A hundred years ago, leaders of the major Protestant denominations and missionary societies met in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the World Mission Conference. Historians of the church mark this conference as the beginning (or rather, the formal recognition) of the modern ecumenical movement. Churches had come to see that if they could cooperate on the mission … Continue reading »
Eye Contact
There’s something shocking in Song of Songs. I know, that’s kind of a commonplace these days. “Song of Songs says things you’d never believe were in the Bible.” For example, one of my favorite parts of scripture is Song 7:7-8, which I can’t link because then this blog would be NSFW. I understand: if you’ve … Continue reading »
A famous preacher
Buried amid all the stewardship material in 2 Corinthians 8-9 is this little tidbit in verse 18: With Titus we are also sending one of the Lord’s followers who is well known in every church for spreading the good news. (CEV) Some thoughts that passed through my mind reading this: Who is this preacher? Apollos? … Continue reading »
Vacation Winding Down
Today, our vacation starts to wind down. We’re going to hike around Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. We’ve had a great time at the beach, Disneyland, San Francisco, and the Marin Headlands. I’m looking forward to being back at church on Sunday, but it’s just that I don’t want the vacation to end yet.
“A little help!”
The NRSV has a strangely bland translation of Romans 15:24: when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. The bland part is where it says “to be sent on.” That’s a … Continue reading »
What Do You Want From Life?
“What do you want from life?” Everyone answers that question differently. What I mean is this. Everyone wants to be happy. There are things we want to accomplish. We want financial security. We want to be in relationships with other people. But we’re all unique, so we all want these different things in different proportions. … Continue reading »
Pastoral Tensions
My reading plan brought me two verses this morning that highlight a tension pastors must maintain. The first is Paul’s well-known call to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ: But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never … Continue reading »
Home From My Retreat
What do you call it when you come back from a retreat? — an attack? Well, technically, I wasn’t on a retreat. I was at the 2010 Academy of Missional Preaching (Southwest). But it was held at the Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, and there were retreat-ish aspects to it. If you needed to work … Continue reading »
Jim Collins on Excellence in Church Employees
I happened on an excellent session from Catalyst 2008 with Andy Stanley interviewing Jim Collins about keeping employees who are a poor fit in a position. Andy says that churches are all about mercy — so sometimes, out of compassion for the employee, we keep people in positions for which they aren’t a good match. … Continue reading »
Desert Hills’ Centegenarian
Today is the first day of our eldest member’s second 100 years: Jack turned 100 yesterday. (See the article at the Hi-Desert Star.)