Every message is accompanied by information about the relationship. Interruptions convey a pretty strong message that “I am more important than you; I have the power.”
Healthy Responses for Church Leaders: Human Beings or Human Becomings?
Growth is movement. Growth is dynamic. Growth is process. Focus on cultivating healthy processes, and the content will improve.
To White Christian Leaders
Spend time in our communities, become a member or a frequent attender of a black church, live in our neighborhoods, and/or send your children to predominantly black schools to experience it.
Book Review: The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
The Trellis and the Vine is a metaphor the authors use to introduce a mind-shift in ministry that they insist will change everything.
Siburt Institute: Mission Revisited
We are grateful for the ways God has blessed the life of the institute, and we are hopeful for what lies ahead!
I Can’t Believe I Said That! When a Shepherd Mentors
He took me seriously, in spite of my immaturity—showing me how to react to criticism, how to absorb hostility, how to be a listener. What humility looks like.
When Ministers Change Their Minds
When we preach we cast a vision, we speak a reminder, we offer a challenge, but more than anything, we invite people into the wonder of God. We extend the invitation, and that is all we can do.
The Parable of the Birds
“So whether you swim deep, soar high, run fast, or sing beautifully, or not at all—each of you has what it is that makes birds unique and makes birds one.”
Held Hostage
If the Republicans lose, it will be because the party was held hostage by…the party. A party out of touch with the very people who could help them survive.
The Race
Despite our intention for God to be at the center of our lives, we often lose sight of what truly matters and find ourselves running toward things that are tangential to the true goal, or even worse, completely opposite from it.
Finding Our Identity
We want to stake a claim to our own identity—far enough away from the mainstream to be an individual, but not so far that we are alone. We want to be our own man or woman, and yet we also want to belong.
Learning to Die Well
We put great emphasis on how to live for Jesus. We talk about treating people well, making behavioral decisions that follow Jesus, and serving people the way the Good Samaritan did.
Knowing What Is Best
The fact that there is an ethical dimension to Christianity is undisputed. The dispute regarding ethics lies in how that dimension relates to salvation.
Word Problems
So what should we do? The same thing Jesus always tells us to do. Maybe if we apply the greatest commandments to our words, there will be fewer word problems.
Marked with the Spirit
The gift of the promised Holy Spirit may mean many things for the Christian life, but for those newly initiated into Christian discipleship it means one thing. It means you’ve been marked with God’s tattoo.
The Power of Blood
There is something unique about female humanity that puts them in solidarity with Christ. The blood of women has life-giving power, so too the blood that poured from Jesus’s side bore new creation.
Are You Joking?
When you finally come to know the message you intend to preach, then you can freely build on that message and give the gospel handles so people can carry it home with them.
Healthy Responses for Church Leaders: Being Well vs. Not Being Sick
"Focus on STRENGTH not weakness” is a response not only for the physical systems of the human body, but also complex emotional systems—like churches and families.
Tug of War
Jesus followers have found themselves on both sides of this social argument. Unsurprisingly, our bickering hasn’t brought peace to any part of the situation.
Negativity Bias, Charitable Interactions, and Learning to See the Best in Others
Our brains weigh us down with negative assumptions that ensure we fall short of the merciful, charitable attitudes we would like to manifest toward others.