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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

That's an odd title for a post, right?There should be celebration in getting what you've always wanted, shouldn't there?  You've outwitted, outlasted, and outplayed both the odds against and the people around you and so . . . voila!You have that thing you've...

Each week, I get  reminders that effectiveness in ministry and growth in the Spirit come not in great leaps but in small steps.Rather than pinning my hopes on a "major ministry breakthrough" or a "clear personal word from God," I've learned to enter into a...