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Blue Chips and Junk Bonds
David Brooks is one of my favorite columnists. This column discusses politics, but it reminds me of a conversation I had regarding ministry as well. Brooks’s contention is that liberals have allowed short term gains to cloud their vision for long term good. The conversation I had regarding churches and ministry was much the same. American churches are investing in…
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Thoughts on Pastoring
I have been encouraged by a mentor of mine to put together some thoughts on ministry. It’s meant to be an encouragement for pastors who… well… pastor. It’s more about the ministry and call of pastoring as opposed to all the leadership material we have right now. Mark Galli’s piece, of course, pre-empts all my work! 😉 Since there is…
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The Spirit of Generosity
A new survey going around Facebook shows that churches are more stingy than ever. It’s the kind of fodder we seem to like. For cynics, it’s just another bullet in the gun for them. For Christians, it’s yet another way to beat ourselves up. For the church I pastor I want to say this survey is not the rule. For…
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What a Full Day Looks Like
I have LOTS of full days… and they get strung together and keep on going. Yet, in the midst of those full days I find such joy. The past few Sundays at my church have been incredibly encouraging for me. There is a hunger rising up in people. We had a prayer retreat a week ago where the agenda was…
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The Danger of “Decision” Theology
Scot McKnight makes the comparisons of how the New Testament seems to be talking about Gospel… and how we “gospel” today. He pulls no punches. When all we care about is bringing people to a decision, to pray a prayer, to just admit their sin and find Jesus as Savior, we are doing damage. Jesus becomes a personal Savior, but…
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Decisions or Disciples
What did Jesus call us to? Get people to a decision… or call on us to follow him? Scot McKnight is highlighting this powerfully in his book, The King Jesus Gospel, but Dallas Willard was doing so before. And for some reason… we’re still not paying attention. I was in a very uncomfortable conversation yesterday because it revolved around the…
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The Great Shock of God Doing Something New
In preparation for our church’s prayer retreat this weekend I am reading through Acts. When I come to Acts 10, I pray through this scenario and ask challenging questions. I will never forget several years ago working my way through this passage and asking, “Lord, what segment of our society today would be like the Gentiles?” In Peter’s day, the…
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Preaching the Prophetic or Preaching the Politics?
Today seems to be a day where a bunch of preachers are going to “climb into their pulpits” and brazenly give their political views. First of all, not too many conservative evangelicals (and that is what they are talking about in this story) “climb into pulpits.” They kind of dance onto a stage, I think. Well, “dance” may not be…
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The Pope and Pentecostalism
Pope Benedict made the following comments about Pentecostalism: The geography of Christianity has changed dramatically in recent times, and is in the process of changing further. Faced with a new form of Christianity, which is spreading with overpowering missionary dynamism, sometimes in frightening ways, the mainstream Christian denominations often seem at a loss. This is a form of Christianity with…
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The Novelty of Being a Heretic
Marc Cortez offers some thoughts on why being a heretic is so doggone attractive. (HERE) It’s true. Being orthodox is actually work… and who these days wants that?
Category: Church Life
