Reframing A Leadership Issue

Stephen Covey calls it a ‘paradigm shift.’ Gil Rendle calls it ‘assumption shifts.’ I call it learning something new or ‘reframing the issue.’ But it is a way in which I sometimes learn: seeing a situation or even a process in a different light.
Our church bought property 18 months ago after a five year period [...]

You Are Maaaalvous!

Ephesians 2:10

Main point – We get in ‘shape’ for God when we choose to accept ourselves as God’s greatest creation!

(Take video camera, that is patched into TV and ‘shoot’ the audience. Take time to focus on 6 persons and tell them by name, “__________, you are maavelous!”)
All of us are maavelous! All of [...]

Review of Quitting Church by Julia Duin

A conversation that I have had with increasing frequency over the past year with ministerial colleagues has been about declining church attendance. It is a subject addressed from many quarters and is given many reasons why it is happens.
Because of my personal experiences in previous churches as an associate, one reason always comes to my [...]

Thoughts on Discipleship: The ‘glue’ of Ministry and Spiritual Formation and “Let’s hear it for the established church!”

Two recent blog posts, one discovered last month and one written within the past 24 or so hours, are behind today’s thoughts regarding discipleship and congregational life.
Having been in a local church all of my life and spending nearly 22 years in local church ministry as a youth minister, a youth and education minister, and [...]

“Man the drawbridge!!!”

Fellow blogger Anne Jackson posted a new article today at her blog, (www.flowerdust.net), entitled ‘The Drawbridge.’
It is an excellent post about boundaries and being careful who to let into your life. http://www.flowerdust.net/2009/05/28/the-drawbridge/
She quotes from the late Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love, by beginning with this statement, ‘You must decide for yourself to [...]

Is your friendly neighborhood pastor both “called” and “crazy”?

For those who have never been in the Christian ministry or had close relatives who are, I should explain something. Ministers often do things that seem irrational or unexplainable. It has to do with their faith, and the sense they are fulfilling their destiny by going where they are sent regardless of their personal desire [...]

God Calls Us to a Place

On Tuesday, May 12, 2009, the quarterly meeting of the Indiana North Association of the Church meet at our sister congregation in LaGrange, Indiana. The featured speaker for the day was Rev. Robert Culp, Senior Minister of the First Church of God of Toledo. Ohio. The topic was ‘The Long Tenured Pastorate.’ Pastor Culp [...]

Blogging With/In My “Strengths”

One of the best personal development programs is Gallup’s Strength Finders based on the work of the late Donald O. Clifton considered the father of strength psychology.
Now from a theological perspective, we also have weaknesses and a flawed nature and I think that our strengths can become liabilities given ‘our dark side.’ However, I think, [...]

Further thinking about my beliefs of life and ministry

A major theme of contemporary Christian writing and publishing has to do with one’s mission/passion. What is it? Where has/is God called/calling me to serve? What is my passion for ministry/service/witness? And, having gone through a very good professional development program from 2005-2008 called SHAPE (Sustaining Pastoral Health and Excellence created by the Lilly Endowment), [...]