From an article by William Willimon on pastoral ministry and change titled Why Leaders Are A Pain: The promise of all bogus religion is the promise of a peaceful life without pain. That’s also the subtext of lots of sermons I hear and some of the ones I preach: pain is avoidable, and here’s my …
Zack Eswine writes about that moment when you realise you need something that God knows you need all along: This pastoral paradigm was bringing us face-to-face with an old joke in Christian circles. “Pray for anything except patience,” the joke suggests. “You don’t want to see what God will give you if you ask for …
The following questions come from an article by Karl Vaters about decluttering the body life of local churches. Any church that’s been around for a while has long-standing ministries that are loved and used all the time. They’re front-and-center. But we also have ministries that have not aged well. They’ve stopped working, but they still …
Perhaps you think preachers simply hit a ‘zone’ while preaching and are impervious to all other thoughts during that time? I’m sure some are. Chuck Lawless’ ten offerings resonated with me, though. Here’s a few: Am I really connecting? Even one distracted expression or one quizzical look will make me wonder. It’s funny how I’ll …
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