Innovation implies change, and we’re the denomination who’s characterized by faithfulness. For instance, the PCUSA (out of which the PCA formed in 1972-73) changed from our long-held commitments to the Bible. That is a kind of change that is bad....
Likely you’ve seen the recent reports of snow in Los Angeles. There was even a measurable snowfall in Tampa in January of 1977… But a snowy winter is not the climate in L.A. or Tampa. Catch the vital distinction between an event and a climate — the difference between an exception and a norm. I want to ask you to assess your norms, exceptions, climate, and events. With your words, attitudes, interactions, and attention, what is your norm? And what is your exception?...
What do you think is really happening at church? What do you believe goes on, not just visibly, but invisibly because of God’s Almighty power and working? Trusting Jesus for His work of redemption in my own heart and in the hearts of others, what would it look like to raise our gaze to look for God to work? Even at church?...
What would you do if your favorite teenager grew reluctant to bathe? Can you imagine the dialogue? “I’m fine. I feel fine....
“Culture eats strategy for lunch” — Peter Drucker (1909-2005). As a pioneering management consultant, educator, and author, Drucker was convinced that no matter how great your strategy is, a plan will fail without a company (or organizational) culture that encourages people to implement it....
This may seem odd or needless, but I want to invite you to church this Sunday. I believe it’s needful because the practice of attending an in-person worship service is dramatically in decline. After the COVID pandemic, national percentages of church attendance have plunged. ...
I do not know when you’ve seen it, but somewhere you likely have. A line of dominoes stacked on end start to tumble, and one domino hits another, and there’s no going back …...
What does it mean to be called? If your mom or dad called you to dinner when you were a kid, a person called out your name. And (hopefully) you responded. Or with your most recent phone call — likely you have caller ID, and again a person hoped to make contact with you for some reason....
First, why does the Church have a surpassing Value? The Church of Jesus is not a thing. The Church is a single term of all of the people Jesus has redeemed, past, present and future, and its value (their value?) is marked by His willingness to shed His blood to rescue each and every one of us. ...
Training to become a pilot (in what seems like another lifetime ago) I was quickly taught that you cannot control what is outside the cockpit. You can only prepare on how you could respond. Metaphorically it has proven to be an outstanding life lesson if you substitute “your heart” for “cockpit.”...
Recently, Tish Warren wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times, Want to Get Into the Christmas Spirit? Face the Darkness.She wanted to address how, as Christians, we celebrate Jesus' birth as the light that has come into darkness, andas John's Gospel says, 'the darkness could not overcome it.'She wrote: "Advent bids us first to pause and to look, with complete honesty, at th...
Keep ReadingWhat is the most un-talkable subject you can think of? It’s not sex, because people talk (at least with me) about their sex lives and thoughts all the time. And conversations ...
Keep ReadingAfter the Louisiana Purchase had been secured with France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis & Clark to explore and map the newly acquired territory....
Keep ReadingRecently a friend commented to me, “It’s hard that you get fired if you don’t talk about Jesus at your job while most people at worship could get fired if they talk about Jesus at theirs.”...
Keep ReadingI read last week that our United States Congress is seen as one of our most dysfunctional institutions, so it probably doesn’t help that our annual General Assembly (G.A.) functions like the Congress of our denomination. ...
Keep ReadingWhy do we rest? From the beginning, we are given a pattern of the goodness of work, balanced with the goodness of rest. ...
Keep ReadingIn 2001, Julie and I bought our house. A home we could afford that was big enough for our 4 kids also meant that it needed to be fixed up. ...
Keep ReadingWho do you know that is suffering, or what have you endured?...
Keep ReadingI often say that, as a minority, I must know two stories of history....
Keep Reading“Why is graduation called commencement?” I remember learning that graduation sounds like a finish line, while commencement is a starting line. ...
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