One of the great lines of the bible is when Jacob says to the angel/Lord in Genesis 32:26:I will not let go until you bless me.Whether you are in a place of spiritual leadership or in a position of spiritual "follower-ship," when was the last time you declared to God,...
As some of you know, we will soon be looking for someone to head up our Discipleship ministries at Good Shepherd. After five years on staff, James-Michael Smith will be leaving us at the end of April to prepare for and then pursue his PhD.But I'll blog more on that...
Words have power.They can wound and cripple. They can heal and inspire. They can drive us to our knees or lift us off the ground.Wherever we find ourselves, wherever we are in our story, we have been shaped by the words spoken into our lives.You're no good. You are...
People sometimes say I look like Coach K. In fact, at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday night, the young man serving me my CFA sandwich, large fries, and fruit cup (see, the fruit balances out the fries), told me I look like Coach K. "You get that a lot?" was his follow up...
Good Shepherd's focus on simplicity is changing how we do serving ministries.We want to give the people of the church a simple, monthly, meaningful serving opportunity through what we call First Serve.The concept is similar to our Pathfinder approach to small group...
In yesterday's post, I drew a link between a church's complexity and its mediocrity.Unfortunately, the typical Methodist Church is an inherently complex being. Here are just a few examples of the intricacies of the system:The pastor-in-charge reports to four different...
Most of us on the East Coast aren't familiar with In-N-Out Burger, a California-based fast food chain. You can read more about it here.The stores are known for their simple, focused menus. You won't find a chicken sandwich or a taco salad, for example, at any In-N-Out...
LoveDare has its finale this week.I happen to think we've saved the best for last.It's called After The Thrill Is Gone and it will be all about the impact of your mind on your closest relationships.Once again, this series has showed us the power of branding and focus....
In honor of today's start of March Madness, here are my top NCAA basketball memories. A good number of them happened well before the term "March Madness" was even coined. That means I'm old.Bill Walton of UCLA going 21-22 against Memphis State in the finals of the...
There is a masterful line in U2's "Moment Of Surrender" off the new CD No Line On The Horizon:At the moment of surrender,of vision over visibility . . . So vision is different than visibility. Vision sees what fog obscures. Vision turns the "not yet" into the "will...