Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
After submitting our work for ordination in mid-January, I wrote 150 Days of Preparation for Ordination in which I listed some things I’d like to do in the months leading up to ordination in June. I put the list together because I want to make the most of this time in our lives. The list … Read more
I wrote a post on baby sign language in December 2008, ten months after we brought Ethan home from Korea. Teaching some basic signs to Ethan, and now Sarah, has been one of the best things we’ve done with the kids! Within our first few months with Ethan, we taught him some basic words. But … Read more
We’ve been doing a lot of reflection as we near the end of our ordination journey. One of the areas I’ve been thinking about is calling—God’s call to ministry. My understanding of God’s call have evolved over the years. When I was in Kindergarten, I knew that God called people to “preach” (my grandfather was … Read more
One of the books we read in the Doctor of Ministry program at Asbury a few years ago was Shaped By the Word by M. Robert Mulholland. Mulholland challenges readers to move from an informational approach to reading Scripture to a formational approach. An informational reading of Scripture tends to focus more on “doing” more … Read more
It has been a long, cold winter here in central Pennsylvania. But yesterday was a really nice day — mid-60s, mostly sunny. So, after lunch, I took the kids outside to pay in the backyard, and to clean it up before nap time on our day off. The kids enjoyed their time outside. Sarah was … Read more
Early Methodist editions of the Discipline included instructions on how preachers should use their time profitably. The 1784 Discipline offers the following instructions (written in question and answer format, common practice in early Methodism) in a section titled, “Of employing our Time profitably, when we are not travelling [sic], or not engaged in Public Exercises.” … Read more
Today, we learned that we both have been approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry for ordination in The United Methodist Church. This marks the end of one (long) chapter in our lives—and begins a new chapter! The Board’s action will need the approval of the clergy session at annual conference in June. After final … Read more
When I wrote The Historic Questions 2.0 last week, I noticed that one question referenced the “Rules of a Preacher” and specifically highlighted rule numbers 1, 10, and 12 (numbers 1 and 10 are included in the current list of questions). For those who may be curious, here’s the list of rules for a preacher … Read more
Last night, I created a song playlist—songs to listen to on our way to Lewistown, PA where we will have our ordination interviews Tuesday morning, from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. I included a couple songs from the Songs for Leaders post I wrote a few years ago, and I added a few new ones. … Read more
Tomorrow, Joleen and I are going to Lewistown, PA for interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry—beginning at 8:45 a.m., ending at 12:45 p.m. The morning will consist of four interviews, each with a different team, probably 3-4 people. Each interview will focus on a different area of work that we submitted in January (see … Read more