I want you to take a moment and think. Think back and answer this question: When was the last time your whole family made it to church all four Sundays in a month? It seems like an easy question to answer, at first. But then you remember that your son had a basketball tournament twoContinue reading “Can You Handle The Four Week Challenge?”
Category Archives: Church
Praying for Cattle Instead of Sheep
I’m not going to go into all the details, but the past six months have been a stretching experience at the small church where I pastor. Many other small-town pastors can attest, finances are precarious at best at churches our size. Some time in the late summer 2016 as things were getting tighter and tighter, IContinue reading “Praying for Cattle Instead of Sheep”
New Post at Desiring God
Have you ever noticed that you have a tendency to share with others about problems, trials, and tragedies, but you are less inclined to share the joys in your life? Why is that? I explore one purpose behind your personal joy in “Your Joy Soothes Another’s Grief” at Desiring God this week: “…What pastors experience acutelyContinue reading “New Post at Desiring God”
I Was a Lost Pinky Toe in College
The college semester is back in session, and our church is seeking to minister to the flood of students who descended upon the liberal arts college a couple of blocks down the road. At 30, I am already beginning to feel that drift, as the gulf of experience between me and these young men andContinue reading “I Was a Lost Pinky Toe in College”
Pastoral Exhaustion Is a Good Thing
This morning, I write from the comfortable environs of the Maine coast. For the past ten years running, I’ve escaped the August heat to the hospitable cool breeze of South Bristol where my in-laws welcome our rowdy family for two weeks of slow-paced family time. I often tell people that it feels like we skid toContinue reading “Pastoral Exhaustion Is a Good Thing”
Expository Preaching Is Therapeutic
I was on vacation on the coast of Maine having a very pleasant conversation with a friend of my in-laws after dinner. She asks me, “So, Chad, how is the ministry going? I always wonder, is it a lot of pressure to always have to come up with a message for the people every week?”Continue reading “Expository Preaching Is Therapeutic”
Jesus Doesn’t Need Your Pity
I’ve never seen Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Someone is probably on their way as I write to come revoke my ordination certificate, but nevertheless it’s true. The movie came out when I was in high school. I remember seeing the trailer for it and thinking of all the blood and gore that wasContinue reading “Jesus Doesn’t Need Your Pity”