When is it okay, if ever, to ask someone to leave a local church and not to return? I mean, after all, the church is a place for sinners, its Christ’s church and not ours, and we are supposed to be in the business of “reaching out” not pushing or...
“How sweet the sound,” indeed! Gracie Schram is a fifteen (15) year old singer / songwriter that kept an audience of over nine hundred (900) teenagers locked-in and fully engaged for her entire presentation. When she finished she received a standing ovation. All she did was share her love for...
Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” The church of Jesus Christ is called to exhibit, exude, and express life. Tell me then, why are so many of our churches so dog-gone dead? I have served a wide variety of churches and I...
Eileen meant well, she was just misinformed! She thought that the Church had hired me to do the work of ministry. Almost every congregation I have ever served has had an “Eileen” or an “Ernest.” They believe that you pay the preacher and that he or she is responsible to...
Dr. Vance P. Ross, former Associate General Secretary for the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, is fond of saying that every church should ask two recurring questions: 1. “What is our business?” 2. “How is business?” Jesus was great at vision casting. He told the Disciples who he was,...
We were living in rural Arkansas. My parents were dirt poor share-croppers. The house we lived in had no insulation, no running water, and you could literally see daylight through the cracks in the building. When winter came we were miserable! Our bedroom, the “boy’s room,” held two standard sized...
The Church, with all of its issues and challenges, and in spite of the gloomy forecast by the naysayers, is not going to quietly fade away. In fact, the Church of Jesus Christ is going to get stronger and stronger because the Church is still the hope of the World. ...
Happy New Year! I can hardly wait to see what this New Year will bring. It has been an interesting beginning. We have already had record cold temperatures across the Country, unexpected snow falls in places that traditionally do not get any snow, devastating coastal waves, and we have seen...
Catching fish is great! Two weeks ago I put all of my fishing knowledge to work and it paid off. Two preacher friends, Bob Vale and Ken Mansfield, joined me on a cat fishing trip to South Carolina. On our first day out we caught six fish. Now that is...
If God wanted to speak to you would you listen? The story of Moses and the burning bush is a great story. It is fascinating because God caused Moses to “turn aside” and to pay attention in order that God could share with Moses a unique opportunity and calling. I...
