Category: Ministry

  • Dan

    Why Mono-Generational Churches Are a BAD Idea

    I hope I made that word up so I can copyright it! 😉 Mono-Generational Churches are the new wave in American culture. It’s the 20-something church or the 60-something church. It’s niche marketing run amok. We niche our ministry to fill a particular need and it draws people of like-minded ideas. 1. I find that simply boring. 2. I find…

  • Dan

    Video Preaching

    Being a part of a movement that is now hawking multi-site churches, I am treading in very dangerous waters. I offer these words from Tim Keller’s blog as he interacts with another great preacher of a past era: Dr. Lloyd-Jones effectively dismantles the idea that watching a video or listening to an audio of a sermon is as good as…

  • Dan

    Holy Week — The Power of the Gospel Story

    “So Jesus deposits on public record, available to all, the most beautiful teachings about God and his world that have ever been given. At the same time he embodies and modes this teaching in his own life. With his public death and resurrection, Jesus’ name an face are inscribed on the drama of world history, and ever afterward he becomes…

  • Dan

    The Voices in My Head

    I spent the weekend at a ministry conference and have figured out a couple of things. 1. Sometimes putting your name in a drawing has dividends. For me, it’s fun to put my name in when they give away something. Logos Software was giving away a MacBook Pro. (As a side note, my church gifted me with a Logos package,…

  • Dan

    The Power of the Word and the Scriptures

    I am picking up Barth again, slogging through the second volume (which is actually 1.2). The power of the Word and the Scriptures is key for Barth. The section I am currently working through is incredibly exciting. (No, really. It is.) The Church is not merely a human institution. This is not “a human polity, monarchical, aristocratic or democratic, in…

  • Dan

    Why the Scriptures?

    “From a human standpoint the preservation of the Church depends, therefore, on the fact that Scripture is read, assimilated, expounded and applied in the Church, that this happens tirelessly and repeatedly, that the whole way of the Church consists in its striving to hear this concrete witness.” (Karl Barth)

  • Dan

    Pastors and Friends

    The statistic still rattles my brain. After all these years and what seems to be millions of attempts to get pastors to be more transparent, more accountable, more friendly, this post says 70% of pastors do not have close friends. One, that number still astounds me. I also wonder just WHO the pastors are the author talks to. He’s the…

  • Dan

    The End of a Journey

    I have walked slowly through Eugene Peterson’s memoir, The Pastor. I have enjoyed the morsels. It has been a feast of steak dinners on a regular basis. When I finished last night I was sad. This part of my journey with Peterson has ended. His life is so rich. I want his mantle in my own life and ministry. Through…

  • Dan

    What the Spirit Explicitly Says to the Church

    I am walking my way through 1 Timothy in my prayer time and came to Chapter 4 verse 1 the other day. As I’ve been on the road a little bit (traveling to see family and celebrate my grandmother’s 95th birthday), I’ve tossed this verse over in my mind. This morning I am guest preaching in a church. One of…

  • Dan

    Apostolic Ministry

    My life is challenged by modern-day apostles. True apostles. Not the ones taking out full page ads in magazines. The ones actually doing the work of an apostle, too busy to self-promote. They are affirmed in this ministry by the Spirit and the Church recognizes it. The past few months we have had a few in that company visit our…