Life’s full of decisions that have consequences. Some are small and produce consequences of little significance. However, some have the potential to greatly affect our lives. I learned this as a young college kid. I was headed to Arizona to practice with the college baseball team I’d be playing for, when my van broke down. I had a friend with me...
Multiplication is something that we think about often as pastors. How can I multiply the work that we are doing here so that it is most effective?Last year around this time, this was something that had taken up an increased amount of space in my heart as I prepared my church staff for the coming year. We decided to read Dave...
I’m a firm believer that we all make mistakes and are in need of grace. I’m also a firm believer that if you think you don’t, just look back on photos of yourself from 10-20 years ago. Your mind will probably change fairly quickly! If I ever start feeling prideful all I have to do is look back to the platform...
Making promises is one of the easiest things in the world to do. It doesn’t take much skill or faithfulness. The hard part is always keeping those promises. Just look at companies who work so hard to fulfill the promises their company makes. They know how difficult it is to truly share a message that is clear, convincing and compelling. But…...
There is an old adage that says, “Just follow your heart; it’ll never lead you wrong.” While I certainly see the good in that phrase, if you truly stop to think about it, you’ll realize how dangerous it is. Our hearts can lead us to do some pretty stupid things. Because if we’re not careful, we start doing things we feel...
It’s a safe bet to assume that you have heard a good share of bad news in your life. The reality is that what we do with that news determines whether it’s going to define our lives or not. I had a brother who played high school athletics and did extremely well. He was like a hero in my school. Still,...
Question: Lately, I’ve been struggling to keep unity on my staff. How should I handle this? Unity is one of the most difficult things to develop and protect, and it becomes especially tough in a church environment. In the past as a leader, one of my greatest regrets was sacrificing unity because of my love for people. Now, I understand more...
Question: Lately, I’ve been feeling like it would be better if I left my church in someone else’s hands. I feel called, but we haven’t grown in a long time, and I think maybe someone else could do a better job. What do you think I should do? Well, the first part is easy for me to answer. If you know...
Growing in spiritual knowledge can be a great thing. But it’s not so great when our obedience to God doesn’t grow with it. When that happens, we get to the point that we have all kinds of wrong thoughts, attitudes and habits that need killed off in order to let what God really has for us grow. Colossians 3:5,9-10 says, “...
One day I got a call that my youngest son Geoffrey was up to some mischief. Apparently, he had climbed to the top of our local McDonald’s and was sitting high atop the golden arches. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to respond with, “Oh, that’s not my son. I think you have the wrong number!” Unfortunately, he resembles...