No, I don't have a new job.Yes, I did get a one-day gig on Wednesday at Gordon-Conwell Seminary.Steve Klipowicz, a good friend and occasional workout partner of mine, is also a professor there. So as he was preparing to teach a summer intensive class on pastoral...
Inviting All People Includes Oklahomans and Filipinos
This week, forty-seven of Good Shepherd's finest are serving in the mission field.Thirty-four students, staffers, and volunteers are in Moore, Oklahoma, site of the devastating 2013 tornado. There they are helping Oklahomans rebuild their homes and restore their...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Reflections On A Family Vacation
This photo was taken on my family's recent beach vacation:From the left, our 24-year-old daughter Taylor, me, our 21-year-old-son Riley, and then my wife Julie. We took the trip to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary trip together.Yes, we took our kids on a...
Lost & Found Week One — Sermon Recap . . . And A Lesson In Pronunciation
I had a brief Facebook post on Sunday morning about how I love to start a new series.Especially when I believe the Word blends with the visuals and creates something both memorable and compelling. All that is why I was genuinely excited about the start of Lost...
Lost & Found Launch — “Lost Relationships”
I hope it's OK that I get truly excited about series we do in July.You know, that month when a lot of churches take it easy and a lot of pastors can be found anywhere but in the pulpit.Last July, it was The Storm Before The Calm (available in e-book!).This year, it's...
The Social Solitude Of Preaching
Preaching is an intensely solitary activity.Preaching is a thoroughly social exercise.Which is it? Solitary or social?Yes.My own process of preparation is wholly wrapped in solitude. I study, I jot, I brainstorm, I fret, I pray, I get excited, I become...
“Stairway To Heaven,” The #UMC, And The Meaning Of Words
Of all the anthems in rock music, one is just a little more anthemic than all the rest:Weren't the 70s great?Yet there's one line in Stairway that seems to have special relevance these days:"'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings." Yes, they do. And...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Pink Floyd Songs
Oh why not?Laser light shows, absurdly long songs, lyrics leading to nowhere, band-on-band smackdown as young rockers became old men . . . all of it is part of the Pink Floyd schtick.And I went through a phase where I listened to them often and liked them a lot. ...
A Sermon Map
As I have been thinking about sermon design recently, I stumbled across some language that helps me map them out.Journey -- Discovery -- Destination -- ApplicationThis is probably nothing original with me, but it is some language that makes sense.And...
Head Scratchers, Week 5 — Do Not Toss What Is Sacred To The Dogs
I am so fortunate to work with a team of people at Good Shepherd who can do things like put weekly, customized, Head Scratchers videos together.Here's the one for this coming Sunday:Upon first hearing and first reading, those are some of Jesus' most polarizing and...