Study after study confirms that ministers deal daily with higher than normal levels of stress. Many studies and statistics are available, but consider just the following seven statistics: 90% of pastors (all ages) said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like before they entered the ministry; 75% of […]
I have a confession to make: I am a pastoral coach. And I love it. Many in the church are unfamiliar with pastoral coaching, usually assuming it is what it isn’t. They’re always intrigued when I explain pastoral coaching and then specifically how we do it at Journey. Many in the church are also intrigued […]
“He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.” Matthew 18.2 2017 was marked by two wonderful Ephesians 3.20-21 blessings of God in my personal life: My oldest daughter married, and she married very well, saying “I do” to a man who loves God and her very much. I was privileged to both walk her down the aisle […]
In 2017, as is true every year, we read a number of good books, a few great books, and a couple of “why was this ever published” books (no, you won’t find books of the last category in this list). 2017 was another great reading year with many happy hours invested with the essential “Big […]
A WEDDING: WHAT AND WHY I recently had the honor of walking my daughter down the aisle in her wedding, and of officiating this most wonderful of life events. The couple and I worked together to write their ceremony from start to finish, and a beautifully meaningful ceremony it was, emphasizing the biblical and the […]
In our previous blog, we began looking at some of Satan’s favorite lies to young ministers – favorite because they’re effective. Again with the input of Millennial ministers we coach, we offer seven more lies. If people knew me, they wouldn’t accept me. “I’m irreparably damaged and the call of God isn’t on […]
In his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning writes, “Satan prompts us to give importance to what has no importance. He clothes trivia with glitter and seduces us away from what is real. He causes us to live in a world of delusion, unreality and shadows.” In other words, Satan lies. Always. To all of […]
We live in Central Florida. We’re still cleaning up and putting our lives back in order following the visit this past week of Hurricane Irma. You wouldn’t believe the things Irma damaged and destroyed. A hurricane has a way of reinforcing life’s important lessons, and believe me, she (in this case) can be a very […]
The English language is ever reinventing itself. Unlike French, a language that seeks to protect itself from change (and for good reason), English is a chameleon, ever changing to reflect its changing culture. Consider these words from the 1930s and 1940s, words once common in American life, but no longer even recognized: “zooty,” “spiffy,” “steppin’,” […]
Recently, I heard someone say that Christian leaders often “appear out of nowhere.” Like a magician waving a wand, repeating the magic word, “abracadabra,” and pulling rabbits out of a hat, God pulls Christian leaders out of the air, magically equips them, and then places them. The speaker’s point of reference was Joshua and his […]
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