My journey has me in the Pentateuch right now and I am doing a subset study I call “they walked with God” based on a sermon I had three years ago. I knew I was just scratching the surface, so I am back to it now. I am looking at Adam, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham.
I am currently deep in the life of Abraham and really have a sense of walking on holy ground. Abraham is wonderfully imperfect. I identify so readily with his major screwups.
Read moreWhen I first came into ministry it was the days of leadership development under guys like John Maxwell. There was the mantra: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
Read moreAnd he is the head of the body, the church… (Col. 1:18)
There are little snippets from Colossians and Ephesians that cause my heart to leap out of my love for the Church. They give me life and hope all over again. While I am hard on what I see in the white conservative American Church, it doesn’t mean I don’t love the Body of Christ.
Read moreReading in Eugene Peterson’s biography (and remembering this story from his memoir), there was the time in beginning Christ Our King church that they finally built their building. It was a glorious time. Then, people began to disappear.
Read moreThere is no doubt so many expressions of the American Church have caused a lot of pain and turmoil. Through the ages, the Body of Christ has struggled with the humanity of the institution called the Church.
Read moreThoughts for the week ahead:
Read moreI cannot state enough times or emphatically enough how much I am blown away with Jeremiah being the reading in the Daily Office at the time we are in culturally. These reminders are stark. I am also reminded of my own struggle as a pastor.
Read moreAs I was preparing this post and then started to post, I put my title in first. I almost wrote: “Walking WITH PURPOSE into the New Year.” (Well, not all caps, but those were the words I chose to delete.)
It’s not that “with purpose” is a bad idea. It’s a bad idea to walk into a new year stumbling around. But, that phrase reminded of two more recommendations I want to make to you. I was going to focus on some podcasts to remind us all to stay focused when the political world is a rolling dumpster fire.
On to the recommendations!
Read moreDavid French takes up the subject of celebrity pastors. It’s not just about the latest notable failing and “fashion pastors.” Or, “hot pastors.” It’s about guarding our hearts and staying humble before the Lord.
Christian celebrities will continue to fall. But they don’t have to fall so often. They don’t have to inflict so much pain. Change will only come when Christian leaders remember a few painful truths. Their hearts are deceitful. They do not deserve their fame. God does not need them. Instead, they need Him. And they need to remember those truths every day of every week of every year until their race is complete.
More HERE.
The “megachurch” culture keeps tripping over itself… and we keep ignoring it. Katelyn Beaty is bold enough to point out the latest issue:
He also swam in waters that reward form over substance. Today’s sexualized, glossy version of the megachurch pastor is calculated to replace the stereotype of a frumpy pastor in pleated khakis and a combover. With skinny jeans, tattoos and tight abs, the hot pastor is commissioned to bring souls to Jesus by mimicking the temptations of social media thirst traps. But if you embody that culture, you risk becoming it. Hotness is as hotness does.
More HERE.
