Thom S. Rainer quotes:

Weak leaders of churches blame people and circumstances. Breakout church leaders accept responsibility and see God's possibilities in even difficult situations.

So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church.

Introverts don't like small talk conversation, but they typically don't mind writing. The more people can "see" you on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or a blog, the more they will feel like they know you, even though you don't have one-on-one interaction with them.

Church membership is a gift. A gift must be treasured. It should not be taken for granted or considered lightly. Because it is a gift, we must always be thankful for it. And when we are thankful for something, we have less time and energy to be negative...Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first.

If outside forces and culture were the reasons behind declining and non-influential churches, we would likely have no churches today. The greatest periods of growth, particularly the first-century growth, took place in adversarial cultures. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment and selflessness.

Confident and courageous leaders have no problems pointing out their own weaknesses and ignorance.

We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That's what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else.

Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first.

Churches should evaluate everything they do to determine how it can be done better.

Faith and optimism are contagious.

The concept of an inactive church member is an oxymoron. Biblically, no such church member really exists.

Passion means making the choice to do that for which we can make the greatest difference. It means saying no to opportunities that may be good but not the best. It means that the best path is not always the easiest path.

Some churches would rather die than to get out of the comfort of the past.