As I've written on this blog many times before, the congregation for whom I preach is on an exciting journey of discipleship, and our vision is to see Jesus' Great Commission fulfilled in our community through us. But that kind of mission cannot be successful unless each and every member owns the vision and actively … Continue reading Own It!
If you've been following this blog series then you're getting a good feel for how impactful my recent sabbatical was for me. It was kind of like the experience of realigning tires on a car. When your tires get out of alignment, you can still move forward but it's not a smooth ride; and, sooner … Continue reading Sabbatical, Part 4: How to Incorporate Sabbatical into Everyday Life
Continuing the blog series on my month-long sabbatical, today I'll share what I learned. If you've been following the series, you know that I tried to be very intentional about my time away from ministry. That intentionality served me well and allowed me to be open to new ideas, new lessons, and new observations. Here's … Continue reading Sabbatical, Part 3: What I Learned
On Monday I started a blog series about my recent month-long sabbatical. You can read the first part here. In this second installment of the series, I want to tell you what I did. Since I wanted to be very intentional with my time away from ministry, I structured my sabbatical around three agenda items: … Continue reading Sabbatical, Part 2: What I Did
I just finished a month-long sabbatical that was given to me by my Elders as both a reward and a necessity. It was a "reward" of appreciation for the service I have provided to our church family and it was a "necessity" because of the toll that service had taken on me physically, emotionally, mentally, … Continue reading Sabbatical, Part 1: The Why & The How
In the latest edition of The Christian Chronicle, there is a great interview about preaching that every preacher should read (especially you younger preachers out there). The interview is with David Wilson, who is the Senior Minister for Kings Church of Christ in Brooklyn, NY. Here's a portion of the interview: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ As a preacher, … Continue reading The Goal of Preaching
We're coming to the end of playoff season in Major League Baseball, and it's been another good one. So far, there's been one thing that has stood out to me above everything else, and it's something that we can all learn from - even if you're not a baseball fan. So, hang with me and … Continue reading Advancing the Runners
On Monday I wrote about the great opportunity we Christians have to be "salt and light" to the world around us simply by being positive. Unfortunately, our churches consist of many members who remain pessimists. Chuck Lawless has listed several characteristics of church pessimists on his blog. I shared his first list on Monday, and … Continue reading 11 More Characteristics of Church Pessimists
Yesterday I preached in this shirt... I wanted to send a visible message to our congregation that one of the ways we Christians can stand out in today's world of increasing negativity is to be a source of positivity. And who has more reason to "stay positive" than the redeemed children of God whose Savior … Continue reading 11 Characteristics of Church Pessimists
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