This is one of the reasons I love blogging. Not only does it allow me to express my thoughts on all manner of things, I also get to hear the thoughts of people from all over the world on the topics I write about. A couple of weeks ago I posted something called “Church Planting: [...]
Posts under ‘Pastor’
“We cannot fix our problems on paper. What we need is fire!”
One must avoid becoming a pipeline of other people’s thoughts, but when it comes to Doug Wilson, at times I can’t resist. Sometimes I don’t even understand what he’s saying, but even then there are always a few paragraphs that ring true. Like these: “If American Christians succeeded in having the Apostles Creed put into [...]
God Bless the Offended Legalist (3) – How to Offend a Legalist and Not Sin
Part 1 – My Story Part 2 – A Biblical Theology of Offending Your Brother Part 3 – How to Offend a Legalist and Not Sin Part 3 – How to Offend a Legalist and Not Sin This is the part we’re bound to struggle with since it can too easily turn into the wrong [...]
Dear Kevin
(This is an open letter to my friend Kevin Abell. Before reading this letter you should read about Kevin and his book here. Go ahead, it will open in a new window) Dear Kevin, You recently wrote about a problem you’ve been having lately. Most people, you say, have a problem finding other people they [...]
I’m a Pastor… but not THAT KIND of pastor!
This is part 2 of last week’s post “Paid Professionals on Pedestals”. (cartoons courtesy David Hayward. Click on images to see larger version) When I meet someone for the first time and we get around to saying what we do for a living I say, “I’m a pastor…” and then add something like “…but not [...]
Church Planting: Slums or Suburbs? WWJP? (Where Would Jesus Plant?)
I saw it again today – a brand new subdivision in a prospering town. And right there in the mix, a big new church building. It feels a bit wrong to say something negative about all the effort it must have taken to build that church. We do need more churches after all, and I [...]
Paid Professionals on Pedestals (a.k.a. Pastors)
Rick Warren describes a church ministry philosophy that I’ve been privileged to learn about first-hand since coming on staff at AEMMC. This article is right in so many ways. I have no idea if this is the way things are done at Warren’s church – I’ll assume that they are, but I think he’s right [...]
4 Important Things About Strengths, Skills, and Talents
Developing other leaders and mentoring them is a core component of pastoring. Matt Perman (Desiring God | What’s Best Next) makes some excellent observations on the difference between “what I’m good at” and “what my strengths are” and the difference between skills and talents: 1. “What I’m Good At” vs. “What My Strengths Are” People [...]
Making an Idol of Ambition
John Starke dishes out four things every Pastor I know (myself included) needs to hear. These are a few things for the ambitious — those who tend to make an idol of work, accomplishments, and their self-worth — to keep in mind: 1. You cannot accomplish everything – only God can God limited the day [...]
Keeping Sabbath
Do you keep a Sabbath? Do you have one day every week where you ignore the phone, your email, and your “to do” list? I was going to write a great post on what it means to take a sabbath… and then I saw that Darryl Dash already had. In “God’s Gift of Sabbath”, he [...]
