Radical Discipleship Is What We Need
Radical Discipleship The one ingredient missing in many of today’s churches is radical discipleship.[1] Radical discipleship was the norm for the early Christians. So what is radical discipleship? It is allowing every facet of one’s life to be shaped by the life of Jesus. It’s more than attending a membership class or attending worship or […]
Is Church a Verb or Noun?
Is the word “church” a noun or a verb? How you answer this question explains whether you understand the Gospel or have totally missed its point. So let’s start by asking a question –“Which image best portrays a church?” Which one did you pick? By the conversations of most Christians it would appear to be […]
Selma
Last night I watched Selma. It’s hard to believe our country was ever like that. But I remember when I was a young kid of 17 or 18. In the summers I drove an 18-wheeler cross country to help pay for school. On the really long trips there would be two drivers, and usually I would be […]
Worship Is a Celebration, Not a Performance
A friend of mine called the other day to ask my advice about something going on at his church. It seems one of their lead worship singers leaves the room as soon as she is finished singing and sits in the lobby drinking coffee, never attending a service. He has said something to her a […]
Some of Us Don’t Value the Soul Anymore
During my 50 years of ministry (Yes, 50. That’s not a typo.), I’ve become convinced that most churches don’t put much value on soul. And that saddens me. Why do I say this? Far too often, more than anything else, money defines a person or organization. The old saying “show me your pocket book and […]
All Good Things Must Come to an End
Many of you know that for the past two decades I have been obsessed with offshore billfishing. It’s impossible to give justice to a description of the feeling one gets when a 400-pound blue marlin is coming toward your bait. You see the fin, then the bill, then the crash as the Blue attacks the […]