Weekend Musings It is impossible for me to read Psalm 137 and not think of Don McLean’s 1969 Babylon. I read the Psalm’s opening lines and instantly I am transported to McLean’s 1 minute 41 second recording. His musical interpretation, with its haunting melody, his liquidly smooth voice coupled with his understanding of the texture of the … More “You Will Not Forget Us”
Is preaching a worthless activity in our churches? Why do we devote so much time to it each week when so few pay any attention to what preachers preach? Oh our congregations listen, they pay attention to listening, they tolerate our droning, and teaching, and preaching, and impassioned exhortations. Many appreciate the effort we … More Worthless Activities in Our Churches
Weekend Musings Can unbelievers understand the New Testament? Can they read its pages, see the portrayal of Christ in the gospels and the early correspondence of the Church and not see that extraordinary claims are made for the person of Christ? Can they fail to see that he claimed to be be God in the … More Jesus is God: So What? —Putting Jesus in His Place
Tuesday is for Heart Songs I was sitting with a fellow leader in the church talking about ministry. Specifically, our strategy of up-stream vs down stream ministries. Downstream ministries are reactive, up-stream ministries are proactive. The subject of getting men involved in discipling their families came up. “How do you deal with men who say … More 5 Strategies for Involving Non-Reading-Men in Discipleship
The following is an excerpt from chapter 5 of the book Picking a President: Or Any Other Elected Official. As mid-term elections begin to take shape around the nation, I thought it might be a good short reflection on the need to take seriously our duty to vote. A One-Vote Oddity Did One Vote Make … More Did One Vote Make it Possible to Win World War II?
Weekend Musings The people at Lutheran Satires have done a good job with this animated short film about bad analogies for the Trinity. (Mild warning: Includes an unnecessary crass moment at the end which unfortunately is too true of too many Irish Americans.) The broad outline of what would become the Athanasian Creed were laid … More Bad Analogies for the Trinity
Weekend Musings Friday, I had a day off and got some long overdue projects done around the house. Saturday I paid the price of some of those projects with an achy back. But I also got to meet with another pastor and discuss partnering our two churches in the planting of a new congregation in … More It’s 4:16 AM and I Want to Sleep
Friday is for Reflection Spent the day consulting with a church staff in Bloomington, IL helping them think through some thorny issues related to the direction of their church. Came back this evening to read the following quote from Rick Howerton on Facebook from my friend Miguel Labrador in the cloud forest of Ecuador. Rick … More Down with Churches as Country Clubs
I have already posted for the day but this link is important. Older pastors with lots of experience are tempted in many ways, (pride, arrogance, sense of entitlement, laziness to name a few) but this post is especially for young pastors as well. The going gets tough, people don’t appreciate you the way you think … More The Ugly Side of Christian Consumerism
Weekend Musings I so want to use this sometime in a message! It’s not their innocence, but their wide-eyed wonder and delight that Jesus has in mind when he says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this … More Unless You Become Like Little Children … You Shall Not Enter
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