As we continue to navigate what we want Good Shepherd to do and be and how we want it to feel, the following distinction keeps roaming around in my head: Are our experiences therapeutic or theocentric? Now those are big sounding words but they actually communicate...

Church meetings are legendary, aren't they?And not in the way, say, Michael Jordan is legendary in basketball. Or Joe Montana in football. Or even Roger Federer in tennis.No, church meetings are legendary for the bloodshed -- real and imagined -- that they...

Does a great series make a great church?I've been wondering that recently.We put a lot of work into the different Sunday series. We lay it out for titles that pop, visuals that capture, music that moves, and, hopefully, messages that connect.Some of the ones I feel...

I went to sleep last night asking God to give me a word or Scripture for use in a meeting today.I woke up at about 2 a.m. and 2 Timothy 1:7 was planted firmly in my mind:"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of...

It's a hard lesson of ministry. It's a lesson I'm still learning.But it's true nonetheless.Addition By Subtraction.On many occasions, the best way to strengthen a church's impact & effectiveness is to lessen the number of things a church actually does.When a...

In recent months, certain athletes, politicians, and clergy have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.So what do we do around here to make sure the we don't get that kind of press?While no method is foolproof, there are a few boundaries we've drawn on staff...

In church leadership, it is quite tempting to confuse personal preference for effective church strategy.For example, I could come up with a different U2 song to go along with virtually every message I give. In fact, I would love doing that. It would suit me and my...