Dr. Don has been writing a weekly blog for the HOPE-Heals website for more than a year. With nearly 10,000 monthly visitors and countless requests for a compilation in book form, his newest book is just off the press. For more information about “Okay, All Together Now,” you can go to the website, OkayAllTogetherNow.com. It […]

I miss church when I miss church. I mean, it’s a habit I’ve established over a lot of years, and I’m not happy when something happens that breaks the pattern. I feel like I’ve missed a meal, or like I made an appointment and then didn’t keep it. Like I was starting out on a […]

The most readily observable outward characteristic of the Christian is joy. The reason is obvious. Scripture says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” And the more time we spend with Him the more of it we absorb. The more we absorb, the more we radiate. That’s why the worship time in a praying church […]

Do you know about cocooning? It’s been around a long time but our culture just recently gave it a name. Here’s how it works: You roll out of bed in the morning and rush off to work. You come home, let yourself in, then lock all three locks on the apartment door. You turn on […]

Did you ever meet Johnny Barnes? He died a few months ago where he lived all his life, on the beautiful island of Bermuda. We met him just a few months before his death. A retired bus driver, Johnny Barnes left his mark on the world. By waving. By throwing kisses. By shouting, “God loves […]

Being involved in a local church school again after a lot of years, I have been intrigued to hear the questions parents ask. About cost of course, but also about issues that never came up when I was a young pastor. “Do you participate in Little League baseball for our son?” Or “What activities do […]

A long time ago I heard about a village in the south of France where expensive perfumes were made. It was the major industry in this little rural hamlet and many of the residents worked there. A unique phenomenon developed and I fell in love with the story. It goes like this… All through the […]

I want to encourage you to read last week’s Blog (“Then the Target Moved”) before you read this one; it will make more sense. Done? Thank you. Nine out of every ten churches in America are stagnant or are growing more slowly than the community they serve. You might want to put together a couple […]

When we launched this blog just over a year ago I announced that it was not going to be about prayer, it would not be about praying. It was going to focus on helping your church develop into a House of Prayer. There are innumerable resources on prayer. Books, blogs, songs, sermons. But, in spite […]

The more I meander around through the environs of the early church the more I stand in awe. Just to join up with that troop was truly transformational. You’ve read this in Acts 4, “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.” Please read […]