Written in my journal on February 3, 2007, in Pasadena, California while sitting in the sunshine on the plaza of Paseo de Colorado – Grace is indeed God’s gift. A moment of clarity, a vision of that which has been before our eyes all the time. Grace is the ability to see with the eyes [...]
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Archive | February, 2007
5 Signs of burn-out in your volunteers
February 28, 2007
7 Comments
Because the small-church is, well…..small, our volunteers tend to get overextended. So, for our helpful hint today, I present 5 Signs of Burn-out in Your Volunteers:
Read moreBeyond external-focus and servant evangelism
February 26, 2007
15 Comments
I am proposing a new model for small church ministry. It is not a model that you have read about or seen advertised. No seminars or conferences about this model exist. There is no notebook, website, CD, or video link. Yet, it is so obvious that we have missed it for at least the past [...]
Read moreThe day I went to a strip club
February 23, 2007
13 Comments
Several years ago I was pastoring in North Carolina. A young mother with two kids started attending our church. Every Sunday morning the father would drop mom and the kids off at church, then return to pick them up after the 11 am service. Debbie worked in the preschool department and got to know the mom [...]
Read morePalm Sunday or Easter outreach?
February 22, 2007
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As we approach the Easter season, the natural instinct is to try to make Easter a big day. Usually that makes sense because it is, after all, Easter. But at one church I pastored, we made Palm Sunday our big Sunday. Why? Because school spring break was always scheduled from Good Friday through Easter week.
Read moreThis Easter Outreach Idea Works
February 19, 2007
6 Comments
Easter is the biggest day of the Christian year! It’s the resurrection of Christ, the defeat of death, the victory over sin and the grave, the hope of humanity, and the promise of new life for people everywhere. And, people are more likely to go to church on Easter than any other day because it [...]
Read moreDoing good is kingdom business
February 18, 2007
2 Comments
Coming up next: A great idea for Easter Outreach — stay tuned! Okay, I am going way out on a limb here because I am tired of the social gospel vs. evangelism debate. And I know the history — the social gospel emerged at the turn of the twentieth century (1900s) because the dominant theology [...]
Read more“All our library books are checked in!”
February 17, 2007
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Several years ago my dad was a church library consultant for the Baptist Sunday School Board. One of his assignments was to conduct church library conferences at churches around the country. At one conference, he asked for reports about the status of the participants’ church libraries. One dear lady stood proudly to announce, “As of last [...]
Read moreDoing the right thing doesn’t always work out
February 15, 2007
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If you read my January 11 post, Last Night We Crossed Over, you know that our church decided to invite the Boys and Girls Club kids that meet in our church to join our members for our regular Wednesday night fellowship meal. We would pay for about 40 kids to eat dinner each Wednesday night with [...]
Read moreDown from the mountain
February 13, 2007
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I often take my preaching text from the revised common lectionary, especially from Advent through Pentecost.* Next Sunday’s lectionary reading is Luke 9:28-36 — the story of the transfiguration of Jesus, but the story has new meaning for me now.
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Podcasts
- Living in the Power of Pentecost
- A Mother's Sacrifice
- Worshipping and DoubtingIn Matthew 28:16-20, we usually miss verse 17: "They worshipped him, but some doubted." What did the 11 disciples doubt during this post-resurrection appearance of Jesus? Did they doubt that he had been resurrected? Or that he was the Messiah, the Son of God? Or did they doubt themselves and their ability to carry on after Jesus left them? The inte […]
- If You Love Jesus
- Living in Light of Easter
