Today I share some random thoughts concerning the challenges of our contemporary world. How should the church live out the faith of Jesus in the present world? We live in a religiously divided world; we live in a non-Christian world, we live in a post-modern world. Some days it seems that everything that was nailed …
Continue reading “Being Church in the World in Which we Live”
What was it like to assemble with the church in the first century? What were the attitudes of the Christians as they came together on the Lord’s Day? What did they talk about? What did they think about? Some of the places of assembly may have been public buildings; more often the church assembled in …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Preparing for Ministry”
One of the conversations that I shared this week focused on how we can best describe the task of missionaries in the development of strong local churches in the mission field. An oft-quoted development model identifies four steps: self-governance, self-sustainability or becoming self-supporting, self-theologizing, and self-duplication through planting additional churches. While the steps in the …
Continue reading “Understanding Missions through the Lens of Responsibility”
Matthew 25 is usually quoted to remind us of the importance of “benevolent work” or prison ministry. The text says, “Insomuch as you did it unto one of the least of these, you did it unto me.” Today I am thinking about a different application of this text. How do I treat my brothers and …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: God lives among his people”
The Bible is no longer only a book. The Bible is an ap. On Sunday, I carry my Bible–a hardback book. A friend frequently reminds me that he has hundreds of Bibles (versions) on his computer. He follows up with the observation that he cannot read many of them because they are in other languages. …
To be a leader in the church is to walk the tightrope between control and freedom. Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. Church leaders are shepherds. The shepherd metaphor says a great deal about church leadership. The shepherd leads the sheep by controlling them when they wander or when dangers threaten. But day …
Continue reading “Leadership: Facilitating Involvement, Engagement, Ownership”
Yesterday exceeded fondest expectations. The 75th Anniversary Celebration at Plymouth was indeed special–renewing friendships, making new friends in Christ, sharing common faith. There were 327 present for the morning assembly, plus a few workers at the park preparing details for the noon picnic. The time was too short and the picnic was accentuated with raindrops. …
Today we share spiritual family reunions with two families that are an important part of our spiritual history. We served in ministry with the Plymouth church of Christ almost 40 years ago (1974-1976). Today the Plymouth church celebrates its 75th anniversary and we are thrilled at the prospect of worshiping this morning with our spiritual …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Plymouth and Holmes Road”
Effective leaders provide examples of excellence. A person may occupy a position of leadership without being excellent, but that person will struggle to lead effectively and powerfully without a personal commitment to excellence. A person of excellence is committed. Excellence cannot be scheduled for selected time periods of life. Persons committed to excellence begin early …
I like to use a part of the day on Sundays for meditation. Generally, my best opportunity for meditation is early Sunday morning. Something seems right about using the Lord’s Day to think more deeply about the things of God. Today I am thinking about excellence in the Christian life. Christian excellence is not the …
