When we served as missionaries in Spain, God called us to pray for an unreached people group in Extremadura. Less than one percent of the population were believers. The Lord impressed upon my heart, “Pray earnestly for these people. Love the lost.” I would take groups up to a mountain overlooking the city of Cáceres and pray. As we prayed, God reminded us that His heart is for the lost. He had sent us to a land that was not our own, to learn a different language and live in a

GCA is committed to the strategic work of church ReNEWal – in fact, it’s one of our top four strategic priorities! As a result, I often get asked by pastor friends, church leaders and others, “Why should we spend all this effort, time and money on revitalizing or replanting a stagnant, declining or dying church?” The implicit idea behind the question is often one of efficiency – isn’t it just cheaper and easier to let a declining church just die and plant a new church? The tr

How do non-believers know we are followers of Christ? Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Quick! Answer this question without taking too much time to reflect: What do you truly, deeply value? Once you have an answer in your mind, then ask yourself this next question – how does that value shape my life choices, behaviors, and attitudes? And still a third question: Can others see in your life – through where you spend your time, resources, energy and passion – what you say that you most treasure?

In John 15, Jesus reminds us that He invites us into an intimate, beautiful relationship with Him. This relationship is as closely interconnected and dependent as a branch is to a vine. He calls us to both to obey Him wholeheartedly and to ask Him to radically provide for us.

What are you investing your life – your time, energy, skills and resources – into? This is a critical question, not only for us as individuals but also corporately – what are our churches investing in?