For the last 7 weeks, I have been doing a couch to 5k. This week I am up to walking 5 min, “running” 25 minutes, and walking 5 min again. I put “running” in quotes because honestly, there are small children who walk faster than I run, but as I jogged along this morning, I […]
Enjoy this guest post from my friend Angela Howard – one of the most magnificent women I know. Have you ever felt disqualified? I know I have. Just hearing Angela’s story brings me hope – and her book How to Love Your Crazy Family: 52 Quick Reads for No Ordinary Days is amazing. ~~~~~~~~~~~ While facing a broken […]
There are seasons when everything seems to go wrong. Today, we get to hear from guest poster Diana Savage on how she recovered from a season of pain and produced a book to help others: When my life imploded more than a decade ago, I wasn’t sure I would ever recover. For years I’d poured […]
When your world is crashing, and your stress level is to the roof, it is tempting to think that if a few things would just change, then we could really trust God. The thing is that we are complex people. When our emotions are engaged, or traumatized from the past, our natural response is to […]
Some days it feels like we are running from one thing to another, just hoping to catch our breath. We need more time. My life is always busy. Right now, I work 24 hours a week, I am in grad school again, and am looking for ways to empower and encourage people to live the […]
Imagine you had a group of people who listen intensely to what you have to say, then give you honest feedback and input. Would you like to borrow 5 other brains to move to your next level immediately? This last year, I’ve had the privilege of walking with a group of friends who are amazing. […]
Does a good pastor know everyone in his/her congregation? In short, my answer is yes AND no. As always, I am sharing my thoughts in order to facilitate conversation, because I believe we are all richer when we can understand each other, so feel free to comment. First, why a pastor doesn’t need to know […]
I am so grateful for the diverse people I interact with online. The Biblical Leadership Principles group on LinkedIn gets a special shout out for having a great conversation with me as I wrestled these last few posts (What should church look like? and Is smaller church better?). I am also extremely grateful for a […]
My post on small church continues to reverberate in my mind. I started a fun conversation with @angelaswisdom. I think it is good for us to struggle with what church looks like, and whether we are creating something that is not really what God intended. Recently, one of my amazing children gave me a strong rebuke […]
For several years, I’ve been asking myself this question – you see, I love big church. In fact, my favorite church size is about 600. Yet in the back of my head, I hear the question: Is it possible for a church to be healthy if it is large? My study of ecclesiology (the nature […]