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The Lobster Story
This weekend we had our annual Leadership Training at the church. It was an incredibly significant time because we are in the midst of huge transitions. Our church property is for sale, we’re looking at a new property, adding a business… and so much more. It is a call for transformational thinking. I centered my teaching around a great book called, The…
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Real Church. You may want to try it.
Great thoughts here from Scot McKnight on the local church. Ordinary small churches are the norm and the reality of church life, of kingdom-now life. We have the ideal in our head, and lifted up as THE model for church, McKnight tries to burst that bubble. As pastors we can even have our ideals: Pastors smitten by the ideal of…
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The training of pastors
Pope Francis made some very pointed remarks about the need to train new priests. Some of his comments are so needed in our training of pastors in protestant circles as well: “Formation (of future priests) is a work of art, not a police action. We must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters…
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Why We Need Multiple Generations — the lesson of Rehoboam
After Solomon’s death Rehoboam came to the throne. The people came and made a request: Please ease up on us! We’ve worked hard doing all this work to build Jerusalem! It’s time to let up on the gas a bit. Rehoboam consulted two groups: his father’s advisors and his own “posse.” What would Solomon’s advisers know, anyway? They were all…
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What does street ministry in San Francisco look like?
Sometimes like this: But, for me, I found my own kind of audience that seems to relate very well with me:
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Hard Heart, Soft Life
One of the things about any missions trip is it reveals a couple of things quickly: the condition of the heart and body. I may spend my life pastoring an inner ring suburb, where there are challenges of new ethnic groups, older groups not wanting change, poverty, transition, etc., that doesn’t mean I am used to ANY situation around me.…
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Poverty is poverty
We are currently in San Francisco on our missions trip. You can literally across the street and move from abject poverty to fabulous wealth. But poverty is not about what is on the outside. Spiritual poverty exists all through the city.
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You can have my job!
You want my job? You can have it! Not because I’m done with it. Not by a long shot. I love what I do. I get to teach college students as an adjunct faculty member. This past Friday was graduation and it was a bittersweet time of joy and the knowledge that my time with some of these great students was now over.…
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Getting to the Authenticity of Ministry
My other blog for pastors has this thought today. Go HERE.
Tag: Ministry
