The Western emphasis on growth has taken root within Christianity. 'Success' for a church is measured in income and membership, which are deceptive metrics.

Members, co-workers, and subscribers can all be tallied, yet who save God can track the increase of faith or the building of character of members of a church?

Judging the quality of our work by numeric standards is not a measure of spiritual growth, and to equate it with spiritual growth in rank Laodiceanism.

God's measure of success for Noah was not how many sinners he saved from the Flood. If numeric results were God's measure of success, Noah would be a failure.

The problem with polls is that they are fundamentally worthless. The media uses them, not to provide a snapshot of Americans' opinions, but to influence.

Like its physical counterpart, spiritual growth happens slowly. A newly baptized Christian will not produce the fruit of the spirit as easily as a mature one.

Are numeric growth or miraculous signs sure indicators of God's presence? Before trying to determine where God is working, we must understand what God is doing.

Success in spiritual things does not consist in growing large and powerful, but humbly living by faith, overcoming, and yielding to God's shaping power.

God mightily used Gideon, initially a timid man who required multiple signs from God, when he began walking more by faith than sight.

God's promises to give us the desires of our hearts, His Holy Spirit, wisdom, and spiritual gifts to edify the Body all come with strings attached.

Members of God's church usually come home from the Feast of Tabernacles with renewed strength. Yet, some fall away each year. Here's how to stay the course.

Building a wall requires standing, holding firm, showing alertness and a readiness for action, even if it requires self-denial and unpleasant dirty work.

God demonstrated to Gideon, through His systematically whittling his army from 30,000 to 300, that His providence, and not Gideon's might, would bring victory.

All God's shepherds are mortal men, guilty of sin, including Moses. Despite that, God backed them up because they faithfully followed His leadership.

We dare not allow anybody to come between God's direct governance and ourselves. Even God's government will not work unless we voluntarily govern ourselves.

It is presumptuous to cast aspersions on Thomas, using the cliché 'Doubting Thomas,' as he was braver than most of us would have been in his circumstances.

Because Jesus is God's Son, we can avoid the rod of His anger by paying respect with worshipful awe. We must know both His instruction and Him personally.

Sometimes small things make big impacts, such as Simon of Cyrene's carrying of Christ's cross. Do we consider our 'smallness' to be a blessing or a curse?