Mission
He Is Risen… Indeed?
Well, it’s been a little over a year now since our world as church leaders was rocked to its core, as the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping the world last spring and everything everywhere began shutting down. Most of us expected that first weekend of making the last-minute pivot to online services was going to be…
Read MoreWhen The Gospel Starts To Grind
How many times have you preached or taught or written about the epidemic? Not COVID, the other epidemic. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve preached “against” the epidemic of individualism in our culture. Not a red-faced rant kind of preaching, but a measured presentation of the costs we pay for becoming increasingly isolated…
Read MoreWhen The Church Cuts Off The Ear Of The World
Recently, I asked my congregation to come with me as we were invited to sit close to Jesus and listen as he petitioned His Father in John 17. What a privilege it was to listen in on this most sacred prayer that had been preserved for so many year for us to glean from. Some…
Read MoreDon’t Fail the Next Generation of Missionaries.
I have served in the EFCA for over 20 years. Every one of them was focused on the next generation. As I look back on my time as a youth pastor at three different churches, I have fond memories of the students and families that I had the privilege of serving. Those places of ministry…
Read MoreOur Two Conversations
For some time, I’ve had two conversations with two very different groups of my Christian family. One is with white Christians and the other with African-American Christians, both mostly evangelicals, although many of the African-Americans don’t use that label. Most often the conversations are in the larger church community rather than in the church I…
Read MoreWhen Perfect Isn’t An Option
The expectation that we are all highly functioning leaders, at all times, has to die. I certainly don’t want my volunteers trying to live up to that impossible expectation, so we tell our leaders and volunteers that our expectation for them is that they aren’t perfect, just growing. Yet, when it comes to the expectations…
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