As you read this, I will be participating in the Pastor’s Masters Golf Conference at Glorieta, New Mexico. It’s basically an excuse for Pastor’s to gather in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains for what is advertized as a time of “fellowship, spiritual encouragement, and improving your golf game.” Since I find myself in need…
We took another major attack on our web site last week. It actually shut us down for awhile. Apologies to those of you who may have attempted to visit the web site and found a message indicating we were temporarily down. I don’t know if these attacks are satanic or just the result of a…
I’m preaching a Senior Adult Revival this week. Guess I can throw away my Youth Revival sermons. As one who spent a few years serving on university campuses in collegiate ministry and now find myself doing a few senior adult ministry things, I can understand the conclusions drawn by another former student minister who is…
Two funerals last week for folks related to members of my family. Neither funeral was expected. Both were younger than me: one eight years; the other, eighteen years. It reminded me that the value of a life is not determined by the years accumulated. It also reminded me of what James wrote, “You do not…
While mega-churches get most of the spotlight in our day, this is also a day of mega-egos, not necessarily connected to mega churches. After a stirring testimony of conversion, a young man was asked who was responsible for his decision. “I don’t remember” he replied, “I only heard from God.” Those of us who share…
I attended two funerals this week. In both and in most I’ve attended in my life, and in many obituaries I’ve read, I’ve heard and seen the phrase, “gone home to be with the Lord.” Why do we use home as a reference for heaven? God’s Old Testament people and many of God’s New Testament…
I’ve just spent a week visiting and praying with young pastors and church starters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are courageous (only 2% of their city is in church on any given Sunday, the same percentage as in Bagdad, Iraq). They are committed at all costs (most spend 60 to 70% of their income…
As you read this, I will be leading a prayer team in a major North American city. Among other places visited, we will tour an Islamic Mosque, A Hindu Center, A Sikh Temple, and a Buddhist Temple. We will listen patiently and respectfully as their leaders tell us of their beliefs. Then we will move…
Having spent more than half of my vocational ministry in theological education, it has always been a wonder to me why we spend so much time teaching would-be ministers how to talk for God and how little time we spend teaching them how to talk with God. We teach them much of how to relate…
We live in a day of urgencies and emergencies. We have addresses but we may not be there. We have e-mail addresses but we may not answer. We have phone numbers but we also have answering machines to take our messages. Planned agendas often get bumped in favor of some sudden need either of our…