You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead… for I have not found your works complete …”...
In Trinity's early days, others joined that prayer. Today, with nearly 120,000 people living in North Lakeland—and only a small fraction of churches located there—the need is clear....
We noted the prerequisites that needed to be true already of the person(s) you would nominate....
Who notices the people who clean your hotel room? Or bellmen, or wait staff in large venues? It’s not without warrant that in so many spy stories, operatives pose as waiters or kitchen staff when they want to infiltrate a facility unseen....
And from centuries before Christ, we have considered not just the positive lessons but also what we can learn from the negative ones. In this season leading up to Christmas, lots is written and said about Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the faithful who responded to the revelation of God in Christ. But what can we also learn from the people who missed it? How we positively gain insight from those who got it wrong?...
We have goals, pursuits, or what we desire to gain, and we certainly know what we want to evade, abstain from, or give a wide berth....
Back at the end of August, I wrote to you about our plans to resume a regular meeting where leaders can meet for training, but also that anyone can attend to get the clearest sense of our most strategic work as an entire ministry....
Or possibly they have some kind of athletic training or sport they maintain on top of all the other things that most of us do? And likely, you have said (or you’ve heard someone say), “How do they do that?”...
The concept is simple enough: have a monthly 2-hour meeting where, in the first hour, we welcome anyone — we will sing, pray, cast vision, share and celebrate changed lives and how the Lord is working in our midst. In the second hour, where leaders are urged to be, each respective ministry team (or community) will regularly train and support their team members — for instance, every ministry (staff-led or volunteer-led) will gather in the second hour for prayer, goal-setting, problem-solving, and personal support....
Because of our belief in the dignity of every believer being claimed directly by God as His child and indwelt by His own Spirit in Christ, a congregational vote is a time of real significance. What you believe matters....
Is it a hopeful ideal, a dearly held dream out ahead for you? Is it your everyday reality, your bread-and-butter routine? Is it a sensitive or even bitter topic for you because of broken dreams or a broken home in your childhood?...
Keep Reading I know hospitals are typically the kind of place most people prefer to avoid. Even if the reason for a visit is childbirth, my sense is that “going to the hospital” is not at the top of someone’s wish list....
Keep Reading It is likely not realistic to describe political news as a stream—it’s more like a torrential flood. As we get closer to the upcoming elections this fall, the number of voices and the volume with which they speak will likely only increase....
Keep Reading In a similar way, we can compare our leadership structure and the needs of our congregation to diet and capacities respectively. When we were in our first couple of years, Trinity’s leadership was one staff member (me) and a leadership team of about a dozen volunteers. By our third year, we had two part-time staff members for administration, and we added Timo Strawbridge...
Keep Reading What is different now is our access to information about so many problems in so many places. Modern technology and media now grant the average person access to literally a world of hurt. And the more informed a person may be about all that may be wrong out there, the less they may feel they are doing....
Keep Reading One of their team leaders, Nikita Kucherov, will surely be in the NHL Hall of Fame when his career ends. But one week after the Bolts’ playoff exit, he was back on the ice skating with Hockey Hall-of-Famer Adam Oates. He’s already practicing for next season …...
Keep Reading In Jr. High, one of my best friends developed a (thankfully temporary) pain in his knees because of how rapidly he was growing. And in a similar manner, our congregation has grown so rapidly since COVID that our “bones” need to catch up. ...
Keep Reading In a new book released last week, The Age of Grievance, American journalist Frank Bruni has offered an insightful examination of the ways in which grievance has come to define our culture (especially in politics, on both the right and left). Bruni documents how more and more of us are keeping a record of slights or pulling out the tape measure on our perceived misfortunes ...
Keep Reading First, I have to admit that the entire world of modern telecommunications still amazes me. I actually know why we say, “Hang up the phone!” because I grew up when a phone was attached by a cord to the wall, and to end a call, you had to “hang it” back up where it always stayed....
Keep Reading If you ever played hide-and-seek, did you ever really love being the one who was doing the seeking? I hated it. First, it meant that I had been caught first in the prior round when I had been hiding (so it felt like I had failed). Second, I always had a sinking feeling of dread, wondering inwardly, “What if I can’t find anyone?”...
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