More reflections on Willimon’s book called “Pastor.” Today some insights on preaching: “Whereas classical rhetoricians such as Aristotle spent much of their energies concerned with the limitations and desires of the listeners, urging speakers to take care to tailer their speeches to the disposition of their listeners, Christian speaking is first concerned with the disposition … More Pastor 8 – Pastors as Preachers
Honestly, this is one of the best sections of any book I have ever read. I have rarely been this excited and passionate about anything I’ve read related to the power of Scripture. In the reading of these words, my reason for being a pastor was reaffirmed. I have experienced firsthand the world altering power … More Pastor 7 – “Obedient Playfulness” with the Text
More insights from Willimon’s book “Pastor”: “One of the challenges of biblical interpretation is that the Bible contains a wide array of genre. We contemporary preachers of the Word marvel at the resourcefulness of these early communicators of the faith. They use poetry, myth, parable, genealogy, invective, hyperbole, and a host of other literary devices … More Pastor 6 – More on the Scriptures
More highlights from my reading of Willimon’s book on pastoral ministry: “Reading Scripture in the context of modernity has proved to be particularly challenging for us pastors. The Bible is old; the newest parts of it were written about nineteen hundred years ago. Because modernity believes in the notion of progress, it tends to be … More Pastor 5 – Scripture & Modernity
From Jesus Creed: CT has a new interview with Billy Graham, and I clip only one question and answer: If you could, would you go back and do anything differently? Yes, of course. I’d spend more time at home with my family, and I’d study more and preach less. I wouldn’t have taken so many … More Billy Graham Interview at CT
More from Bishop Willimon’s book on vocational ministry called “Pastor.” “The priest is the one who keeps pointing the congregation to the presence of Christ in our midst; keeps narrating our lives in a manner quite different from that of the world. The world tells us that we are our own creations, that we are … More Pastor 4 – Recollecting the Mighty Acts of God
I’m sharing highlights from my reading of William Willimon’s definitive book on pastoral ministry called “Pastor.” Today, I share a quote from a section discussing Acts 4 and every pastor’s favorite topic — inviting people to give their money away! 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that … More Pastor 3 – A Revolutionary Offering
From William Willimon’s definitive book on ordained ministry entitled Pastor. “The history of pastoral care in America is a history of the adoption of inappropriate models of leadership by the clergy. This stands as a warning to us of the perils of uncritical adoption of secular techniques and models of leadership…..” “The pastor as manager … More Pastor 2 – More than a Manager
I’m reading through William Willimon’s definitive book on ministry called “Pastor.” Allow me to share some highlights as I go. “We live in a capitalist, consumptive culture where there is no purpose to our society other than “meeting our needs.” The culture gives us the maximum amount of room and encouragement to “meet our needs” … More Pastor 1 – More Than Meeting Needs
This post comes from a question and answer series with Francis Chan. I found this at http://www.desiringgod.org. Q: Jesus has always blessed his Church with gifted teachers. Unique to our day is the increased accessibility of these teachers. How should we make the most out of these resources while at the same time being committed to … More Francis Chan on ‘Celebrity Preachers’
A friend who is planting a new church emailed the other day and asked me about some of the best things I did as Life Covenant Church was starting. I started to write down the first few things that came to mind, and what came out are some small practices that looking back have had … More Church Planting Wisdom (by Tim Morey)
From Barna: Do you agree with these six themes? What do you think? What can we do? Change usually happens slowly in the Church. But a review of the past year’s research conducted by the Barna Group provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new. Analyzing … More 2010 Barna Report – “Megathemes”
These are some of the most profound words I’ve received in a very long time. Very good reminder for us as we are chasing a Kingdom vision and building something for the LORD. Thanks Will and Joe for passing it along to me. Enjoy! It helps, now and then, to step back and take a … More Taking a Long View (Oscar Romero)
Reading the seasoned pastoral wisdom of Eugene Peterson is for weary pastors like drinking ice cold water after running a marathon in the desert heat. I found this excerpt at the iMonk. Drink deeply, my friends! . . . Do we do it in Jesus’ way or do we do it the Wal-Mart way? Spirituality … More Eugene Peterson: Leading others the Jesus Way
This week we’re kicking off MainStreet LifeGroups. Most churches over the past couple decades (especially) have realized the need to move people beyond the Sunday morning worship service and into deeper fellowship. Small Groups have been the answer. Unfortunately, even while Small Groups have become a regular item on every church’s program offerings, and leaders … More Naked Church 2: Key Elements of Church
What is the essence of ‘church’ when you strip it down to it’s naked core? When you get below all the cultural trappings and stylistic garb we dress her in, what is the church really? We tend to focus on the external forms and activities of the church – buildings, programs, services, worship styles, liturgy, … More Naked Church 1: What’s it Really About?
“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). There’s a powerful lesson and warning to the church in this passage I’ve never noticed until today. It seems as though Jesus is confronting a popular … More When Conventional Wisdom Reaches it’s Expiration Date
WARNING: Heavy Sarcasm. If you’ve never been around a church plant, you may miss this humor. Enjoy.
Just about everyone is capable of developing a degree of leadership intuition, though we don’t all start off at the same place. I’ve found that all people fit into three major intuition levels: 1) THOSE WHO NATURALLY SEE IT Some people are born with exceptional leadership gifts. They instinctively understand people and know how to … More 3 Levels of Leadership Intuition (by John Maxwell)
I’m grateful for culturally engaging Christian networks like Origins. From Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed: The Church in America is changing, and Origins is at the forefront. Origins is a worldwide network of leaders who follow Jesus thriving on the diversity and creativity growing in the Church. It’s an externally-focused network of creatives, business leaders, … More ORIGINS: The Forefront of Future Christianity
1. New churches are needed because the large majority of Americans do not attend a local church. About 17% of Americans attend a local church on any given Sunday. Many of those attend a church where they do not clearly hear the message of salvation in Jesus. 2. New churches are more effective than established … More Top 10 Reasons to Start New Churches
Are you afraid of failure like me? Do you celebrate your successes publicly and quietly sweep your not-so-successful ideas and attempts under the rug to save face? Here’s a good word for us by Mike Foster in an article called, “Snuggle Up With Failure.” Here’s a snippet below and a link to the full article: … More Mike Foster & the Value of Failure
“Why do so many seekers report that they are attracted to Jesus but not to the church? Perhaps the problem is that the church has done a splendid job of concealing the powerful life-giving Jesus. We domesticate him; we make him our servant; we assume that people have more knowledge about him than they do. … More QUOTABLES: David T. Olson on Domesticating Jesus
Jeremy Berg 