Here’s what I’m learning as a lead pastor of a multi-staff church: 1. Don’t let things fester. If there’s a problem, address it quickly. As soon as I hear that there are people asking other people about church leadership decisions, I call them and do what I can to address their questions personally. It keeps…
My semester of teaching in the classroom ended a few weeks ago. However, my work continues. I still have stacks of papers to mark. Tonight I finally finished reading and grading the final blog posts from my spiritual formation class. If your wondering how blogging fits into a college course on spiritual formation, here’s a…
For lunch today I ate a sandwich consisting of fresh bread, lettuce, chunks of red peppers, brie and goat cheese, hunks of raw red onion, and sliced tomatoes. I did a quick check for meat. There was no meat. I like meat. I don’t like raw onions or sliced tomatoes. Erika knew I might be…
Soon you will be able to download Hanover Missionary Church sermons directly to your iPod. That’s right folks. You can have our weekly teachings automatically show up in your itunes account, whether you want to hear them or not. My good friend Luke is working night and day to get this new feature up and…
I’m in Kitchener for a two day denominational gathering. Here’s what’s happening: Hugh Halter, author of the Tangible Kingdom, is our keynote speaker. He is challenging us to think missionally and to dream about what the church might look like if the committed (those who follow Jesus) lived in a way that made a tangible…
Yesterday I participated in Emmanuel Bible College’s graduation ceremony. Since I’m an adjunct instructor I donned my black robe and red, white and gray hood, marched through the gathered crowd with the rest of the faculty, and took my place on the platform overlooking the assembly of friends, family and supporters. As I watched graduates…
Now that my contract as interim lead pastor has been extended, I thought it would be appropriate to share how I’m feeling and how it has affected my family life. The details: on March 1st I moved from being the director of worship and the arts to the role of interim lead pastor. It was…
I’m officially half way through my first week of full-time work since 2004. That’s right. I haven’t had a full-time job since my five-year-old was born. In case you’re wondering, I haven’t changed jobs. I’m still pastoring at Hanover Missionary Church. But since my college responsibilities wrapped up for the summer last week and my…
Since my message on Sunday I’ve been asked this question many times: “What does the Bible say about cremation?” Here’s a short answer to a very hot–no pun intended–topic. The Bible doesn’t say anything about cremation. It always assumes the burial of a body. The early church always buried the dead. They believed that the…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the resurrection these days. It’s partly because it’s the Easter season and partly because I’m preaching on the resurrection this Sunday. As a preparatory exercise I’ve been asking various people what they think ‘resurrection’ means. The responses have been all over the map. Not only is there confusion about…