I am a fan of Zig Ziglar. A regular in my rotation of podcasts, Zig’s Inspiring Words of Encouragement, is something that I generally look forward to hearing because the man understands people.  While driving back from Baltimore a few weeks ago I was blown away by one of these podcasts… in fact, I have listened to it so much since that drive, I think Theresa has it memorized. The podcast was titled “Why They [...]

Out of Ur recently shared a video of an ABC news piece dealing with the relationship between the evangelical community in Portland, Oregon, and Portland’s openly gay mayor, Sam Adams.  I thought the piece was well done and it deeply resonates with me and how I believe the church needs to be functioning in the years to come. While church planting in Baltimore we commonly worked with a broad range of groups on common ground [...]

Several weeks ago Freakonomics did a story for Marketplace about the motivations of donors.  Marketplace’s interest in the story is understandable, seeing as how it is a publicly supported program produced by American Public Media.  I found the story fascinating, as I think you will as well, but I was having a struggle seeing if there was a way to apply some of what I heard to the church.  I asked Marc Pitman (who turns 40 today), [...]

The millennial generation is here. I have written before about some of the generational struggles that are going on in churches and other organizations, and how there is a clash between the perceptions of arrogant impatience of the millenials and the boomer’s stubborn refusal to empower the next generation.  While we know that the truth lies somewhere in between the generalizations, I think it is incredibly helpful to get a better understanding of just what [...]

Ben Reed’s blog has been a significant part of my Google Reader feed for quite some time.  As a small groups geek I love hearing what he has to share about his experience as Small Groups Pastor at Grace Community Church in Clarksville, Tennessee.  I’ve asked Ben to share a little bit about what he has been stewing on leadership wise with us…  I love studying leadership. As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on [...]

Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. -Habakkuk 1:5 And so starts 2012.  I am genuinely excited for what lies ahead this year… more so than I have been for the start of a new year in quite a while.    As I enter 2012 the opportunities and challenges that are in front [...]

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 [...]