Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
The church needs to be healthy! I’m in the midst of writing a series of prayers for the Church. Each week, I’m praying about a different topic. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening, transformational leaders, urgency, and hope. Too often, churches are spiritually unhealthy. Some are even toxic. Certainly, the church should attract unhealthy people—the … Read more
The church needs hope! Each week, I’m posting a prayer for the Church. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening, transformational leaders, and urgency. The Church also needs hope. We have hope through Jesus Christ. We have the hope of being rescued from sin and spending eternity with Christ. The Church is the messenger of hope. … Read more
The church needs a sense of urgency! Each week, I’m posting a prayer for the Church. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening and transformational leaders. The Church also needs a sense of urgency (I wrote about urgency yesterday in Eschatological Urgency). O God, we are your hands and feet in the world. Thank you for … Read more
The Church needs transformational leaders! Last week, I began a series of posts praying for the Church. The church certainly needs awakening. It also needs transformational leaders. Joleen and I have always endeavored to be transformational leaders. Transformational leaders seek to help the churches they lead experience new life and to become more active in … Read more
I am beginning a series of posts, praying for the Church. Once a week, for a while, I plan to offer a prayer for the Church, each focused on a specific area. First up is awakening. O God, thank you for your Church, your hands and feet. Thank you for inviting us to participate 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
As I wrote last night, we are the Bishop’s Retreat in Lancaster, PA. Mike Slaughter has been our guest speaker in three sessions (last night, this morning, and this evening). I’ll do more in depth reflection later, but in the meantime, a few thoughts. This morning, Mike talked about a strategy for growing a missional … Read more
We are at the Bishop’s Clergy Retreat in Lancaster, PA. This year’s speaker is pastor of Ginghamsburg Church and author, Rev. Mike Slaughter. I’ve been looking forward to this week ever since we learned at last year’s retreat that Mike would be with us for this retreat. I’ve long been impacted by Mike. In fact, … Read more
In 2006, two of the churches I was serving at the time merged to form a new congregation, Hope UMC (Alexandria, PA). It was quite an intense experience. I was appointed to Centre Grove in 2008 so I only led the new congregation for two years beyond the merger, but ever since then, I’ve wondered … Read more
In the The United Methodist Church, ordained pastors must commit to the itinerant system. Nearly three years ago, just before we moved to Clearfield to assume new ministry appointments, I reflected on The Itinerant System of the UMC (i.e., pastors are appointed to congregations as opposed to being called by congregations). I love what Bishop … Read more