In the eight years I've had this blog, I have often devoted my Top Five Tuesday space to countdowns of favorite rock acts. Top Five Led Zeppelin songs? Here. Top Five Steely Dan songs? Here. Top Five Rolling Stones songs? Here. Top Five songs I've heard the most in...
The “Habitude” Sermon Rewind
So . . . how do three pastors in two languages preach variations on the same sermon while on different campuses? Very carefully is the expected answer; I pray that Very boldly was the real one. Here was yesterday's situation: Chris Thayer, the site pastor of our Zoar...
Ministry As A Performance?
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've had a couple of funerals this week. And in the funeral I led yesterday -- you can read the obituary here -- the man we celebrated had been an accountant. And a pastor. Now: vocationally, he was an accountant. That's how he'll...
A Half-Sentence For The Preacher’s Toolbox
People who are in grief want to talk about the person who has died. The want to speak the person’s name. They want to share memories. They want to laugh about the funny things the person said and did and believed. In pastoral ministry, one of the most important things...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five (Or Six) Reflections From A Don Henley Concert
So this past Sunday, Julie and I left Charlotte immediately after the third service at Good Shepherd and drove down to Atlanta for a Don Henley concert. Wha-what? It was my Christmas present -- maybe my best one ever. Henley, former drummer & vocalist of the...
The “Habit Drop” Sermon Rewind
What I have below is an approximation of what was preached at Good Shepherd yesterday. That's because what is below is better in written form that what the talk looked like on Sunday. Why? Because the metaphor in many ways became the message. The metaphor of an...
Creatures Of Habit, Week 3 — Habit Drop
This object, placed on the Worship Center platform today, is at the center of Sunday's message. What in the world is it and what does it have to do with "Habit Drop"? To discover that, it's ... Sunday. 8:30, 10, 11:30 at Moss Road. 10, 11:30 at Zoar...
Locating Some Intelligence Among The Dummies
I have been sharing the announcement that Abingdon Press will turn my sermon series Crash Test Dummies into a chapter book and small group resource in September of 2017. It will be the fifth such collaboration between the ministry at Good Shepherd and the publishers...
From “I Can’t Preach This!” To “Let’s Publish It!”
Yesterday in this space, I shared the good news that in September of 2017, Abingdon Press will publish my sermon series Crash Test Dummies as a small group resource and study guide. It will be the fifth such book in the last three years. Yet I also shared how the...
And I Thought I Was The Crash Test Dummy
Some of you know this already and more of you don't, but it's now official: In September of 2017, Abingdon Press will release my book Crash Test Dummies: Surprising Lessons From The Book Of Judges. Here's the cover art: Crash Test Dummies will accompany Head...