My cyber friend John Meunier has a interesting post on house to house visitation on the part of pastors.The timing was ideal.Just last evening, I went "blessing houses" with another preacher friend -- this one from Huntersville and he's a man I've met him in person...
As a lot of you know, my son Riley recently finished his senior season with the Charlotte Christian School football team. The team did well, making the playoffs and losing to the eventual state champion.For me and Julie, Friday nights this fall were full of...
This blog title is a bit presumptuous as it suggests I've got it all figured out.Well, I don't.Yet for a variety of reasons, Good Shepherd has long had financial health as a church. In the worst of the recent recession, for example, we had our best of years in terms...
So I turned 49 yesterday.Sunday birthdays are always a bit odd for me as a preacher since I'm secretly glad that people know and remember but want to make sure that we don't make too big a deal of it.But here are some interesting nuggets from yesterday . . .A little...
John McEnroe always said that attaining the number one ranking in the world was easier than maintaining it.In other words, life after success was harder than life before.You may not be #1 in the world in anything, but you've probably had a measure of success in some...
I've been thinking this week about the where of pastoral care.Here's where some of it has happened for the pastoral care givers at our church just in the past few months:In hospital rooms;By a lakeshore;In the church lobby;At the county jail;In the Worship Center;At...
At staff meeting today, we did a napkin sketch exercise.It's something I learned from a new friend.We handed each staffer a napkin, a pen, and an assignment: imagine you're in a coffee shop and want to explain what our church is all about to someone you meet there....
I admit it: I'm a fan.I remember first hearing U2 on the Philadelphia station WMMR (93.3 on your dial)in 1984. It seemed like that station played "Bad" every 30 minutes or so.Three things have always stood out for me in U2's music: 1) The sonic power of Bono's voice;...
Something pretty funny happened at yesterday's 8:30 service.I think I was the only one who got it, though.I was giving a message called Life After Loss. It was one of those messages about which I felt especially good -- good theology, good bible study, and an...
As I think about what's coming this Sunday, it all serves as another reminder of what a privilege it is to preach in general and to preach at Good Shepherd in particular.For example, just this Sunday I get to . . .Correct a common misunderstanding of a frequently...