Jun 28, 2019 | Inspiration
I often find myself saddened and frustrated as I watch the news. Hearing the news of shootings, burnings of churches, human trafficking, death, disease and disorder is heart breaking. The more I hear these stories the more I am reminded that the pain and trails of...
Jun 28, 2019 | Pastor's Life, Podcast
It happened again this past Monday. A dedicated, hard-working veteran pastor told me about the problems within his church. He listed a number of tell-tale markers as he expressed his deep frustrations. When he was done, I paused, noting the pain written...
Jun 28, 2019 | Perspectives
I was looking at the results of a major survey of pastors the other day and noticed a trend. Pastors of small churches are more likely to be less energized by their ministry than those who serve large churches. They are also more inclined to question their calling....
Jun 27, 2019 | Perspectives
How would you characterize your own witness efforts? A characterization must be accurate enough to truly name reality, but short enough to be memorable and useable. Getting to a place where you can honestly characterize your own witness efforts should take some time...
Jun 27, 2019 | Church Matters, Inspiration
beep…Beep…BEEP! Your alarm clock goes off. Do you… __groan and go back to sleep? __press the snooze button? __get up ready for action? How does your answer mirror your reaction to what’s happening to the church today? Well, we just got a wake-up call: According to a...
Jun 27, 2019 | Personal Development
1. Be Interested Birds of the same feather flock together. We typically are interested in others who have something to offer us or have something in common with us. To be interested we need to notice the dirt path off the side of the four-lane highway of our lives. We...
Jun 26, 2019 | Church Matters
My mother chuckled as she penned her poem, a parody of “The Church in the Wildwood,” entitled, “The Wild Woods in the Church.” In our small congregation, three separate and unrelated Wood families occupied the pews. While the other two Wood families consisted of only...
Jun 24, 2019 | Perspectives
As a former church staff member, I’ve seen it happen over and over. A growing congregation, fully unified and working toward the same goal, starts to slowly splinter off into pockets of like-minded people. Those pockets live in harmony—for a while. But then, you start...
