Dec 7, 2023 | Church Matters, Current Events, Leadership
The end of the year is a special time for churches and their congregations. It’s a time for reflection, gratitude, and giving. One important tradition during this season is the end-of-year giving letter, a sincere message from the church to its members and...
Dec 5, 2023 | Devotion, Leadership, Personal Development
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy . . . on . . . my way to work I need to swing by the ATM and pull out some cash. We need cash to get into...
Dec 1, 2023 | Devotion, Inspiration, Personal Development
V. What God Wants Thoughts on ḥesed God is present through the Holy Spirit in everyone who belongs to Him, working to install and grow the heart that is like His, the heart full of ḥesed, and to drive out the stony heart that is full of sin and the world’s concerns,...
Nov 24, 2023 | Church Matters, Leadership, Leadership, Personal Development
Formation versus Information About five years ago I was having coffee with a local pastor, and we were discussing literature and my passion for reading. I was telling him about how vital I believe reading to be for us as ministers, and, after hearing me out, my pastor...
Nov 22, 2023 | Church Matters, Leadership, Leadership, Personal Development
Listening to the Word of God makes us aware that we cannot simply adapt and adjust to the realities of a divided society. But especially in a society that is divided in the way ours is, the church’s work of formation is about listening to the Word of God in a way that...
Nov 21, 2023 | Church Matters, Devotion, Leadership, Leadership
With church attendance rebounding since the pandemic, Christians need to be encouraged to recall and remember what the writers of the Bible say about the vitality of Christian community, not to mention the command from God to meet together. Now more than ever,...
Nov 17, 2023 | Church Matters, Devotion, Leadership
IV. Notes Towards a Ministry of Ḥesed Thoughts on ḥesed Does a ministry of ḥesed exist? I suggest that we can identify the ministry of ḥesed as, first of all, whatever springs from a heart that is like God’s heart—compassion, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, faith,...
Nov 14, 2023 | Leadership, Personal Development, Perspectives
We’re living in uncertain times, of that I’m certain. A failing economy. The constant threat of a global nuclear war. Inflation. Pandemics. Polarizing politics. Natural disasters. Uncertainty tends to breed fear in most of us. And yet, those circumstances pale in...
Nov 10, 2023 | Church Matters, Devotion, Personal Development
No one in the history of the church has had as much access to Scripture as we do in the twenty-first-century Western world. As I sit at my dining room table in southern Missouri, there are seven Bibles I could reach in ten steps or less. But this hasn’t always been...
