THE FORMISSION BLOG
Spiritual Gifts for Church Health
How do spiritual gifts affect church health? To give a real-life example, I had the pleasure of serving for almost 7 years on the staff of a truly healthy church. I realize how blessed I am to be able to say that. The church’s health affected me in every way, and I...
Is Our View of Spiritual Gifts too Small?
“The Kingdom of God is God in action, and that happens to turn out to be the exact same thing as grace.” – Dallas Willard I sat agape watching this interview with Dallas Willard almost a decade ago, surrounded by my colleagues at pastor’s conference, but suddenly...
A Picture of Our New Church
A church is certainly more than a building, more than carpets or pews or chairs or walls. But there was one time that a church’s wall art so impressed upon me that it has stayed with me right up until the present. I don’t remember much else that happened that Sunday...
Some Thoughts on Sabbath
I’ve been thinking it might be time for a Sabbath. Maybe it is simply the need of my soul for a new discipline of rest, maybe God stirring something bigger in our hearts collectively. Not sure yet. It keeps coming up in conversation. Maybe because of COVID-19, maybe...
3 Reasons I Love the Bible App
I love taking my Bible to church. When I was a youth pastor, I would look for deals on Bibles in bulk and leave 30 or 40 on a table for youth to grab when the service began. We gave away more Bibles to new students than I can count, and given the opportunity, I would...
Was 2020 the Worst Ministry Year Ever?
We are in the home stretch, my friends. The most difficult year many of us have lived through is almost over. The hope of a vaccine, a new number on our calendars, and a slow return to a sense of normal is at least on the horizon. How do we process a season like this?...
Embrace the Need
For those of you who don’t know me (the Formission Director), I’m Jeremy Nippard. I’m about to share something with the world that I have only ever shared with my closest confidants, but I think in this season, we can’t afford to ignore this subject: In September of...
The Year We All Learned to Wash Our Hands – a Discipleship Metaphor
Martin Broadwell famously taught that there are four levels of competence: Unconscious Incompetence - You don’t know what you don’t know. Conscious Incompetence - You know what you don’t know. Conscious Competence - You know what you know. Unconscious Competence - You...
Will Pre-Registration Affect Evangelism?
We are so excited at the prospect of regathering as church families. Core elements of our faith like worship and fellowship are greatly enhanced by our gathering together. But perhaps the most important reason we gather is evangelism: so that spiritually curious...
Then Hums My Soul: Hopes for Regathering
For the most part, I like reading C.S. Lewis, and quote him often, but there is one point on which we almost wholly disagree, and that is on the topic of congregational singing: “What we want to know is whether untrained communal singing is in itself any more edifying...