Is Your Ministry Drowning You, Part 2
In my last post I listed 8 evidences that I was letting my ministry get the best of me. As I’m trying to get myself back on track, here’s what I’m doing that’s helping. I’m REALLY taking a day off (Do you?) I’m reminding myself that the world (and my church) can get along just
A Really Smart Guy’s take on McLaren’s Praying during Ramadan
Howard Diehl, one of the smartest guys I know who serves as a missionary in France that our church supports, commented on McLaren’s praying during Ramadan. I thought his comments to be very insightful. Hi Charles: Here is an article by McLaren on why he was doing it. http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/ramadan-2009-part-1-whats-going.html There were quite a few Christians
Leadership Paradox #2: Spontaneity or Planned
A couple days ago I suggested a leadership paradox leaders face: trust God or trust others? Although both Ezra and Nehemiah were both men who trusted God, each took a different route in a leadership decision. Similarly, leaders face another paradox. Do I act upon the Spirit’s promptings to make a decision or should I
What I Learned from a Sour Leadership Meeting about Planning
Every year our staff takes an overnite retreat in September to map out plans for the next year. Our process is relatively simple. The elders determine the 2-3 broad objectives for the coming year. Then we translate these into strategies and then involve our ministry teams in developing the tactics. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
Incredible Quote From Ravi Zacharias
Heard this on a recent Ravi podcast. Incredible. “Jesus Christ continually contradicts us in the way we experience ourselves as alive…. and compels us to radically redefine what we mean by life. He encountered us the way we encountered the disciples on easter sunday. They were the ones marked out for death. Those who survived
5 Tips for a Personal Planning Retreat
My undergrad degree is industrial engineering. So, planning is second nature for me. As a busy pastor, I’ve found that I can never get adequate long-term planning done unless I carve out regular extended times away, by myself, away from the office. Here are a few tips I suggest. Schedule 3-4 personal planning times each
6 Learnings from Sunday’s Text Messaging Sermon
This past Sunday our church used the sermon time to answer questions from the congregation. We received the questions via text messaging from attendees cell phones. In two services we got over 100 questions. Three pastors were on stage to answer questions plus one who moderated it and got the messages off his laptop. This
The Churro Girl’s Sad Eyes
The sign read Elephant ears, Churros, Funnel cakes. I had just finished a burger and fries and my wife Sherryl and I were strolling along Navy Pier on Lake Michigan when I noticed the sign. It had been years since I had eaten one of those fried “looks like a serrated wooden dowel with sand
God on a Baseball Diamond
I’m working on a series on the Beatitudes called Jesus Uncensored: Words of Hope in Uncertain Times. I found this touching story in my file. I’m not sure where it came from, but it beautifully pictures how God showed up one day on a baseball diamond. Having a daughter who never got to enjoy many things
When Passion Quashes Courtesy
Today I did something I’ve done only once before, I publicly demonstrated against an issue about which I feel very passionate. I attended a rally in the small town of Batavia, IL with about 100 other people directly in front of my congressman’s office, Rep. Bill Foster. We were there wanting to speak to him
