Pan American Lectureship Day 1 A travel day means up early–as I write it is 4 a.m. The coffee is making and we will leave for the airport soon. We are looking forward to meeting up with the rest of the group in Houston. Our shrinking world makes it possible for us to be on …
Monthly Archives: October 2010
Pan American Lectureship #47
Next week marks the 47th annual Pan American Lectureship. This year’s lectureship will be held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The lectureship has been described as a “movable spiritual feast” due to the fact that it moves each year from one location to another across Latin America. Its purpose is to call attention to the opportunities and …
It’s Sunday Again: The Best Is Yet To Be
Each Lord’s Day, the church assembles to partake of the bread and to drink the fruit of the vine. We do this because of what Jesus taught his disciples just prior to his death. We do it because Jesus participates in the feast in his kingdom. We do this because the early church did it. …
Reflections: Holmes Road
Note: I was recently asked to write a “reference” for inclusion on the website of the Holmes Road Church in Lansing. Jan and I worked with this church for almost a dozen years. It is hard to believe that over 23 years have passed since we left that ministry. How can I describe the Holmes …
It’s a New World
I have been reviewing my blogs for 2010–close to 150 in almost 300 days. Along the way, I have done some recategorizing to make searches easier and more consistent. My conclusion after rereading this year’s writings is that we live in a new world! The church faces challenges the magnitude of which it has never …
Crystal Cathedral Bankruptcy: Will anyone learn anything?
The news earlier this week that the Crystal Cathedral has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again raises the question about what it means to be a church, and how churches ought to live out their ministries. The Crystal Cathedral, established over 50 years ago by Robert Schuller, is $43 million dollars in debt with over …
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Two Special Weekends
Today is a travel day. After a too-short visit with the Lansing church–two leadership workshops, two “missions emphasis” Sundays, sermons, classes, and typical ministry with hospital visits, Bible studies, visits, fellowship and encouragement, we will be home by mid-afternoon. These crisp, fall days are reminders of special times past, reminders of a dozen years of …
It’s Sunday Again: Called to Faithfulness
Some days the ways one can describe God’s calling seem endless. Multiplied descriptions and almost endless word lists can make Christianity seem complicated. The Hebrew writer calls us back to the center–keep your eyes on Jesus, as the example and source of perseverance and faithfulness. God calls us to faithfulness. We can water it down …
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Church Leadership…Again
Today I present another leadership workshop. I share bits and pieces in this morning’s blog. Leaders must focus on developing people (transformational) more than getting the work done (transactional). Managers may organize and run an organization (or a church), but ministry builds people. Leaders must be more concerned with ministry than management. The effectiveness of …
LifeSavors: Sun-drenched trees in full color
Spectacular! Unbelievable! I was very glad I was not driving as we navigated the busy two-lane street. I could give my full attention to drinking in the annual color festival of northern arbor specimens. Look at that vivid red, that tree is bright yellow, there is an orange tree, that one is half-orange and half-green! …
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