Crowds and disciplemaking go together. Numbers rule the day. Politicians count the number of people at their rallies. Churches count attendance. We count and compare our Facebook or Twitter followers. Numbers and crowds measure success. I’ve always had a “thing” with crowds. Disciplemaking is a ministry of the small and the slow, a work hidden…
The Color of Compromise: The truth about the American church’s complicity in racism by Jemar Tisby. Want a book that keeps you up at night thinking? The Color of Compromise is one of those books. Why is it so provocative? Pastor and author John Piper has been quoted as saying, “We all have blind spots…
The church’s seasons, like Advent or Lent, have been mostly irrelevant or a mystery to me. My “liturgical” friends make a big deal out of Lent, Ephiphany, or Pentecost. In my baptist tradition, no one preached against the church seasons, they just weren’t mentioned. It’s not unusual to have an Advent sermon series but we…
The fact-checkers met Jesus at every turn. Fact-checkers are religious people whose goal in life is to ensure that we’re obeying God in precise and pure ways. They help us keep the “i”s dotted and the “t”s crossed. Fact-checkers are driven by obedience and doctrinal purity, good things to be motivated by. Unfortunately, they sometimes…
Stewards of Eden: What scripture says about the environment and why it matters by Sandra L. Richter Richter’s book will turn the most conservative among us into “tree-huggers.” Like most conservative evangelicals, the environment hasn’t been on my radar. I’ve associated the environmental movement with restrictive policies on the advance of business and development. Richter,…
I’m a delayed Trekkie fan. I missed all the hype with the original Star Trek series but became a fan of The Next Generation. The captain’s voice-over opening to each show makes me sit up straight in my recliner (my command chair!). Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, it’s…
You’ve just been hired for your dream job. You can’t wait until the first day of training. Then the text message arrives: “Report to our desert training outpost. Don’t bring any water or food. You’re going to be totally alone.” What kind of training is this? Now you feel a little like Jesus. After experiencing…
The Monday afternoon conversation went downhill fast. “How’s your week starting out Bill?” asked a friend. “I’m overwhelmed already,” I replied. Some weeks are like this. Every Monday morning, I plan my next two weeks of life. I review my calendar, check my priorities, and make my “to do” list — who to email, people…
The meeting had ended. I didn’t lead the meeting; I was a participant like the others around the table. As we gathered to leave, the leader gave me a compliment. “Bill, do you realize that you led that meeting by the questions you asked?” he said. I had no intention of leading the meeting. I…
The first time I had the conversation I was a little surprised. September was like a starter’s gun when I ministered to graduate students. School’s start-up was the time to meet in-coming students. Our ministry team would set up a booth at the university’s welcoming events to meet, greet, and engage these eager young professionals…