So it starts Sunday.We've been praying, planning, and dreaming for a couple of months.I've been talking to as many people as possible about this crazy thing we're doing for Christmas 2010.I've even asked my family who lives so far away to get involved.It's What Child...
Awhile back, I had a meeting with a man struggling with issues from his past.He'd been involved in some things as a young man that continued to haunt him into adulthood. He was pretty sure he'd never shake the darkness of yesteryear.It so happens that I had prayed...
I got some good leadership advice at the Y the other day.I was speaking with someone about the business that he owns and operates. He summarized its success by saying, "I'm smart enough to hire people smarter than me." I like that.In many ways, I've lived it at Good...
Julie, Taylor, Riley, and I spent much of the Thanksgiving holiday in the Hill Country of Texas helping the rest of my family celebrate my mother's 95th birthday.To get an idea of the kind of person she is these days, she recently launched her own website.Here she is...
Something seemingly insignificant made my day yesterday.My message involved an object lesson in which I cracked open a raw egg and let the yolk drop into a bowl. The idea was that the shell is not the substance.The same is true of the church (the shell) and the gospel...
Many of us have experienced the ways in which church can be an obstacle to faith rather than an empowerer of it.When that happens, is there life after church? Is there faith after church?To enter that conversation, check out Philippians 1:12-18.And then hear for...
I love the last line of the Apostles' Creed: [. . . I believe] in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.While the Creed may not have the same level of authority as inspired Scripture, it nevertheless represents the best of the collective wisdom...
Thanksgiving Week is also rivalry week in college football.Historically, the best of the conference battles and border wars happen over the next six days: Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Texas A&M, Ohio State-Michigan, and many others.So what are my five favorite through...
I experienced three different altar calls this past weekend, each of which took place in very different surroundings with varying degrees of impact.For those of you not familiar with the tradition, an altar call is a distinctively evangelical and predominantly...
Two things have me eager for this weekend:1. On Saturday, I have the privilege of leading a seminar in a ministry class at Gordon-Conwell Seminary on funeral ministries. I'm helping my friend Steve Klipowicz by teaching 23 young pastors and pastors-in-training on...