Like everyone else over the last three months I adjusted in an instant to live-stream worship, Zoom meetings and any other digital, computer aided gizmo I could find to keep in touch with people and keep our ministry moving forward. Thank God for virtual reality! Indeed, God provides. It’s been good, but it’s not been great. When all is said […]
One of my anxieties as a beginning pastor was praying publicly. I remember as a freshly minted minister being asked to say the prayer at the potluck for my first installation. The pressure was on. My wife was present, mom and dad too. Area clergy, veterans of many a potluck prayer, stood waiting to hear what kind of fella the Seminary was […]
My wife Sallie and I have been married forty years this Sunday. A friend asked me this last week what I have learned in forty years of marriage. It was one of those questions that called for instant profundity. I have problems being profound even with the luxury of time. Here is what popped into my mind and mouth. “It […]
To state the obvious: you must make sure that you spend time with your family, corporately and individually. Daily, weekly and seasonally, e.g. vacations, you need to be with the family and they need to be with you. You neglect this to the detriment of all: yourself, your family, your ministry. Having stated the obvious, let me address this issue […]
I like democracy. I like the idea of voting. It is one of the things that is great about America. I would want no other system. But I am not so crazy about it in the Church, or at least in the local congregation. In fact through the years as a pastor I have endeavored to see how few of […]
Holidays are hard. Unless you come from a pastor’s family, I am not sure there is any way to really be prepared for how hard the holidays are for a pastor. I know I wasn’t. This is not to whine, but it must be brought out into the open. If you do not deal well with the special challenges of […]
As a pastor when it comes to sports, I am a layman. While I have spent quite a bit of time playing and watching sports, I am a layman. The x’s and o’s and routes and schemes remain a mystery to me. As a pastor when it comes to finances, I am a layman. I have always liked numbers and […]
Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Pastors have lots of decisions to make every day. What to do? What not to do? How to do what to do? Why not to do what you are not doing? And so on. In the midst of your decisions pastors need to think through the proper combination of new and old things. New Things Start new […]
The “VID”, as we dis-affectionately call COVID-19 at our house, has changed so many things in your life and mine! It made a big change in one of my favorite pastoral activities of the year. As part of our Confirmation process we still have our kids go through a “Question Night.” That consists of having the students sit in front […]
Nothing besides the Bible may have as big an impact on your ministry as sports. No fooling. We are a sports crazy nation. You need to study, understand, utilize and be on guard about sports. Sports as God Far too often the things of God come in second place to sports. Families choose traveling hockey teams over Sunday morning worship. […]