In the Season of Pentecost (Liturgical churches call it "Ordinary Time") -- God called Abram to leave his home to find a new one, and Jesus called Matthew, a tax-collector, to leave his job and “follow me.” In both testaments, we heard stories of moving from...
The church is the church only when it exists for others... The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving.
I've learned, over many years, that church isn't about order or quiet or even ritual so much as it is about showing up. For yourself, for God, and for the people around you who need to feel--just as you do--that the blessings and burdens of being a human are not...
From a couple years ago and evidently, still relevant: "I used to argue with others who didn’t believe women could preach and pastor. So much energy wasted. Nowadays, I just train and provide opportunities for women to preach in our congregation. And when they do,...
Not everything that was done in the Bible has a universal, timeless, or useful application. What is a timeless principle is that both men and women should be taking their lead from Jesus. We should be emulating his character, and displaying and using the fruit and...
The hope for life after death must be separated forever from the behavior control mentality of reward and punishment. The Church must abandon, therefore, its reliance on guilt as a motivator of behavior.
Right now, there are people literally considering leaving their homes to gather with others for worship, wondering: -If I go, can I stand or sit in that area of the sanctuary where we sat together for 18 years before his passing without sobbing so loud I'll distract...
I think good preachers should be like bad kids. They ought to be naughty enough to tiptoe up on dozing congregations, steal their bottles of religion pills, spirituality pills, and morality pills, and flush them all down the drain. The church, by and large, has...
The first step for church leaders (one meant to represent God) to regain trust by those damaged by the church is not to ask for itbut to genuinely ask them questions about their experience. “I want to know what this has done to you, how it affects you . . .” is where...
A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling....(We must) play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, live by improvisation and experiment." from...