Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
One morning last week, during my time with God, I was praying for my (and Joleen’s) ministry/leadership, and said … Make us the followers you want us to be so that we can be the leaders you call us to be! I have always believed that leaders must first be followers. Christ-following leaders must first … Read more
As I wrote earlier, Centre Grove’s Church Council is discussing Bishop Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Last night, we began discussing “radical hospitality.” We started the discussion by reflecting on and evaluating how well we are currently practicing hospitality. Basically, we concluded that while there are some good signs (i.e., we believe we’re … Read more
I have written about a couple books that we read awhile back in our D.Min. program at Asbury. I want to write about one more: Missional Church: A vision for the sending of the church in North America (Darrell Guder, editor). Ever since I read the book in 2004, I have been using the word … Read more
A couple months ago, we started keeping a list of words that Ethan says (or has said), partly because our pediatrician had asked how many words he can say. Since we weren’t sure, we decided to start a list of words he can say as well as words he can sign. The list is getting … Read more
Less than three weeks after starting the HealthMiles incentives program, I have reached Level 2 (out of 5). I plan to update my progress as I reach each new level (see my previous post, Racking Up HealthMiles, including the comments about how individuals can now sign up for the program; we have joined through our … Read more
We finally took a real day off today. Sad to say, it was our first real day off in a while (even though Friday is our scheduled day off). Unfortunately, the rest of the month doesn’t look too promising, either! Taking time to be together as a family is important not only for our personal/family … Read more
On Sunday, I challenged the people at Centre Grove to give up something (e.g., sweets, TV, etc.) or take up something (e.g., a spiritual discipline, etc.) for Lent. I’ve decided to go with a taking up practice this year, namely, reading Eugene Peterson, perhaps best known for his monumental work, The Message. I discovered Peterson … Read more
Edited on May 26, 2012 to say that this list is a little dated, but hopefully, it’s still helpful. I have always been a researcher. Back in college and seminary (just before the internet became widely available), I commonly had tons of sources in my research papers and I often spent many hours/days researching before … Read more
Experience is a good thing. We need experience in order to grow. But there is a downside of experience. The more experience we get in using our God-given gifts/abilities, the more confidence we get in our abilities. (BTW, I believe I got this idea from a book by Bruce Wilkinson that I read several years … Read more
I love what Jesus said about calling us to be fruitful. As a Christ-follower, I want to honor God with my life. I believe that means, in part, living a fruitful life. Jesus said … You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that … Read more