Two weeks ago, in the middle of the workday, I received a call from Brad Stoffel's mother, Evelyn, conveying the sad news that Brad had died of natural causes at the age of 57. Who was Brad Stoffel and why did the news of his death make me so melancholy? Well, as I...
This past Sunday evening something unprecedented happened in the life of Good Shepherd: 400 leaders gathered together to eat, play, laugh, sing (in English and Spanish), pray, listen, and weep as we unveiled a new seven year focus for our church. Here's what the...
Yesterday's message ... Was closely connected to the Leader Gathering talk I gave later on Sunday afternoon;Used a principle from Jesus' teaching about discipleship and applied it to marriage;Got the most raised eyebrows when I declared that "people don't have...
Did you know that marriage is the first institution that God created? Before he created synagogue, before he established government, before he ordained church, God created marriage. Apparently, he regards it as an enormously big deal. Yet can there be any doubt that...
This is a repost of an essay from 2016 that generated quite a bit of ... conversation! ... when it first appeared in Ministry Matters, United Methodism's largest online conversation platform. With a hint of nostalgia, here it is again: I’m spiritual, not religious. We...
Yes, a sermon rewind post on Wednesday, not Monday. I took Labor Day off. Not that I am believing my own headlines, mind you. Because Sunday's sermon was about the dangers of doing exactly that. It touched on why prosperity is so much more dangerous than adversity....
This Sunday, Sept. 8, we have a Leader Gathering from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Why should you come? Here's five reasons: It's not a Leadership Gathering but a Leader Gathering because leadership is a principle and leaders are people. If you are reading this, you are a...
The ReGroup series concludes with a close look at the closing scenes of Josiah's life from 2 Kings 23. Josiah has an incredible list of accomplishments. He's a Rock Star. His name is in lights. He's on top of the world a looking down on creation. And he begins to...
A friend and I have been reading the book of Ephesians together. For over a year. We go down a lot of rabbit trails during our time together, but when we zero in on Ephesians, the rewards are rich indeed. Spending that much time on that short a book, however, also...
Many times in speaking or in writing people try to reinforce the strength of their points by adding the words clear and obvious. As in, "it's obvious from the context that John 3:16 means . . . " Or: "this is clearly the direction our church needs to follow . ....