Posted at: 21 November 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

An often quoted statistic about the evangelical youth dropout rate is being called into question.   In 2002, the Family Life Council of the SBC presented the following quote, “88 percent of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18, never to return.”  (http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=13591) I could not document the research behind [...]

Posted at: 08 November 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

This past weekend, Ellen and I led some breakout sessions at a Marriage Conference sponsored by Lifeway Christian Resources.  During the weekend, we had the option to participate in the Secret Church simulcast.  What is Secret Church? David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, began Secret Church in 2006 out of an [...]

Posted at: 25 October 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

This past week, our daughter celebrated her birthday.  She is a testimony that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20) Stephanie was born with a diaphragmatic hernia.  This condition occurs in approximately 1 out of every 5,000 births.  A diaphragmatic hernia is an abnormal opening in the [...]

Posted at: 11 October 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commissions His followers to “make disciples of all nations.”  When we think of “nations,” most of us think of countries like France, Egypt, or Japan.   However, the words in Greek are “panta ta ethne” which means all the people groups. What is the definition of “people groups?” In the Perspectives on [...]

Posted at: 22 September 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 1 Comment

What is the most diverse gathering of followers of Jesus Christ? The ultimate answer is found in Revelation 7:9 when John described a diverse gathering in heaven.  “After this, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne [...]

Posted at: 13 September 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 1 Comment

How many people you meet will Google your name?  How will that impact your ability to witness to them? A man who is here in our city to witness to unreached people groups told me that one of his most important considerations is how to identify himself.  He knew that as he built relationships with [...]

Posted at: 30 August 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 1 Comment

In the first week of my high school senior year, the new swimming coach made an impassioned plea on the intercom for students to join the swim team.  A friend sitting next to me in class said, “Bob, if you will, then I will.”  Neither of us had ever been on a swim team, but [...]

Posted at: 18 August 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

One of the great leaders of our time is Nelson Mandela.  He was a political prisoner for more than 25 years.  After his release, he was elected President of South Africa and helped to bring an end to apartheid.  Upon his 90th birthday, Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time magazine wrote an article on lessons [...]

Posted at: 18 August 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 1 Comment

In previous posts, we began a dialogue on envisioning the future of our work here in Dallas. In Part 4, I included these two charts which summarize what we have discussed in the prior articles. The first chart represents the population growth of our mission field, and the second represents the combined membership, attendance, and [...]

Posted at: 18 August 2011 | By: DBA Staff | 0 Comments

Dallas and Rockwall counties have grown dramatically in the last 30 years. Our population has grown by 61%. The greatest growth has been in diversity. We are now a minority majority city with no ethnicity representing more than 50%. We know of at least 170 different languages that are spoken in the homes of our [...]