Tweet We are nearing the end of our look at what’s been called The Roman Road, a handy tool of verses helpful in explaining salvation to someone. I hope you…
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We are on a few days vacation this week. We came with another couple to the San Francisco area. Cheryl and I have traveled extensively, and we’ve been to California, but never to this part of the state. Even only after our first full day we love this place! It was a gorgeous day and we explored the famous Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, and walked every inch of Alcatraz today. In addition, I ran 6 miles along the bay this morning. We came back to our hotel exhausted.
This is not an atypical day for Cheryl and me on vacation. On every vacation we are never still, seeing everything we can in the time we are away, and we often go home more tired than when we left. That’s how we do “vacation”.
How do you do it?
About once a month, someone shares a story with me that’s big. I get stories all the time, but I’m talking about the kind of story that makes your jaw flop open when you hear it…that kind of big story.
I’ve quit being surprised when it happens, but I’m usually surprised that it’s happening to the person telling me the story. Usually this type of story starts with a phrase such as “I hope you’ll still be my friend after I tell you this...” or “Please don’t give up on me when I tell you this…”
Someone made a huge error…they messed up…they sinned…
What surprises me most, however, is that no matter how much I preach with grace, in spite of the fact that “grace” is in our church’s name, even though I’m not bashful about saying I’ve had tremendous failures in my own life…
People still worry how I will respond to them.
Guilt does that too a person…and struggling with the emotions after a moral failure is often one of the hardest consequences…
Let me make one thing perfectly clear, however…
Tweet People can hide a lot of pain… Many times what we can see is not all there is to see.. ***You see the happy couple that seems to have…
Tweet I love being a dad. I really do. It’s one of my favorite things about life. Here are 12 reasons: I get to cheer from the sidelines… I get…
Tweet I realize it’s not a modern song, and the graphics may seem cheesy, perhaps even the song to some, but I raised my boys on this song. Well, I…
Tweet We continue looking at what’s been called “The Roman Road”, a walk through the book of Romans that helps explain the essence of salvation; what it means to be…
Tweet We moved downtown… After we became empty-nesters, Cheryl and I sold the house where we raised our boys and purchased a condominium in the downtown area of our city….
Over the next few months, I’ll be interviewing some great business leaders. They may or may not be leading Christian companies, but they will be high-level leaders in successful organizations. I think there are helpful things to learn for us in the church world from those leading outside the church.
I begin with Mark Schoenwald, President and Chief Executive Officer at Thomas Nelson. I have met Mark on a couple of occasions and each time he left a great impression on me in a casual setting. I understand he is a runner, which makes me identify with him, but I also gather from our causal encounters that he is professional, methodical, kind, and wise. Mark recently replaced the well-known Michael Hyatt as CEO of Nelson. From the outside, it appears Mark will approach the position different from Michael. I was interested in learning from Mark’s leadership.
Here is an interview with Mark Schoenwald:
Tweet The last two years have been a season of change in my life. I’ve experienced a change of perspective as we’ve transitioned into being empty nesters and I’ve experienced…
I don’t do much marriage counseling these days. I have a master’s in counseling and spent a few years almost exclusively doing counseling, but the size of the church and my role leading and developing the staff takes more of my time now. As a pastor, knowing that my opportunity is limited in offering on-going counseling, I have learned that it is important to assess the health of the marriage early in the counseling process if I have any hopes of making progress.
Here is one method I found helpful. I ask each spouse to answer this short questionnaire separately:
This is a note to the church shopper, especially those who can’t seem to find a place to call home. You want to have a church family, but nothing seems to connect with you. You’ve tried every flavor of church, but none match you taste.
My desire would be to see you loving your church experience. No church is perfect, but if you will follow a few tips, you may find exactly the right fit for your family. Here is my best advice. Don’t give up until you’ve tried all of this process, because each step is necessary to achieve the best results:
If you are looking to connect with a church:
Another week has come and nearly gone…
It felt like a normal, almost typical week…
At times it seemed so scattered and chaotic at times that I wondered if I had accomplished anything.
That’s “normal”…
I decided to look back at my calendar to see what I had actually done
Here are some highlights from a “typical” pastor’s week: