Entourage was one of those sermons that was all about who we are and where we are going as a church. My prayer is that its strategic place on the calendar, coupled with its logical next step of our LifeGroup Launch event, will lead to an increase in both our number of...

So am I preaching about a TV show that became a movie? Well, not exactly.  Actually, not at all. I am giving a message that has everything to do with the heartbeat of Good Shepherd, a sermon that gets to the core of what it means to have a living relationship with...

Of all the statistics and anecdotes regarding the differences between those raised in chronic poverty and those raised in middle class comfort, this one has haunted me the most: Vocabulary of a three year old in a professional home: 1,116 words Vocabulary of an adult...

In ministry -- whether as a member of the clergy or a member of a church -- what you DON'T say is almost as important as what you DO say. Sometimes even moreso. This is especially true in times of grief. What are some things you simply shouldn’t say to families or...

Lord knows I loved my time at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. I made great friends, was surrounded by phenomenal professors, and learned a method of bible study that finds its way into virtually every sermon I preach.  In fact, each of the...

As I thought about Sunday's message -- both before and after its delivery -- the phrase "exegetical joy" came to me. Huh? Exegesis is the art and science of drawing the meaning out of a biblical text (as opposed to eisegesis which is reading a (foreign) meaning into...

This week starts a new series at Good Shepherd:  Movementum.   Drawing from both the life and the letters of Peter, we will see together how a living relationship with Jesus Christ builds on its own motion.  The Gospel writers in particular are simply brilliant...

Put everything you've got into your preaching, because you never know who is listening. The young woman who wrote this on her Good Shepherd connection card is twelve.

I continue to be amazed at the level at which people share with me in counseling. It is a high privilege that people trust me and the other pastors on our staff with so much. It is also a deep responsibility. What does that combination of high privilege and deep...

I've been to reasonable number of concerts in my life. Since my very first -- when I was 15 a friend and I drove (well, he drove because he was 16) from Dallas to Fort Worth and saw the Eagles on their Hotel California tour -- I've seen one or two concerts a year....