“The Circle Maker” 3.0

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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

The Beginning of Holy Week

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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

Prayer Idiosyncrasies

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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

The Slippery Slope From Marginal to Mainstream

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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

5 Ways Leaders Help Others Avoid Stagnation

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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

5 Ways Leaders Avoid Stagnation

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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

This Site Is Getting a New Look With Headway 3

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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

United Methodists Prepare for General Conference 2012

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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

Desperate Preacher’s Prayer Guide 5.0

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I continue to revise my preaching-related prayer guide, which I started a couple of years ago (see 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0). It has remained pretty steady for a while, but I’ve been revising it again in the last couple of weeks. My purpose isn’t really to perfect it, but to reflect whatever I’m emphasizing … Read more

Task Management App: 2do

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I’ve written about my long-time search for a better way to manage time and tasks: Task Management, Task Management 2.0, and Time Management. My latest stop on this journey is the iPad app, 2do. As I’ve stated before, my journey started with a Franklin Day Planner when I was in college. Over the years, I’ve … Read more