Pastors and Social Security seem to be a popular topic, as it is one of the biggest hits I get from Google.  This post is originally from March 2011.   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 [...]

On June 14, 2008 my life changed forever.  It was that day that I stood at the front of a church and waited to see Theresa walking towards me in a white dress.  As the sanctuary went quiet and the whole room waited with anticipation we all focused on one thing: the door that my bride to be was waiting behind.  The music started, the door opened and it happened… she took my breath away. [...]

This was originally posted in September, and I think it is hugely important to anyone in church leadership… What do you think? Ronnie Floyd had a great post on insecure pastors on Monday that has had me thinking.  In true Southern Baptist style, Ronnie outlines the three warning signs of an insecure pastor with skillful alliteration: Competitiveness– One of the biggest problems insecurity carries with it is overt competition. Churches try to “out-do” one another. Pastors [...]

This post originally ran in July, 2011. Back in the mid-nineties, while I was between colleges, I spent some time working as a fish cutter in a wholesale seafood market.  It was in that job that I learned the true meaning of boredom at work.  My day would start at 2:00 am by cutting open my first fish and for the next ten to twelve hours I repeated “knife goes in, guts go out” several [...]

This week I am taking a break from posting and re-posting some of the more popular posts from the last year as well as some of my favorite posts.  This post originally ran on September 22, 2011… enjoy! On Tuesday the Internet Monk’s Chaplain Mike shared his thoughts on Shaun King’s resignation from Courageous Church in Atlanta.  This was the first that I had heard about it, and I have spent the last couple of days reading more about [...]

On Sunday all of Christendom comes together to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  Sunday also marks the last Sunday of 2011.  As we head into the last few days of the year, it is a good time to refresh our memories on the rules for year end gifts.  Tithes and offerings may be counted towards 2011 if they meet the following guidelines: Hand delivered gifts must be delivered on or before December 31, 2011. [...]

Christmas is nearly here, and I am excited to celebrate the birth of our savior with my family and friends.  This weekend will find Theresa and I on Long Island, celebrating with our church family and Theresa’s side of the family.  On Monday we head down to Baltimore to spend a few days with my side of the family and give my nephew his Christmas present (seriously… why didn’t they make these when I was a [...]

Last week I shared my first thoughts on the Common English Bible.  My intention was to read through it a little more and do another post and give away sometime in January, but this morning I was gripped by the CEB’s handling of the first six verses of Isaiah 53:  Who can believe what we have heard, and for whose sake has the LORD’s arm been revealed? 2 He grew up like a young plant before us, [...]

It is hard to believe that Christmas Eve is only five days away. As you rush from party to party, event to event, and program to program my prayer for church leaders is that you will have the opportunity to stop, exhale, and adore Him.  We know that the busyness of the season can get in the way of our being able to truly celebrate it… many of you who are reading this may have [...]

Nearly fifty years ago Marshall McLuhan’s book Understanding Media coined the phrase “the medium is the message.”  In the five decades since we have been struggling to fully come to grips with all the ramifications of different forms of media and how it is used.  Adding to the complexity is the speed at which media is changing, and the options that we now have at our disposal.  Over the last six months I have had seemingly dozens [...]