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 …
Category Archives: Ministry
It’s Sunday Again: Recharging
After four consecutive Sundays “on the road”, I welcome the quietness of today. The Lord’s Day is familiar after 3000+ Sundays, but I am also today enjoying familiar surroundings, my own bed, my usual routines. Already this morning I am recharging, reflecting, rejoicing, and praying for what God is preparing in coming weeks. What a …
Training Seminars: Lexington and Nashville
The Lexington seminar with the Southside Iglesia de Cristo began on Sunday, February 5 with Bible class and worship at 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm. (Jan and I took advantage of the opportunity Sunday morning to attend worship and class with the Anglo congregation.) The seminar continued Sunday evening with a two-hour session, which was …
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Las Iglesias de Cristo: Developing a Heart for the Things of God
Earlier this week I spent four special days with a church that strongly desires to develop a heart for God. The church is relatively small with an average Sunday attendance of perhaps 25. The evening Bible studies were well attended, with about 2/3 or 3/4 of the congregation present. In U.S. churches, our Hispanic brothers …
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Boxed in by Tradition: Can We Escape?
We are planting and sustaining traditional churches, even when we use untraditional means at the beginning of a church plant. In many church plantings, we are using biblical methods, e.g. small groups, house churches, simple churches, neighborhood networks, etc., but as soon as we have a viable base, we are establishing traditional churches. In using …
Surrender to What Counts
You will never be worth much to God in your Christian life until you learn this lesson: surrender to what counts. The spiritual disciplines must include surrender. In fact, surrender is likely the first, before any other discipline. Surrender is the ultimate expression of thinking like Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11). Until the lesson of ultimate surrender …
Just Thinking…about Culture
Jan and I are sometimes jealous–jealous of those folks who have spent most or all of their lives in one place and have close lifelong friendships and relationships that have developed over decades. But about the time we get too deep in feelings of self-pity, someone will voice their wish that they could have had …
Accountable for What?
Peter several times mentions the problem of forgetting and the need for reminders (2 Pet. 1:9,12-15; 2:20-21; 3:1,5,8). Because we are prone to forget, we need reminders. There is too little “review” in the typical church. In the academic world, students review so they can pass a test. In many occupations, professional journals provide reviews …
Team Building Seminars
The work of the local church cannot be done by one person charged with ministry, or even by a small group of persons who provide leadership and are committed to the work. God intended the church to work together with the involvement of every member for self-edification and self-development (Ephesians 4:15-16). Paul describes the church …
Cause for Concern?
I offer a recent reflection (These Things Concern Me) with the hope that we might step back and evaluate our tendencies toward division rather than unity. I ask that you prayerfully read and think and reflect in the spirit in which I write. I am concerned with an increasing tendency to develop and use creeds, …