There are two schools of thought when it comes to what the music portion of a Sunday service should be like in terms of engaging people who are in the worship space but don't yet believe in Christ. (By the way, we hope and pray we have many such people each week.)One...
In its current issue on Ten Ideas That Are Changing The World, Time magazine lists the rising influence of Calvinist theology as idea #3. I have to admit that my heart sank upon seeing it. In case you don't know, Calvinism is a stream in the larger river of Christian...
Last night I served as a "guide" for our Pathfinder LoveDare group. Fourteen of us met in a private room at a local Chik-Fil-A (who knew CFAs even had private rooms?!).Do you know what was the best thing about the group? The Chicken Sandwich dinner with cole slaw as a...
Occasionally you come across songs that are so good, so powerful, and so unknown. There are a couple of reasons for this: a) they come from obscure artists; or b) they are forgotten tracks on an otherwise popular album by a major artist.Whatever the case, here's a...
I am hopelessly, helplessly, relentlessly competitive.The easy explanation is that my competitive streak stems from a lifetime of trying to become the number one ranked tennis player for kids my age in Texas. And you don't do that or get there without beating other...
I spent most of Monday at a seminar with other pastors from the Charlotte District of the United Methodist Church. Gil Rendle, a consultant with The Alban Institute, led our time together, and issued a number of provocative observations about leadership in the local...
So yesterday was the second week of LoveDare.The sermon focused on I Corinthians 13:5: "[love] is not rude." I talked about the reality that many of us say things to our families, behind closed doors, that we would never say to people in public. How sad. My prayer is...
This is a door. And it has everything to do with Sunday's message, which is called "Finishing School." It's the second in the LoveDare series. To see what in the world it has to do with a door, you'll want to be at Good Shepherd. Sunday. 8:30. 10:00. 11:30.
One day last week, I had a rather breezy post on things that I appreciate about life.For today, not so much.Here are some pet peeves:When, in an attempt to be grammatically correct, people get their personal pronouns all wrong. The worst is "God so loves you and I . ....
The phrase "you've got a lot of potential" is a double-edged sword.On the one hand, it is certainly an encouragement to know that you have talents and abilities that are just waiting to be unleashed.On the other hand, a lot of people allow their "potential" to become...