Much of pastoral work is in fact the work of reminding.When I preach, for example, I am (usually) not so much teaching people new truths but instead reminding them of ancient truths that they have perhaps forgotten. Or chosen to disregard.Just as often, preaching is a...
So what is it?Is it an image of two people touching their palms as a sign of cooperation?Is it a world map from the 1400s, when people really didn't know how the continents fit together?Is it a frowning face?An owl's face?It all goes to show the importance of training...
So yesterday, everyone who entered the Worship Center received a small container of Play Dough.We talked about how we are God's "workmanship" -- in a grand sense how we are the raw material that God then fashions into a thing of beauty and purpose. We are his...
I've long heard that there are three types of churches: risk takers, care takers, and under takers. We'll wherever we usually are on that spectrum, this Sunday we're starting on a message series that will be high on the risk factor. It's called Piece Of Work. It comes...
The people at RiverGate love us.When our bands play out there on summer Saturday nights, the music is excellent, the crowds are large, and best of all from their perspective, business is good.Good Shepherd will be live at the RiverGate water fountain this Saturday,...
Every pastor, whether he or she realizes it or not, has a tool box.In that tool box are those resources that support, enhance, and enlarge ministry.Here are some of my most essential tools:Bible: New International Version.Commentary I most use in sermon preparation:...
I've got a confession.Now, usually, when a preacher says he has a confession, people immediately think, "all right, who's it with and how long has it been going on?" No, nothing like that.It's this. Sometimes I read emails while I'm talking on the telephone.There. Got...
In laying out our goals and emphases of 2009, we kept coming back to the subject of marriage. We sensed that many marriages in this community had settled into an uncomfortable truce while others were teetering on the brink of collapse.That's why we did the LoveDare...
When does a sermon begin? After the public reading of the Scripture? After the prayer? After a really cool solo?It's actually the wrong question.The better question is where does the sermon begin? Not when, but where.There is an easy answer to that question: in the...
We have this ministry called Bless This House.It involves getting the addresses of recent house closings in our area from the Sunday Charlotte Observer, and then sending out pairs of people (going out in twos -- that's biblical!) to welcome the new movers to southwest...