Articles
Mindfulness and the Pastor
Mindfulness is a big deal in today’s culture. Businesses such as Apple, sports figures such as basketball player Kobe Bryant, and the popular press such as Time magazine have all given it their stamp of approval. Governments are spending hundreds of...
Discipling as Coaching
We typically think of discipleship relationships in the category of mentoring. A mentoring relationship is where someone who has more experience or knowledge seeks to transfer that information to someone younger or less mature. One person, the mentor, sets the agenda...
We Need to Talk about Self-Control
I know what happens when you mention self-control. It’s like sucking the oxygen out of a room. When I told people that I was writing a book on the topic, I heard a lot of sighs and groans. “Oh yeah, I should be better about that,” they would say, their voices tinged...
Awe-Inspiring Creator
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light...
Ministry is Hard – 4 Ways You Can Stay in the Race
Ministry is hard. I hate saying that because it sounds like I’m complaining, but I’m actually just stating a fact. According to the statistics, between sixty to eighty percent of those who enter the ministry will not make it past ten years. Less than fifteen percent...
FIVE WAYS TO OVERCOME FEAR
“Why should I be afraid?” Israel’s King David once asked. I could give him plenty of reasons, from a pulmonary embolism that could have taken my life to a succession of less threatening but still uncomfortable and debilitating ailments, most recently the need for...
Man, the Glory Mirror
Man was created to worship God’s glory, and we saw in that earlier list of experiences that our appetite for God’s glory is one of the most foundational motives in our lives. We have longings. It’s one of the things that sets us apart from the animals. But here’s...
Missions with Accent
Yes, it may indeed be difficult to learn a foreign language, but one thing that English does not have is accent marks! Although English doesn’t really like to obey all the rules, English-speaking learners of other languages find those accent marks to be rather pesky....
God and the Experience of God
I google the word “prayer” And there I am, Hands raised, Eyes closed, Silhouetted Against a backdrop Of God’s warm and welcoming glory. Clicking through these search results might get me re-thinking my prayer life a bit. Perhaps my prayers are lacking because my arms...
A Clear and Personalized Path to Discipleship
“If I am honest, I’ll admit that I don’t really know how to make disciples.” I remember when those words came out of my mouth. I had been in the pastorate for almost a decade, and despite sermons, programs, Bible studies, and small groups, many of the people I...
God’s Will
“God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 NLT). “Rejoice always. Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV) Often we diligently seek...
Pieces
noun (plural): broken or irregular parts of something; fragments "God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him." Psalm 18:20 “Careful… don’t break it!” How many times have you heard that in your life? Of course you didn’t want to break Grandma’s...
Listen . . . For Heaven’s Sake! The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist
Several years ago, I was invited to speak at one of the largest churches in Colorado. After flying into Denver, I was shuttled over to my rental car company to pick up my ride for the weekend. While I was filling out the paper work for my car, I couldn’t help but...
Four Phrases Every Pastor Should Say Every Sunday
There’s something powerful about repetition. Doing the same thing day in and day out. Over time habits start to form, and those habits play a big role in our lives. If you have good habits, your life tends to go well. If you have bad habits, your life tends to fall...
Five Ministries Every Church Needs to Be Good At
Most small town churches are trying to do too much. In reality, you really only need to be good at about five things, and I would argue you could get by with being really good at three of them. For many years the church I serve has offered a great kid’s ministry, a...
4 Simple And Effective Growth-Engaging Techniques
I’ve yet to meet a pastor who wants 2019 to be labeled by their church as the “Year Of Blah.” Yet you know the struggle it can be for our congregants to attend regularly, or–especially–to engage. I’ve noticed something significant among churches I’ve worked with this...
If We Had More Prayer…
“If we had more prayer and less selfishness, our world would be much better.” A person I have known and respected for many years wrote that simple sentence to me in an email the other day, and for some reason it really resonated with me: More prayer and less...
Living Intentionally
What would you do if you knew you only had six months to live? That question confronted me during a recent close brush with death. A blood clot had formed in my lungs. I filled a tiny red notebook provided by the hospital with thoughts on how to leave nothing...
Proximity and Presence
At Canaan we are trying to live into our tagline “the church where love makes the difference,” which we have found to be a very dangerous statement. Christians often tell people we love them before we have ever lived with, listened to, or learned from...
Heaven: It’s Not for Everyone
Most people believe in an afterlife. And in most cases, this belief involves a good place and a bad place. If you’re a good person, and you embrace the right beliefs, you go to the good place. If you’re not, and you don’t, you go to the bad place. Seems simple enough....
