Tomato, To-mah-to…
Well, about this time every year, i commence whining. About the miserable desert heat, about the astronomical utility bill, about the utter lack of lightning bugs to bring an element of joy to...
View ArticleZumba-dy Stop Me
Not surprisingly, my reasons for not going back to Zumba are the very reasons that many, many people visit a church and never go back again
View ArticlePrepare the Way: Why I Need Carbs (and Coffee) for Lent
This week, Patheos asked its bloggers to reflect on spiritual practices that we find especially meaningful during Lent. For the life of me…I’ve got nothing. Maybe I lack the discipline to give things...
View ArticleWe Who Are Alive (or, 10 Reasons the Church Ain’t Dead Yet)
“The mainline church is in decline.” “Religious leaders no longer carry any authority in the community.” “Most churches spend more on building expenses than they do on mission.” ” [arbitrary number of...
View Article10 Signs of Life: Your Church Might Just Make It
I once took a group of church leaders on a planning/visioning retreat. We read and discussed a great article, something to the effect of “10 Traits of a Healthy Church.” Or a growing church… Thriving...
View ArticleCloud By Day: Living With Ambiguity and Measuring Ministry
In every generation, people of faith journey across the hazy plains of “What does this mean,” and “why are we here?” Right about the time one band of believers establishes a clear sense of purpose and...
View ArticleClean Hands, Full Hearts (Can’t Lose): A Sermon About Purity and Tradition
7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing...
View ArticleWho Markets the Gospel Better Than Church? Burger King, and Basically Everybody
Y’all know I love Church, right? LOVE it. For all of its imperfections, bumbling ways and love of minutiae, there is no collective body on earth more capable of harnessing sheer joy, world-changing...
View Article5 Things for the Next 500 Years: The Church and the Next Reformation
Thanks to my friend Danny Gulden for this guest thoughts, as we mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this week. It’s the beginning of the next 500 years for the Protestant Church....
View ArticleAt the Same Table: On God’s Economy, and Serving Two Masters
A stewardship sermon on Luke 16:1-13. The Parable of the Dishonest Manager 16 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man...
View ArticleIf We Weren’t Afraid: What Is The Post-Pandemic Church Going To Be?
We’ve all got a story we’ve told too many times, right? Mine is this: Once, there was a little church in a big desert. And it was dying. The people didn’t really KNOW that it was dying, exactly: but...
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