I am in an unenviable position right now, I will probably have to buy a new(er) car very soon. My fleet of 4 cars and one motorcycle is aging and will not be adequate for the potential commuting needs soon to be unleashed. This has driven me to the internet to seek out several items of interest to me. The first is to determine the possible value of a trade-in. Off to Kelley Blue Book, [...]

The New York Times posted a short article from Richard Florida last night about saving cities. I am a fan of Richard Florida, and while I may not always agree with him I do have a great deal of respect for him and the insights that he brings to urban planning.  Those that know me also know that I am a fan of cities, and seeing them be renewed.  The church that I helped to [...]

This past weekend my wife and I went a little crazy. Intending to visit Maryland we loaded up the truck and set of down the Jersey Turnpike.  Hungry for lunch we avoided Turnpike food and instead opted for a mediocre cheese steak and veggie wrap in Janesburg, NJ.  That’s when it hit us.  We were both coming off of a long week and were realizing that we were exhausted.  Long story short, I busted out [...]

I had only been interning at the downtown Baltimore church for a week.  Everything was new and exciting.  I was falling in love with the city: the mass amounts of people, the busyness, the feel of being part of a really cool community, the constant motion of everything…it was intoxicating; but scary as well. I wasn’t used to walking everywhere I went; and thus I wasn’t used to encountering so many homeless addicts asking for money [...]

I spend most of my week with ministries. Most of my time with ministries is spent talking about money or the lack thereof.  Today, I want to break down these day long conversations into a simple discussion of income and expense optimization. Granted, I will be oversimplifying but the overall concepts will help guide your thinking. Optimization of a church’s finances really comes down to two things: Increasing Income Be Creative: Some ministries can get [...]

I have a couple of tents at home. One is fairly small: a two person lightweight model for overnight hiking which is used by my middle son Seth as he treks across hill and valley.  The other one is a 6 person 3 room beauty that can house the entire family.  This tent is full of memories for everyone, including the sand on the floor from frolicking on the beaches of Lake Lanier and Lake [...]

Richard Florida tweeted a fascinating quote from Antonio Gramsci on Monday: While Gramsci’s writing was aimed at 1930′s Italy and the marxist uprisings that were going on throughout Europe, I see a great deal of application for the church in this day and age. Three ways that I see this applying to church life: As a ministry comes to the end of its’ life cycle a new thing can not be birthed out of it until it is [...]

This morning in the New York Times I am quoted in a story on single pastors.  The story stemmed from an article by Mark Almlie at Out of Ur.  Mark is a 37 year old single man with experience pastoring in several large churches.  The recent economic situation caused him to begin searching for a new church to serve.  As any pastor will tell you ministry job searches are brutal.  I am probably being charitable [...]

If we are going to take  statements like “every member a missionary” seriously we need to change the way we do things. The Thingy is a church Wendy and I became a part of two years ago.  It’s leadership is decentralized and one of its primary focuses is empowering others to live as missionaries – or as we put it, love like Jesus in their world.  We do that by approaching the Scripture in a [...]

The Dime Blog has had some great information on it lately.  Today’s post is on the social security exemption for pastors and the particulars behind it: Commissioned employees (pastors) of the church fall into two categories: Those who have chosen to exempt themselves from the Social Security system (“opting out”). Those who choose to remain a part of the Social Security system (“participating”). Commissioned Employees Choosing to be Exempt from Social Security (SECA): Those who [...]