Yesterday’s leadership seminar was a superb experience–a men’s breakfast, morning sessions, and afternoon meeting with the shepherds yielded fresh mission and vision statements that can provide direction, dreams, energy, and enthusiasm for renewal and continued growth. Today will be a time to focus on remembering God’s purpose and encouraging us to live out the reality …
Category Archives: Christian living
I am a Maximalist
I have been accused of being a perfectionist. I like to do things well, I want to do things right. I am demanding–of myself and of others (perhaps too much of others). But I do not see myself as a perfectionist. It would be more accurate to say that I am a maximalist. Especially in …
Grieving for a little while….
The discussion was lively and challenging with stimulating questions and observations as we reviewed the first two chapters of the book of First Peter. As is often the case, we were a little hard on ourselves. Maybe we don’t suffer enough…perhaps our faith is not strong enough…or our spiritual sacrifices are not sacrificial enough…. What …
Act 21
Here we are in Act 21 (the twenty-first century). The drama continues to unfold. The good guys are fighting the bad guys. Sometimes you can’t tell who is on which side (no black hats and white hats). We are not the audience–we are on stage. It is a crazy drama like none you have ever …
Balanced Christianity
A MinEmergent devotional I received recently contained a quote from Philip Gulley’s book, If the Church Were Christian. I have inserted an editing suggestion in brackets. Consider whether your Christian life is balanced between believing and action, remembering that James 2 says they go hand in hand, and that neither is sufficient without the other. …
Doing what God put us here to do!
We will Exalt the Lord. We worship him, we glorify him in word and deed. We seek to honor him and lift him up as worthy of praise and adoration. We will Edify one another. We find spiritual life and meaning within the community of faith, and recognize the need for encouragement and strength. We …
It’s Sunday Again: Family
We will be with our family again today–our eighth different family reunion location in eight weeks. Over the past seven weeks we have visited and worshipped with our brothers and sisters in Tulsa, Lexington, Nashville, McAlester, Solola, Antigua, and Guatemala City. Except for Jan’s preference for English-speaking worship, each week has been a unique and …
Finding Your PLACE
Where do you “fit” in the church? Every Christian has a place, but every place isn’t for every Christian (1 Cor. 12:12ff; Eph. 4:11-16) Here are five steps to help you toward finding your place. 1. Personal Discovery Who are you? Think and pray about the things that make you you. Think and pray about …
The Treasure in….Plastic WalMart Bags
As I studied the text of 2 Corinthians 4, the parallel seemed obvious to me. In my mental search for contemporary parallels to first century clay pots, WalMart bags are a definite possibility. One deacon remarked, “Bet you never saw a clay pot stuck in the top of a tree!” One has to admit that …
It’s Always About People
Jan and I have lived in several different places during forty plus years of marriage–four states, thirty-one years of full-time ministry in six churches (25 years of full-time ministry with three churches), and a dozen years in two universities. We have enjoyed each place we have lived for its uniqueness. We have roamed pine forests …