I was up early this morning walking with my beautiful wife and we were talking about life transformation and what it costs. In particular, as I have written earlier on this blog, I am on a journey to lose 60 pounds. I had ambitious goals of being done by now, but I found as I got started that there were some “inner man” kind of issues that had to be dealt with first. So I’m back on it again, and headed to a strong finish. I’ll keep you posted on that at points of interest. Thinking about the cost of life transformation, my mind went back to the biblical story of Naaman....

This is for all of you that think you can’t do whatever God is telling you to do….

I attended a funeral yesterday of a man I didn’t know, but whose brother has attended the church I pastor for many years. The service was officiated by a man who I had never met. As I listened to him, I noticed that he was not the most eloquent speaker, that he didn’t pastor a mega-church, and he was very much a “country-preacher.” But it didn’t take me long to sense something deeper in this man and it left me both humbled and challenged. I listened to this preacher talk about the many conversations he had over the years with the now-deceased man. How many times he...

I’m not a part of the Orthodox Church.  I have always attended a Protestant Evangelical Church.  But over the course of my seminary study, I have gained a great appreciation for the Orthodox Church and its doctrine and liturgy. Having said that, a friend of mine sent this to me via facebook today.  It is a video of a newly consecrated Orthodox bishop who was asked to speak to a group of priests during a time of crisis on the Orthodox Church of America.  Listen to what he has to say.  You may not relate to the liturgy and ritual of the OCA and you may not understand the naming conventions...

I appreciate the ones that have started reading and commenting on my blog.  I am hopeful that as they days pass I will be able to interact with more individuals in the areas of leadership, coaching, technology, and theology.  I am very interested in what is happening in the church right now and want to participate in the dialogue. That being said, I have realized that in order to do this the way I want to do it, it is going to require a greater commitment.  That is a commitment I am not going to be able to make for the next couple of months.  In the interest of keeping some margin in my life,...

“Show me a man who can comprehend God and I will show you a worm that can comprehend a man.”  J0hn Wesley I just spent a weekend with Perry Stone who came and preached for three days at River of Life Church where I am the lead pastor.  Perry and I have been friends for several years now and I have had many fascinating conversations with him about things like the origins of evil, the rapture of the Church, the book of Revelation, etc.  Over the years and through my course of study as a Divinity Student I have come to the conclusion there are some things about God we will not be able...

A little while ago during a conversation with a friend, I remembered this little item and thought I would share it here.  You may have seen it before.  It was written by singer Portia Nelson.  Maybe it will speak to you in the way it challenged me. Autobiography in Five Short Chapters Chapter 1 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost….I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter 2 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t...

I’ve been thinking about our denomination (yes I am in a denomination and proud of that fact).  As I said here, there are some changes on the horizon and I know there are a lot of young men and women (church planters AND church revitalizers) that are wanting in on the action.  We love God, we love the Church (notice the capital “C”), and we love our denominational heritage as well.  I am not mentioning the denomination, not because I am ashamed, but because I believe my thoughts apply to any established organization today – even your local church itself.  I have talked...

We need a culture shift in the church. In my denomination, we are going through a crisis of change and adaptation.  I don’t think we are the only ones, but regardless, the outcome of this crisis is uncertain to me right now.  I do believe that our leadership team is sincerely reaching out to the ministers and laity and listening to them.  But the changes that will be required to become missional in the 21st century are vast. I agree with John Maxwell when he says “everything rises and falls on leadership.”  How these changes are presented is going to be vitally important. ...