In my almost-20 years of full-time ministry in the United Methodist Church, I have overheard some "you can't make stuff this up" remarks come out of the mouths of United Methodist people. Preachers, usually.Most of what follows is first-hand, with a smattering of...
Few things are more annoying than the phrase "U da man!"Except when some guy answers with, "No, U da man!"(Well, maybe it's more annoying when at a golf tournament someone calls out, "Get in the hole!" . . . after a tee shot. Do you think it's always the same guy...
This photo of Muhammed Ali's knockout of Sonny Liston in their May, 1965 rematch bout in Lewiston, Maine is one of the most iconic images in all of boxing.Liston prone. Ali flexing and snarling. I saw the photo as a kid -- and Ali fan -- and have never forgotten...
The longer I serve in church leadership, the more I realize that churches need to ask themselves this question: "what do we do well?"By the same token, they need to ask this one: "what do we not do well?"It's interesting: in deciding what you do well, you are often...
With the World Series starting tonight, it seems like an appropriate time to share some Fall Classic memories.Baseball has never been my top spectator sport -- it falls somewhere behind tennis and somewhere ahead of sumo wrestling -- so the memories are not abundant....
So we sang How Great Thou Art on Sunday. It was terrific. Even in a modern church, if you want to get everyone singing, just pull out one of the classics and it happens.But the software system we use to project the words onto the screen now lists the songwriter(s)and...
So what was the best part of yesterday?Was it getting to preach from the middle of a boxing ring again? That was good, but not the best.Was it being led in praise and worship by the band, choir, and brass sections of the Good Shepherd music ministry? That was good,...
Here's what Wikidepia says about a Standing Eight Count:A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout. When invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to eight. A boxer can take 3 standing...
Here's a great leadership question:"Is what got us here going to take us where we are going?"I've got to ask myself that all the time.Is the ministry style that brought Good Shepherd to 1500 people per Sunday what it will take to move us to 2000 per Sunday and...
Christianity is full of hard truths.For example:Eternal separation from God does in fact exist.When we say 'Jesus is Lord' by definition that means Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna and others are not Lord.Jesus' followers are to tithe . . . which still means 10%.Sexual...