Leadership: Three Crucial Priorities for Shepherd Leaders
Sheep need a shepherd and shepherds live among their sheep
Leaders who understand their role as shepherds do not peer down at their people from a holy hayloft and drop an occasional bale of sustenance in the form of a finely-crafted homily. Neither do they allow their flocks to live in false peace. Shepherd leaders live among their people and pay “careful attention … to... Continue Reading
4 Ways to Kill Church Worship Fast
What used to be congregational singing has become congregational staring
I admit. I’ve joined the majority. I’ve stopped singing. I’m not happy about it. I know I should overcome these barriers and just praise the Lord with my very unprofessional vocalizations. But I long for an environment that evokes my real heartfelt vocal participation. Looking around the church last Sunday I noticed that the... Continue Reading
Why I Don’t Hate the Word ‘Inerrancy’
The idea of there being mistakes in the Torah, for example, would not have occurred to Jesus, or to any of his earliest followers
Most of Jesus’s famous statements about the truthfulness and permanence of the Jewish scriptures—”not one iota will disappear from the Law until all is accomplished,” “the scriptures cannot be broken,” “it is written,” “the scriptures must be fulfilled,” “David, speaking by the Spirit,” and so on—give the impression of having been largely uncontroversial to their... Continue Reading
Dodging Bullets Over Religious Freedom
We are dodging bullets, bullets that would be fatal to our way of life because they are aimed at our religious freedom.
Given the choice between religious freedom and sexual expression, President Obama picked sexual expression. The Executive Order announced Friday and signed Monday contains no exceptions for faith-based contractors. It makes you wonder how long we can try to dodge bullets before our religious freedom is little more than a faint memory. We dodged a bullet (for now at... Continue Reading
Reality in the Christian Life
Taking ‘Schaeffer on the Christian Life ‘ to the beach
In reading through this book, I am thinking about the life of Schaeffer, the Christian life in general, and the irony of how “countercultural spirituality” is a challenge to live according to the reality of God. Indeed, the gospel is real, and that changes everything. I’ve been looking forward to taking Bill Edgar’s Schaeffer on... Continue Reading
Panting for Paradise
Where are our friends, who walked with Christ as their Savior and Lord, and walk no longer on the earth?
Heaven is a place of restoration. Weak hands are strengthened. Feeble knees find vitality again. Paradise is void of rheumatoid arthritis, prostate cancer, and all other effects of the fall that trouble mankind today. In heaven, “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame... Continue Reading
The Sea Turtle and The Christian
Our strongest enemy is Satan, the deceiver; we can overcome his evil devices
As Christians we struggle as we progress on our walk with the Lord. Though we couldn’t pick up the stumbling turtle on his journey…we are constantly picked up by God. He picks us up and gets us back on the right pathway. The Tenacious Sea Turtle My son, my six year old grandson, and... Continue Reading
The Death of the Death of Ministry in the Death of Jesus
Sunday, August 3rd, will be the final worship service for Sovereign King Church in Garner, NC
There is no scandalous story here. There is no corrupt tale of money-laundering or sordid affairs. It appears that through God’s providence, things have just come to an end. People moved on to new jobs. Some preferred a different music style. Vibrancy of ministries became lukewarm. Things just came to an end. Sunday, August... Continue Reading
Grace and Obedience: The Spiritual Two-Step
Since the beginning of the New Testament church, a contrast has been identified between grace and obedience, grace and law, or God’s work and our work
What is clear in Scripture is that God always makes the first move. He made the first move toward us from the time the foundations of the earth were laid, and he makes it at this moment. He is the pursuer, the inviter, the one who says “I love you” first. The issue is not... Continue Reading
The Loss of Pastoral Credibility in the Age of the Internet
On the Internet, one discovers that many leaders are unable to deal with opposing viewpoints
“Many contemporary forms of education privilege non-agonistic modes of discourse, seeking to avoid confrontation, combat, and threatening challenge, and to foster an inclusive, egalitarian, affirming, and safe community. People trained within such contexts are affirmed and protected from exposure to direct, forceful challenge and opposing voices. The modes of discourse privileged and taught within such... Continue Reading