A few years ago, I repented of my attempts to be cool. At that time, I'd led Good Shepherd to have a "church crush" on a large congregation in the northern part of the US, and so for a season we tried to mimic much of what that church did. And that church was cool....
Missional thinking is the latest "must do" in the world of the church.What is missional thinking? In simplest terms, it changes the way we measure success in the church -- moving away from "how many people attend and how much money do they give?" and moving towards...
The Body of Christ in Charlotte is reeling this week over the tragedy at Christ Covenant Church.In a perfect storm of teenage exuberance, foul weather, and well-intentioned adults, this happened:Day at church camp turns tragic for teen struck by ATVEvan Wolfe, 15,...
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...
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...
Not long ago, I saw a church describe itself as "an incredible move of God."My first thought was, "Man, that's brash. Isn't that the kind of thing you let other people say about you instead of claiming it for yourself?"Yet as I considered that description for a few...
At the end of last week, Julie and I took our daughter back to college in Nashville, TN. Because of dicy weather and rock slides, we took the "southern" route to get there: down to Atlanta, up to Chattanooga, and over to Nashville. So we were in four states: both...
Most of us on the East Coast aren't familiar with In-N-Out Burger, a California-based fast food chain. You can read more about it here.The stores are known for their simple, focused menus. You won't find a chicken sandwich or a taco salad, for example, at any In-N-Out...
I am hopelessly, helplessly, relentlessly competitive.The easy explanation is that my competitive streak stems from a lifetime of trying to become the number one ranked tennis player for kids my age in Texas. And you don't do that or get there without beating other...