Martin Luther's influence on Christianity is profound. And complex. As a German pastor and theologian of the 16th Century, he re-discovered St. Paul's doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, based on passages like Ephesians 2:8-9. He courageously stood up...
Many years ago, Jack Hayford said this to a group of pastors in a conference I attended: "Don't worry so much about growing a big church. Grow big people, and the church will take care of itself." Obviously, Dr. Hayford was not referring to body mass index.He was...
In the middle of the news of the death of Patrick Swayze and Jody Powell, as well as the antics of various tennis players like Serena Williams, one event barely registered a blip on the media radar screen: the passing of Jack Kramer.Kramer won Wimbledon in 1947 and...
So here's how the service went yesterday as we began the series Rubber Meet Road.After an energetic time of congregational singing -- with a praise set featuring a song written by our very own Chris Macedo -- we showed this home-grown video:We followed that...
Some of my favorite series are those in which we drill down on one book of the bible for several weeks at a time, mining that book for all the treasures it contains.In the past, we've done that with Philippians, Ecclesiastes, and Jeremiah, among others.This time it's...
Have you ever noticed that you can see a good country music song while you are hearing it?I'm only an occasional fan of that genre, but I continue to be impressed by the word pictures most country songs make. Whether it is Carrie Underwood's vivid description of...
We are so proud of our Passage School Of Theology at Good Shepherd.It is our attempt to make sure that the church is not only large but deep. We want to give the people of the congregation all the resources they need to stretch their minds, deepen their commitment,...
Last week provided an interesting case study in the rhythms of life in ministry.Monday-Wednesday: I spent the first half of the week at a conference for pastors of the largest United Methodist churches in the country. We stayed in luxury. We re-connected with old...
On Monday, I posted about my attendance at The Leading Edge, a gathering of the pastors of the 100 largest United Methodist churches in the United States based on average worship attendance. A benefactor underwrote most of the cost of the meeting, so we were able to...
This past Sunday during the Piece Of Work series, we talked about how God brings pain to reveal beauty.I have a friend who had beauty revealed by the pain she endured. Here's her story, which we showed at the conclusion of my sermon:I like how the video turned...