Journey’s Best Reads of 2017
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 Three”: good music, good coffee and a good book. As the year ends, we offer up our list of our...
Reflections On a Wedding and a Funeral
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 practical. As pastor and papa, I did insert one surprise in the wedding: words of blessing prayed over the couple...
Satan’s Most Effective Lies to Young Ministers Part II
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 my life. Along with that come thoughts that I need to be someone I'm not, to cover up who I...
The Big Lie: Satan’s Most Effective Lies to Young Ministers Part I
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 us. And on every subject. In John 8.44, Jesus calls Satan, “the father of lies”: Satan is the patriarch of...
Life Lessons From a Hurricane: What Irma Left Behind
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 intense teacher: she doesn’t take “no” for an answer; she is relentless; she drives her point home over and over...
Creatalytical: Two New Expressions for the American Lexicon
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’,” or “George.” Or these words in current use, but never imagined in the 1930s or 1940s: “selfie,” “side-eye,” “download,” or...
Does God Really Pull Leaders Out of a Hat?
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 selection as leader of Israel after its failed attempt to enter the Promised Land – failed in that their deliverance...
How Many Young Ministers Are We Willing to Lose?
Two Questions . . . Studies of the past all too reliably predict that many young ministers of the Gospel gave up this Tuesday, August 1, 2017: They walked away from the ministry. Many of them even walked away from the church itself. How many more will walk away Wednesday, August 2, 2017, and in the days and years to follow? Studies of the past also reliably prove that the single most effective action a...
Pastoring Passed Down Part II: Lessons From a 2nd Century Pastor & Martyr
Over the past year, my email inbox has included far too many articles with headlines like these: Epidemic: Another Pastor Burned Out and Quit Last Sunday Pastoral Stress and Burnout Why Pastors Walk Away The Secret Pain of Pastors I could go on and on. We can debate the numbers, but it’s not the numbers that are the issue: it’s the people. There are pastors who wrestle with themselves every day, working with all they...© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching