If there were one lesson most churches ought to learn right now, it would be this: we should become humbler so that God might seem bigger.
Play the Cards You Hold
If we began our congregational ministry by assessing what we have to offer, we’d likely find it’s a lot.
Defend or Connect: Pick One
People are desperate to be understood, and listening is the most validating thing you can do for another human being.
Spiritual Friendship
The truth of God’s saving grace through faith becomes realer than real when experienced in life, interacting with those who wear skin. We need to have, to be, a friend.
Walking While Grieving
My challenge that day was complicated: keep walking uphill while fighting the wind and trying to find the next trail marker amidst the fog.
Resemblance
By loving the way God loves and acting as God would act, our resemblance becomes so great that it leaves no doubt we are the children of God.
A Season of Rest and Prayer
If what the Breastplate of St. Patrick claims is true, then both a physical body and a congregational body can rest in its truth.
Moral Injury and the Power of Forgiveness
I want to delve into moral and spiritual injury, looking at ways that we as Christians, ministers, pastors, counselors, and chaplains can respond when we encounter it.
The Attitude of the Heart
I want to share with you how to become more available and aware of God’s presence in your life through his Spirit. It’s like connecting to a network where you need to know the password.
Top 10 for Getting Through It
I set out to write a top 10 for getting over it but quickly realized that such a list might inadvertently trivialize deep wounds.
Thoughts on Elders as Shepherds
Many elders are frustrated because all they do is act as a board of directors. Instead of being in the lives of their flock, they’re spending time in meeting after meeting.
Leadership in Complex Times
What sort of leadership is needed in this time of complexity and uncertainty? I want to explore some implications of Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) for congregational life.
Celebrating Black Excellence
Many of us are making history today, and it is also imperative that we celebrate and support our Black leaders. We must honor Black history by supporting and celebrating Black excellence today.
Love: It’s Time to Get to Work
Reflecting on years of teaching young students, I am reminded of exercises captioned “Listen and do.” Might this be a simple, yet awfully mature, set of ancient instructions?
Pastoral Epistemology
I’m used to hearing epistemology used as a joke, but with all the conversations about truth, opinions versus justified beliefs, and general questions about what we know, epistemology seems suddenly and surprisingly relevant.
We Are Sheep
Sheep respond to nurture, and we are sheep according to John’s Gospel. Thus, we know our master’s voice of grace, which causes us to turn our heads and assent to follow.
Collateral Faith
When we are reading and studying the Bible, we often focus on the main characters, rarely considering those who are members of the faceless, nameless “crowd.”
Five Spiritual Resources for When You Need Help
As leaders in our communities of faith, we need to make sure that our people know the resources available to them when they are in spiritual need.
What Does it Mean to Be Church?
What sort of church structure describes Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, and other non-denominational congregations?
How to Speak Christian Correctly
Only God can bring light out of darkness, and the church cannot limit God’s work to its own projects and priorities.