Category Archives: church
Viewing the Church from the Outside
For the past 15 years or more, I have primarily been viewing the Church from the inside. That is to say, I’ve been an insider, where my primary time, energy and relational connections have been within the boundaries of the … Continue reading
Posted in church, leadership, life
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PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD A RUMOUR…
It’s always amazing to me how fast news travels, and so this is my attempt to get ahead of the jungle drums and let you know about an important change happening for me and our family. WHAT’S THE BIG NEWS? … Continue reading
Posted in church, leadership, life
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Are you a planter or a consumer?
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never sit in.” –Ancient Greek Proverb Our world is being consumed by consumers. They’re everywhere. And the Church is not immune to the effects of consumerism. Tragically, … Continue reading
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God from a Mathematician’s Perspective
If you’re looking for a highly intelligent and sensible discussion about the existence and implications of God in the world from an elite mathematician, then you MUST listen to this. John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University. I … Continue reading
Why bad things happen…
Been thinking about this a lot, and I guess the options are: 1. The devil really did do it 2. God is disciplining us (we don’t like to include this one much, but it’s there in the Bible) 3. We’re … Continue reading
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“It could always be worse…”
There’s always a smart alec somewhere who will tell you in the midst of your valleys that “it could always be worse…” And you usually just feel like smacking them in the snoz. Last year, we had a very tough … Continue reading
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Tortuous Evangelicals
This is just plain disturbing. According to a CNN piece, “the more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.” “More than half of people who … Continue reading
Posted in church, leadership, life, politics
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A Call to Courage
This past weekend, as part of our Rocky Series, I spoke about COURAGE. This week, I had a conversation with someone that illustrated to me the need we have to be people of courage as followers of Jesus. The conversation … Continue reading
Expectations
This happens to pastors all the time, especially in smaller churches. Never ceases to amaze me how far two sets of expectations can be from each other, and how the big evaluation every 3 (or maybe 5) years is a … Continue reading
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Felt needs versus real needs
I really like this. This is a real challenge for us in ministry leadership. Connecting with people on the basis of the their felt needs, but navigating them gently towards exploring their real needs. To do this well and genuinely … Continue reading
Posted in church, leadership, life
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