A couple of Mondays ago, I had the privilege of having a series of conversations with two pastors during a four and half hour walk around a golf course. We were all participating in a Young Life fund-raising event which doubled as a men’s ministry outing for a number of churches in the Columbia, SC … More Church Failure: Most Churches Don’t Understand Discipleship
I was meeting with a young man for breakfast, and 2 Timothy 2:22 was a central pivot of our discussion as followers of Christ. “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (ESV) The gist of our conversation was along … More How to ‘Flee Youthful Lusts”
I call all of this “preparing the soil to receive the seed of the gospel.” The picture and first paragraph are the metaphor for the idea. Fill the bed with a rich, light soil mix. A general all-purpose recipe includes 1 part perlite and 2 parts each of topsoil, peat moss, and compost. Mix it … More Preparing the Neighborhood Soil for Christmas
It’s the third chapter title in the J. Oswald Sanders classic and unequaled work, Spiritual Leadership. (True story: My wife gave me a second date partly because she saw a well-read copy of the book on my office desk.) “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be … More The Master’s Master Principle
No comment necessary except to say, Bonhoeffer’s little book Life Together is worth reading over and over again. (Confession: I have probably read it half a dozen times myself so I am an unabashed fan.) “The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to … More Learning to Listen — a Christian Duty
“Whenever a man is praised it is meet for him to think about his sins and then consider, he should say ‘I am unworthy of the things that are said about me.” —Anonymous One of my professor colleagues at the seminary I taught at in California had a raw bluntness that cut through false modesty … More The Awkwardness of Praise and the Cancer it Feeds
8 Ideas for Fall and Winter Outreach to Your Community Footballs are flying through the air. The NHL season has started. The NBA season has started. College football is already mid-season. College Basketball is about to start. Next week, the World Series will start. Whether you like sports or not, all these things are signs … More Fall and Winter Outreach Ideas
[Dateline: October 15, 1950] I’m reading a military history book. It was a national bestseller when Penguin Random House published it in 2018. Hampton Sides, the author, tells the epic story of “Chosin Reservoir—the Greatest Battle of the Korean War”. ON DESPERATE GROUND is a compelling read. This morning, I was in chapter 7 which … More A Warning to Pastors and Others Who Lead
Can a book published 40 years ago speak with relevance to our situation in a post-Christian COVID-obsessed world riddled with violence and injustice? It depends, but it is likely that if the book is part of the Multnomah Press, “CRITICAL CONCERN” series, that the answer is yes. Yesterday, I was in a conversation with a … More Have Your Relational Capacities been Crippled by the Obsessions of Our Evening News?
Standing Stone Ministries is a “nurturing and encouraging” ministry that has one supreme goal: to strengthen ministry leaders and their spouses who are weary or wounded to help prevent them from “burnout.” I have not officially started with Standing Stone Ministry, but already, just through normal conversations, two pastors have already asked for the kind … More Standing Stone Ministry
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