Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
Tonight was our “information sharing” meeting where our Exploratory Team (“scouts”) presented their report after months of prayer, discussion, and data gathering. Essentially, they are recommending that our three churches unite as one congregation. The presentation came together at the last minute (though we’ve been working on it for a while). Our scouts did an … Read more
Numbers 14.1-25 I believe this passage speaks very clearly to where we’re at right now. The scouts presented their report, which led to plotting and inciting rebellion by those who wanted to force their way on others. The leaders speak, but then the people want to stone them. God becomes angry with the people and … Read more
Matthew 13 Two weeks ago when I was with you we talked about "Our Mission: Saving Souls" and the image of the church as a life saving station. We talked about knowing who we are: sinners saved by God’s grace. Knowing what we are called to do: share the message of God’s saving grace with … Read more
Fridays are half-days in the dmin program at Asbury. And today was very laidback. We began the day, as we did each day, with a time of devotion and worship in Fletcher Chapel. The worship time was a real highlight of the week’s experience! After worship time, we talked about our final paper (due within … Read more
Every class I’ve taken so far has been an excellent, growing and transforming experience. I’m grateful for that! Every class has been different, and complementary of one another. And all are somewhat tiring. This class, though, with its heavy introspection and focus on sin (and holiness) has made this an even more tiring class. Not … Read more
Another good day, focusing on "the spirituality of leading" here in Wilmore, KY. We continue to enjoy our time here. This class is very diverse – people from all over the nation and some from around the world, representing various cultures. It’s good to return to a multi-cultural environment! This is also a larger class … Read more
Morning devotions have been excellent. Yesterday’s devotion centered on Psalm 16 (the goodness of God and the importance of seeing God as good), and today’s grew out of Mark 4 and the story of the seeds that fell on four different kinds of soil. Though all of us have preached from this text, we were … Read more
As I wrote yesterday, Joleen and I are at Asbury this week for a class on "The Spirituality of Leading." Dr. Stephen ("Steve") Martyn is teaching this class, and our first day was a great day. We began our time (as we will every day) in Fletcher Chapel, a small worship space designed for small … Read more
Hello. I’m reporting from Wilmore, KY tonight! Joleen and I are here this week for our sixth class, "The Spirituality of Leading." It looks to be an excellent class; in fact, this is the first class that caught my attention when we began looking at school catalogs back in 2003. I will *try* to do … Read more
We began a new series last week to help us prepare for our upcoming, momentous decision. As we’ve been saying, the wrong question is, "What can we do to survive?" That will always lead us down the wrong path! The question we need to be asking (after, "God, what is your will for us?") is, … Read more