Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
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
Last Wednesday, we enjoyed a family day, going to see “Thomas and Friends” at the Johnstown War Memorial. It was a last minute decision as we saw it advertised on PBS the Saturday before. Both Ethan and Sarah enjoyed the 90-minute musical stage production. There was a lot of audience participation, a lot of music. … Read more
Two and a half years ago, I wrote a brief post—Keep Alert—that quoted Jesus encouraging his disciples to keep alert. I often think about Jesus’ encouragement to keep alert. It fits well with what I wrote to start this Lenten season—Whoever Has Ears … listen, pay attention, don’t miss this! This is not an exhaustive … Read more
Several weeks ago, I posted the historic questions for those being ordained in The United Methodist Church. The cool thing about the list is that these questions (slightly revised over the past 225+ years) have been asked every year of people moving toward (or entering) ordained ministry. But I have been wondering just how much … Read more
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Lent is a 40-day journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter not counting Sundays. For many, it is a time of self-examination and repentance—a time of remembering the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In recent weeks, I’ve been thinking about a phrase that Jesus used … … Read more
One week from today, Joleen and I will be in Lewistown, PA for ordination interviews with the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. If we pass, we will be on track for ordination at annual conference in June. With interviews just around the corner, here are four thoughts on our ordination journey … 1. What a … Read more
A few days ago, I wrote about the Common English Bible (CEB). The CEB is conducting a 40-day Lenten blog tour. According to the site, readers are invited: … to experience Christ’s passion—and its meaning for our lives individually and corporately—through the lens of a new Bible translation. Follow the Lenten Blog Tour day by … Read more
Today is Sarah’s birthday—she’s two! We celebrated Sarah’s birthday yesterday on our day off. Thanks to Ethan and Sarah’s adoptions, we have lots to celebrate—birthdays (Sarah’s first birthday post) as well as gotcha days (Sarah’s first gotcha day and Ethan’s last one a month ago). Here are four photos from yesterday’s celebration and four from … Read more
I love Bible translations, especially new ones. Translations help readers experience God’s Word in fresh, new ways—and they give preachers (and others) new tools to play with! I grew up in a faith tradition that read only the King James Version (KJV), but I discovered modern translations when I was in seminary in the early … Read more
The most recent book of the 15 Books That Have Shaped Me as a Leader that I read was Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels. While not specifically a leadership book, it’s written by a leader on a topic that leaders must develop. There are a few authors/leaders that I consider must-reads. For … Read more