A good friend asked me recently “If you were pastoring a church today what would you preach on?” My quick response was “How do we love God and neighbor in a post pandemic future?” As I pondered his question a little more deeply however I found myself looking back over the last year and the important questions it has taught …
How seriously will you follow Christ in 2021? 2020 is over and most of us are thinking about what we want to focus our own lives and those of our congregations in the coming year. It’s hard because looking ahead is almost as uncertain as looking back. We don’t know when we will be able to hold “normal” services again. …
I have just started on what I suspect will be a long, slow discernment project. It all began when I was reminded of the trips my parents used to take me and my three brothers on in the summer. We had a big Ford Falcon station wagon behind which we pulled a small caravan. It was so small in fact …
Normal. What is normal? After all, what seems normal to some is abnormal for others. When my work takes me out of town, I try to stay with friends, family, or colleagues as often as possible. Not only is it more cost-effective, but doing this allows me to catch a glimpse into someone else’s “normal,” solidifying the fact that “normals” …
“Our God is a God who cares, heals, guides, directs, challenges, confronts, corrects. To discern means first of all to listen to God, to pay attention to God’s active presence, and to obey God’s prompting, direction, leadings, and guidance.” [Henri Nouwen][1] Discerning God’s direction does not happen by accident. The Spirit helps us to discern but we have a part to …
“We are shaped by our stories. And these stories, or narratives are running and (often ruining) our lives.” [James Bryan Smith][1] Discerning God’s direction in life is often messy and confusing. The stories that we have picked up in life often times do not serve us well. We need regular periods of silence to help us identify these stories, examine …
If you’ve been planting a church for more than a couple weeks, you’ve probably already encountered a good deal of disillusionment. And if you haven’t felt disillusioned yet… well, just wait. Sorry if that sounds ominous. Disillusionment isn’t fun. You thought one thing and it turned out to be another. You had hoped that family would join the church and …
I recently talked with a church planting couple I used to coach, and they’re planning to shut down their church plant and move on to something new. This might seem like the worst ending to a church planting story, but I actually encouraged them in their decision. Sometimes the best thing to do in church planting is “brush the dust …
January is a month of discernment for me. I don’t just make resolutions I spend considerable time discerning God’s path ahead and working out how I will keep myself on track. It is something I think every Christian community should consider. How do we prepare ourselves so that what we intend sticks? Here is a glimpse of what I am …
A few years ago, my wife and I were packing up boxes and preparing to move to a new home. We were just about finished but we still had to pack up a few boxes of miscellaneous decorative pieces in our living room. We ended up getting into a bit of an argument because I tried to pack a small …