Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
The most impacting book I’ve ever read on preaching/communication is Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lanes Jones. The book is based on the preaching approach of Andy Stanley, lead pastor of North Point Community Church. I read this book in 2006 and immediately began putting the approach into practice, even before completing … Read more
It’s been a little over a year since I first read The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic. Erwin is one of my favorite writers and Christ-following leaders; I consider all of his stuff must reading (especially for leaders). Every Christ-follower who wants to live whole-heartedly and unabashedly for God should read, … Read more
This week, I’ve (Randy) been reading through 2 Samuel in my Scripture reading. 2 Samuel 16.5-14 especially caught my attention. King David and his army are fleeing Jerusalem because of David’s son Absalom’s rebellion. On their way into hiding, “a man came out of the village cursing them.” This guy is yelling insults and actually … Read more
I just wrote this for our charge’s (monthly) church newsletter (November 2007) … Currently our sermon series is based on Acts 2.42-47, which gives us a snapshot of what the first century church looked like. They were a faith community, living their lives together, giving away their lives to others. Being together lends itself to … Read more
Music plays an important role in our lives. It helps us express our hearts to God. And some music inspires us to change the world! So, this has me thinking about songs that challenge the leader in me. Many songs inspire leaders, no doubt, but here are a few songs that are inspiring me these … Read more
Awhile back I (Randy) was thinking about my life as a Christ-follower and I thought about the importance of the following three words: know, honor, and obey. Know God. Honor God. Obey God. It doesn’t get much more basic than that! Three important words for Christ-followers are know, honor, and obey! Shortly after beginning to … Read more
Everyone keeps telling us that our lives are going to change dramatically when we bring our child home from Korea. We’re sure that will indeed be the case and we’re trying to “get our house in order” before we become parents. By that we don’t only mean setting up the baby’s room. We mean getting … Read more
A couple months ago, I (Randy) did a 3-week sermon series called, Who’s in Charge? Sermon 1.0 made the point, We grow when we face our storms with faith in God! The reality is, we all face things that cause us fear. When we face them head on, in spite of our deepest fears, it … Read more
Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers everywhere are talking about one issue. The issue this year is the environment. When I think about the environment, I think about the importance of caring for God’s creation. Many stories exist of St. Francis of Assisi, often called the patron saint of animals and the environment, and his … Read more
Ever since we received the photos of Baby Willis we’ve had this image in our minds. And even before the referral, this message from the future Baby Willis has been a big motivation for us this year. What a year it has been! We went to Asbury in January 2007 to take a dissertation-writing class … Read more