is it slick worship slides? Well-dressed families? Stunning stained glass? Perfect pews? High-quality music? Good looking and well-respected members of the community?

What if your church uses old hymnals? What if the families are broken? What if the walls are sullied and the seating busted? What if the organ is out of tune or the soprano squeaky? What if your people are less than perfect and their lives a bit messed up? What if you don’t like your church?

The church isn’t beautiful because of its position in society or its pretty facilities, families or frills. The church is beautiful because of what God is doing in, through and with it.

How to lead in a time of crisis -- three axioms for leaders

What do you do when the deuces hit the air ducts? Sometimes, things don't go according to plan. In those moments of crisis it's easy to curl up into a little ball or overreact and cause more fallout.

How can leaders navigate a time of crisis with their church, organization, or community? Here are three axioms -- timeless truths -- from seasoned leaders to help you chart the course. 

Do people need more grace?

People. Need. Grace.

Period.

Walk into your church. Step out into the streets. You will find people hurting. Limping along in life. Struggling to understand, and seek out, faith, love, and hope in the midst of the problems of pain, death, and the tension between what is and what ought to be in this world.