You only get rid of what you refuse to get used to. I can hardly tell you how much I believe this, or how vital I think it is in both individual and organizational lives. And I believe it so much because I’ve lived it. In 2010, we who made up the leadership of Good...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Sermons That Help People Rebuild
With some frequency, people will approach me after a Sunday at Good Shepherd and say, "that was just like a therapy session in a room with hundreds of other people." And I think to myself, "And thank God for that." See, much of preaching (not all of it, mind you, but...
Preventology, Week 2 — “The Butterfly Sex Effect” Sermon Rewind
Below is "The Butterfly Sex Effect," a message in which I: Acknowledged a place in life where the Hindu/Buddhist concept of karma rings uncomfortably true; Confessed to having personal space issues; Referenced John Mellencamp, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and...
The Improbable Origin Of “Solve”
I remember exactly where I was when I first had the idea for the sermon series that formed the basis for the book Solve. At Good Shepherd Church we support a lot of recovery programs, which hold their meetings at our Zoar Road campus. Many of these meetings are open...
The Captain Obvious Of Preaching
Maybe you've seen the recent spate of commercials for Hotels.com featuring Captain Obvious. Here's one of the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHd4ui_ZWc I have noticed in the communication field that it is all too easy to succumb to the "Captain Obvious...
Top Five (Christian) Books For Summer Reading
If you are at all like me, you do more reading during the summer than any other time of the year. The sun on your face, the sand between your toes, the clock permanently set at 5 o'clock somewhere and voila! you get to gorge on some reading. And most of the time, for...
Preventology, Week 1 — “The Road Best Taken” Sermon Rewind
I have to admit, I love the logic behind Preventology. I love the idea of giving people the tools, the mindset, and the spirit to prevent crises rather than manage them. I love a series from Proverbs. I love giving the people our Preventology Guide -- 31 Days To...
Preventology Launch — “The Road Best Taken”
A lot of us spend a lot of our time managing our crises. We careen from one emergency to another, constantly caught up in relational turmoil, financial hardship, and even spiritual despair. But what if there was another way? What if a living...
#TBT — Mt. Carmel UMC, 1992
Here's our little family when our children were little people -- in the year of our Lord 1992. The scene is Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church in Monroe, NC. Note the pulpit, the banner, and the ever-present "scoreboard" -- the display board listing the...
Not MY Book. OUR Book.
Not MY Book. This is OUR Book. This is me (obviously) holding our church's booklet, "Preventology: A 31 Guide To Crisis Prevention." The people of the church wrote it in support of the new series that launches this coming Sunday, "Preventology." Thirty-one...