Archive for 2009
I just read an article about the liquid church. The gist of it went like this: “We don’t need the church gathering anymore, because real church consists of interconnected people and Christ flowing through those relationships”. While there is some truth here, the idea throws out the proverbial baby with […]
Read More...Christian Leadership B.S.—Online degree completion program Preparing Leaders for over 100 yrs… The above was the auto-generated Google ad on the sidebar of a friend’s blog. It wasn’t the academic degree that caught my eye—for a brief moment I actually thought “Christian Leadership B.S.” might be the title of a […]
Read More...Once in a while we are “blessed” with the opportunity to have to hear the Lord regarding a directional issue in our lives. Those times when God seems to be about to change something in our assignment (like a job or a ministry) a relationship (like dating or marriage) or […]
Read More...A couple of weeks ago I was at a conference listening to Andy Stanley speak about leading in times of uncertainty. What he said was compelling: leadership is not needed unless there is uncertainty. Managers are always necessary to keep an organizational machine running, but leaders exist to ensure an […]
Read More...It’s been almost 3 weeks since my last blog post (sounds a little like a confession). I’ve got a bunch of stuff rolling around in my head, but as I press towards the end of the College year, there just is not enough time in the day to get any […]
Read More...It’s been going on for years now…the night before Easter I can’t sleep at all. I want it to be the next morning so badly that you would think I was a kid on the night before a big trip to Disneyland or waiting for Christmas day to show up. […]
Read More...Muse: To be absorbed in one’s thoughts. The writer of Psalm 77 (Asaph) is in distress. He feels like God has deserted him, and he doesn’t know why. During sleepless nights, his brain and his heart are working overtime. Questioning. Wrestling. Seeking. The NIV translates this activity as musing. Eventually […]
Read More...Yesterday a friend posted the following quote on Facebook: We are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy […]
Read More...Yesterday I heard a great sermon about the different ways we encounter God. At one point, the speaker, Glenn Burris Jr., said, “Someone else’s God encounter could be found through your life”. For instance, someone may be praying for encouragement, and you look that person in the eye and speak […]
Read More...Continued from part 2… As a leader who loves to lead and a preacher who loves to preach, I must recognize that I am not preaching to or leading just a congregation, but also unique people who make up that congregation. How, then, should I be thinking about these individuals […]
Read More...…Continued from Part 1 So, I’ve admitted: I’m not the world’s most natural pastor. I love the Lord, I love to study and teach the Bible, I love to cast vision and create culture, and I love to lead and develop leaders. But a pastor (noun) still has to pastor […]
Read More...Once I was sitting with a group of local pastors at a ministry association Christmas lunch. The President of a nearby seminary asked all of us a question: “what is your favorite part about being a pastor?” One by one the men and women in attendance answered with stories of […]
Read More...While I was in the throws of studying for a sermon, I sent my assistant an instant message that said I was wrestling with preparing my message. Her reply back to me was supposed to be funny: “Don’t forget the head-lock, that’s a winning move”. The humorous response actually impacted […]
Read More...“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…it is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mt. Zion. For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133) A couple of years ago I had the joy of hiking some trails around […]
Read More...After church on Sunday, my family hung out at a great park in Costa Mesa. This park had one of the coolest playgrounds I’ve ever seen. It was great fun for the 8 and 5-year old boys, but was also built with a system of ramps for wheelchair accessibility, so […]
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