May 3, 2024 | Church Matters, Leadership, Leadership, Missions
Two Misguided Assumptions About Church Growth As a church leader, perhaps you’re asking yourself, How do I reach the spiritually sleeping and spiritually dead in my community? How do I disciple people to know Jesus deeply and be known by Him fully? And how do I preach...
May 1, 2024 | Personal Development
Getting Childish Isaiah 11:6 (New International Version) “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.” See Yourself as Childish: Isaiah 11:6 envisions...
Apr 30, 2024 | Inspiration, Personal Development
He was my favorite teacher. I had hoped and wished to get Mr. Saperstein for the fourth grade, and he was even better than all the kids said! He was funny and kind, and I learned a lot from him. And he gave us a whole hour each day for quiet reading time. During this...
Apr 26, 2024 | Editor's Pick, Uncategorized
Doesn’t a forced pause always seem to happen at the most inopportune times? Not now, Lord, we tend to whisper loudly. I have noticed though, as I get older, that maybe I would do better to not resist these unchosen times of slowing down (and, often, solitude). Because...
Apr 24, 2024 | Personal Development
You are Royal How do you see yourself? When you attend a social activity, how do you introduce yourself? How do you describe yourself to others? Does the interaction go something like this? “Hi, my name is David”. “So, David, what do you do?” “I‘m a Ministry Systems...
Apr 23, 2024 | Church Matters, Leadership, Pastor's Life, Perspectives
Being in ministry provides leaders with a front-row seat to the good, the bad, and the ugly of people’s lives. If I’ve learned anything through the years, it’s this: Life is messy. And it doesn’t come with a nicely packaged answer to suit every occasion. Consequently,...
Apr 19, 2024 | Church Matters, Leadership, Pastor's Life, Perspectives
My pastor sat in his chair and steepled his fingers as he listened to my confession. When I finished, he asked me, “Did you enter this relationship with your consent?” I thought about my constant stream of nos, the boundaries pushed and prodded over and over, the...
Apr 16, 2024 | Church Matters, Leadership, Perspectives
We want heroes and want to be heroes. We imagine ourselves as the Billy Grahams, the Elijahs. We like to imagine ourselves in their company. We want to be that effective. To shape a society where our set of values and preferences is the norm. Where we can fit in and...
Apr 12, 2024 | Church Matters, Inspiration, Pastor's Life
There comes a time to move and to act. God commanded his people to do the impossible and step into the flooding waters: “Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing....