Archive for 2013

  In 1986 Tom Bodett first delivered the line “we’ll leave the light on for you” in a Motel 6 commercial (actually he ad-libbed that line, and boy did it stick). The phrase reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas stories. There was a man who faithfully took his […]

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‘We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again” When I was a sixteen year old punk rocker, I wore a tattered army jacket with the sleeves torn off that I had marked up with a sharpie. The statement written in large black print on the back of the […]

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A day of wrestling and weeping. That’s how I describe the afternoon I spent In June of 2011 before the Lord at Descanso Gardens, where I was struggling with what the rest of my life would look like. I had been approached by the Foursquare Denomination to find out if […]

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The other day, in one conversation, I was told about two churches. I discovered that one of the churches uses the word “intentional” quite a bit, and I learned that it has the courage and focus to back that word up. Everything they do, it seems, is about intentionally reaching […]

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Not long ago I heard someone say that Jesus was often called the Good Shepherd, but never was called the Good Leader. Of course, Jesus didn’t shy away from leadership. He understood and made it clear that He was Master and Lord. Even so, He very often called Himself a […]

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If you are a pastor, or you are learning to be one, there are different ways of going about your assignment: Pharisee: You are a religious professional. It’s clear that you have your job down pat. You know how to dress, how to act, and what to say to draw […]

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The other day I was catching up with my Bible reading plan after having fallen behind in the Old Testament a bit (that never happens to you, right?).  The realization that I had missed a good portion of Zachariah made me decide to just set aside some time to sit […]

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“Embrace the process” The first time I can recall hearing those words I was a 22 year-old youth pastor going through a difficult time. I can’t remember what that challenge was, but I sure remember the advice because everything in my soul was repelled by those words. How could I […]

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At the Greater Los Angeles District pastors conference on October  10, 2013, I spoke to our leaders about what kind of shepherd, and church, will be able to discover the next big thing that God has for them. Let me apologize: The audio quality is a bit rough—there are a […]

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The local church is… People define the local church in many ways. Even in the New Testament, although there are some ecclesiological imperatives, there also seems to be much room for unique structures and creative styles from city to city, and from church to church. Here are a handful of […]

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The other day I had an honest conversation with a dear friend of mine. It was good—I was challenged in just the right places to think through some of my assumptions. I left without taking any offense whatsoever; if anything, I was encouraged to grow to be a better leader. […]

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Are You a Collaborative Leader? Not too long ago I was asked what kind of a leader I was—did I lean more towards micromanaging or releasing? I didn’t really answer the question: “I think I’m a collaborative leader,” I said, “somewhere in the middle.” So, what’s a collaborative leader? A […]

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In the last decades, the church has seemed to become increasingly concerned about being relevant. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Like missionaries, we want to understand our culture and communicate the message of the Gospel in a language they understand. But what does being relevant really […]

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“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…” (Acts 17:6) –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Equilibrium (def.): A condition…resulting in a stable, balanced, unchanging system. It’s common for church leaders to work very hard to maintain constant equilibrium in their congregations. They try not to upset anyone, especially anyone […]

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“In the beginning God created…” (Gen 1:1 NIV) The very first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that He is creative—and for the first 26 verses we see God at work masterfully creating an unfathomable cosmos, life-sustaining systems, invisible atoms and everything else imaginable (and unimaginable). Then, […]

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