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Preaching is the most important ministry task of a pastor. Communities of faith are shaped through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Because preachers must present a new message every week, preaching is also challenging. As every writer knows, beginning each message with a “blank page” can be daunting! Everyone has their own system … Read more
One of the children’s books the kids have enjoyed over the last several months is Hermie, a Common Caterpillar, by Max Lucado (there’s also a DVD). Basically, Hermie, and his friend, Wormie, feel bad about being common caterpillars and keep asking God why they have to be so common. God keeps reminding them that he’s … Read more
I’m finally nearing the end of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, a book that’s having a tremendous impact on me. Batterson discusses fasting. He writes … Fasting has a way of fast-tracking our prayers. Because fasting is harder than praying, fasting is a form of praying hard. In my experience, it is the shortest … Read more
In the Christian year, Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and concludes on Easter. The week encompasses extreme highs and extreme lows. Yesterday was Palm Sunday, which celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Here’s how the event is recorded in Matthew 21 (Common English Bible) … 1 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage … Read more
I’ve really enjoyed reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson (see “The Circle Maker” 1.0, “The Circle Maker” 2.0, as well as Spiritual Priming and Shaping Culture). In the book, Batterson talks about idiosyncrasies. He begins by listing some of his own, and even some of Jesus’, including how “he loved to pray early in … Read more
I am not a historian or an anthropologist. But I think there’s a common tendency to begin at the margins of society and move toward the mainstream. At the cultural level, one generation rebels against the previous generation. But, eventually, the actions of the younger generation become mainstream, and the cycle continues when the next … Read more
Yesterday, I wrote 5 Ways Leaders Avoid Stagnation. It was a post about self-leadership, which can be some of the most challenging leadership of all! But that got to me thinking about how leaders, and particularly, pastors, help others from becoming stagnant. Here are 5 ways leaders help others avoid stagnation … 1. Model discipleship … Read more
Several years ago, in a class led by Dr. Russell West at Asbury, I shared my fear of becoming stagnant and losing my passion to keep growing. Because of the human tendency to settle, preventing this fear from becoming reality requires intentionality and constant awareness. Here are five ways leaders avoid stagnation … 1. Follow … Read more
Last November, I wrote a post on Building a Church Website With WordPress. In that post, I discussed the basic steps for setting up a church website using WordPress.org’s software. I also talked about using Headway Themes, a theme framework that uses an innovative “visual editor” to build and design websites with WordPress. As I … Read more
Every four years, United Methodists from around the world gather for General Conference, the UMC’s top legislative body. The next gathering will take place in Tampa, Florida, April 24-May 4, 2012. This year, General Conference will consist of 988 delegates (half clergy, half laity), as elected in each conference. The UMC has a site set … Read more