“The whole point of the life God has given us is to become human beings that love. That’s the goal: to love God and love others. Which means if we haven’t learned to love on God’s terms, then we have missed the point of our one life, no matter what else we’ve accomplished. If love […]
“For everyone in the ancient world, the cross was a very public display, a demonstration of the Rome’s power and judgment: this is what happens to enemies of Rome. In addition to inflicting pain, it was meant as a mark of public shame. No one would want to be associated with a crucified criminal. Russell […]
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in […]
I hope you have enjoyed these weeks of reflection and meditation on the excellent book by A. J. Swoboda. It has been rich for me—a persistent sabbath maker of almost twenty-five years. Sabbath cuts across the grain of my upbringing, personality and gifts. Giving myself to a regular rhythm of sabbath has been both grueling and grace-giving. It has been a journey of obedience. Today I start two months of…
In Christian ministry, it is so easy to confuse the means with the end. Think of all the heartache and broken relationships attached to what consultant Will Mancini calls lower room identities like programs, place, people and pastors. These means are meant to serve the end of making disciples to the glory of God. We so quickly lose sight of the end to worship the means. Ever been in a church that went to war over…
As the saying goes, “knowledge is power.” In an information age, knowledge is leadership capital. If you don’t have it, you don’t have a seat at the table. This has never been truer in the local church than today. Want proof? Do a Google search on the cottage industry of Christian conferences? You can find one per week almost every week of the calendar year. The “experts” that supply conferences with cutting edge content make…
Who among us likes letting people down? There would have to be something pathologically wrong to enjoy being a disappointment to others. That said, there is something dangerous about making a life goal out of never disappointing anyone. It would be ignorant and arrogant to try! As A. J. Swoboda observes, “Jesus is Lord—we are not.” This is a point that needs to be made with a few church search committees. The position…
My name is Larry and I am a recovering workaholic. I enjoy my work . . . sometimes too much. I’m grateful for the strong work ethic I learned—not always willingly—from my parents. I’ve been blessed with three vocations in my adult life that I’ve loved—professional accountant/consultant, college professor, pastor-shepherd. Even so, I’ve flirted with burnout in every vocation. A book that remains…
The call to follow Jesus is always a call to an uncommon life. We are called to forgive at great cost when others default to malicious gospel or revenge. We are called to love those that can’t or won’t love us back. We are called to rest in God for good things…
We live in a FOMO (fear of missing out) world. FOMO is amplified in our time by social media messages and images that create a constant standard of comparison of what we are or are not, what we have or don’t have, how many “likes” or “friends” we have or don’t have. FOMO fuels…
