Flourishing

Somehow, this tree growing from a rock in the highlands of Scotland, reminds me of my son-in-law - determined, alive and flourishing.

The Big Sunday Assembly - we are “failing both the church and the world.”

Driving a car forms us. Attending a strategy session shapes us. Watching TV or listening to talk radio shapes us. Going to church forms us. Reading Scripture, practicing sabbath, giving to the poor … all these things are a kind of spiritual formation. Each of them tugging on us and molding us in a different [...]

Power, pyramids, and the modern pastorate

Somehow this post from Jimmy Shaw reminds me of my previous post of an e-mail from Edward Fudge (See Below)
Sally Morganthaler has a post (which is actually an excerpt from this book) at the Leadership Journal blog in which she assails the transformation of church leadership over the past thirty years. As a result of our having embraced [...]

The Week That Was

Sunday: Shift Happens
Monday: I’ve been linked.
Tuesday: Calculate your carbon footprint. Can you beat Al Gore?
Wednesday: Text & Context #2: Authorial Givens - A must read for Bible students!!
Thursday: “God broke my car this morning” -  A post from Jimmy.
Friday: One of my childhood heroes, Clem Labine, a relief pitcher who threw two of baseball’s most significant shutouts in [...]

“God broke my car this morning”

So when the car starts we do not specifically praise God or think that he has intervened. Nor, when it fails do we (most of us, anyway) curse God or blame some petroleum-covered demon sent by Satan to torment us.
Because we are constantly living upon and in this material world, we have come to depend [...]

Important vs. Urgent

Before reading the next paragraph, please answer the following three-part question.
 What is the single most significant thing you could begin doing regularly that would: (1) enrich your spiritual life? (2) create a better atmosphere for your family? (3) make you more effective at your work?
Now that you have named this vital and specific thing that [...]

The Divided Life

As I pulled up to a traffic light recently, I noticed the car in front of me had an encouraging bumper sticker which said, “What is more frightening than nuclear war? Eternity Without God.” A good thought. A nice point. And yet, this car’s bumper troubled me. On the other end of this same bumper [...]

My son-in-law still has the gift.

Recently I posted a couple of articles written by my son-in-law in 1997 for “The Anchor” (more to come), the bulletin for the congregation in Wilmington, NC where he was preaching.
Here is a quote from his new post:
“ If it is unseemly for Edwards to pontificate from a 28,000 sqft pulpit, what does that imply for the [...]

THE CALL OF THE MILD

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been riding around in a car with no functioning radio. That means no music, no news, no Rush (no loss!), and no sports. Basically, no noise. Just a whole lot of quiet time (i.e. boredom).As I reflect on this experience it occurs to me that it hasn’t been [...]

THE HEART OF WORSHIP

A man is caught gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Within moments he is brought before Moses and Aaron who wait for God to make clear what should be done. The Lord responds that the man must be killed–stoned by the entire community. So, the man is put to death for picking up sticks.David orders [...]