Melissa is Cancer Free (but that is not what makes God good)

Thursday we received Melissa’s post-surgical pathology report. Monday’s surgery had come after four long months of chemotherapy. We we were informed that the cancerous tumor removed from her breast was tiny, the margins around it were clear and the removed lymph nodes were clear as well. Melissa is not yet through this journey but she

A Change of Inputs (recovering evangelism while there is still time)

Churches are in a decaying orbit; we have to change our inputs.

Why Christian Leaders Lead

I received two notes from highly committed parishioners. Both thanked me for effectively leading our church through “crisis.” My first thought was “which crisis?” Since 2016 or so, the church world has been in a perpetual state of crisis. The tornados keep touching down and the tornados already on the ground never seem to lift.

Why Christian Leaders Lead

I received two notes from highly committed parishioners. Both thanked me for effectively leading our church through “crisis.” My first thought was “which crisis?” Since 2016 or so, the church world has been in a perpetual state of crisis. The tornados keep touching down and the tornados already on the ground never seem to lift.

Strategic Reallocation of Resources (Post COVID)

Though COVID will “always be with us,” the pandemic seems largely over. It has been over for a while, the politicians and news outlets just needed another story to fill their news cycles. What that means for churches is where you presently are; is where you are going to be. No one else is coming

Pound Cake and Sweet Tea

When we lived in Georgia during our seminary years, we resided in a planned community called a mill village. The houses had wrap around porches and people sat out front on warm summer evenings. They sat in painted metal gliders and wooden porch swings; always swaying as kids played in the sandy front yards. Some

Hell-fire and Salvation

I was saved when I was seven.  We were holding a revival at Oak Wood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas and I walked down the aisle during the invitation; somewhere between the fortieth and forty-first verse of “Just as I Am.”  At that altar I repented of my dastardly ways, prayed to receive Christ

We Don’t Make the Rules

When I was a kid, we played the Parker Brother’s board game Monopoly with some regularity. It took a long time and we started far more games than we finished but we played. Once while in early high school, I actually played at someone else’s house (my first away game) and discovered they had different

When Love Finds its Proper Place (everything else will too)

Paul planted the Corinthian church in March of 50 AD on the middle leg of his Second Missionary Journey.  The church was in the right place at the right time.  It was also left in the hands of gifted leaders.  There was no ceiling on the potential of the Corinthian church!  Seven years after leaving

22 and ½ Things I have Learned in 22 and ½ Years (in one place)

I am a bit over half-way through year twenty-three as the Sr. Pastor of Christ Church.   On paper, the story of Christ Church’s growth from 200 to over 2,400 seems like a modern miracle but my mind today is on the people who represent those numbers.  Especially those who have been on this journey