I spend a lot of time in hospitals, hospice, and living rooms talking with people about dying. I have noticed that often they worry about things of a spiritual nature.
Five Questions With Austin Wright and Shawn Johnson
Small churches must answer the question, “How can we, as a small church, be faithful to what God has called us to be faithful?”
Reflection Roundup: All Is Prayer
Unity with God means moving through the world in constant communion: every bit of news, each conversation, every gaze met, offered up in prayer.
Praying for People as a Leadership Practice
How much of our leadership practice is prayer – prayer for people who live in our neighborhoods and cities? What of our decision-making?
Integrity Is Integral (Part 1)
People want to follow leaders who present themselves as they truly are, not as they believe others want them to be.
Reflection Roundup: The Many Faces of Empathy
Friday is National Lemonade Day, so buy an extra cup and share it in Jesus’s name, confident that it makes a difference for eternity.
To Those in the Gap
Caregivers are arguably one of the most overlooked segments of the population, which I believe was true even before the challenges of the pandemic.
Partial Fasting for Spiritual Growth
It’s important to take time to reflect on where we stand in our spiritual lives, and assess things that may be distracting us.
Reflection Roundup: It’s a Grace Competition
Let it go. Think the best. Give prayerful time for people to explain, then believe them. Breathe deep and experience the freedom not to flesh out every detail.
Honor to Whom Honor Is Due
Richard Blaisdell just retired after over 40 years of ministry. And we need more preachers like Richard. Here are four things preachers need to learn from his life and ministry.
Reflection Roundup: Integral Digital Connection
One way human nature reflects the imago Dei is in our instinct toward relationality. May we prayerfully and mindfully bridge these spaces in fresh ways.
Diversity of Perspective
A truly multiethnic, multigenerational, and multi-perspective church values, discusses, encourages, supports, and implements ideas and dreams that flow from all echelons of the congregation.
Reflection Roundup: Stormy Bank or the River?
Can anyone else relate to the image of crossing a river, standing on stones you’ve just thrown into the river from the comfort of the riverbank?
Why I Value an Open Mind
I’ve wondered why open-mindedness seems such a rare quality these days. There is little room for nuance or complexity.
Dry
Just as the concept of one single breath is not enough to sustain us, neither is a “one-and-done” idea adequate to establish spiritual rhythms.
Reflection Roundup: Adding Value
Remember the song, “Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold”? All are precious partners in God’s mission.
Congregational Mission: A Report From the Field
I commend these three core beliefs to all leader teams. Hope in God’s preferred future, practice non-anxious courage, and exercise prayerful imagination.
Reflection Roundup: Trust Is the Antidote to Panic
God’s image is presented to the world through the people of God, who use all available resources to meet the needs of the world because that’s what God does for us.
Tony, Trina, and the God of Second Chances
It’s a story of the God of love and grace doing his work among his people. It’s a story for the sinner and the lonely, a story for those in grief and pain, and a story of redemption.
Reflection Roundup: On Our Knees
The community of faith is able to truly embody unceasing prayer when we acknowledge the joint prayers of Christians around the world and throughout Christian history.