Kaye and I were once at a movie theater, early in our marriage, in Miami. There was a box of popcorn on the row in which we were seated, with more than half the box still filled with buttered popcorn. I viewed the box as trash, as the remnants of a thoughtless moviegoer from the…
Church Leadership
3 Reasons Kids Ministries and Youth Ministries Can Drift from Jesus
Several years ago, I wrote a book with my good friends Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson about Jesus being the center of a local church. We called the book Creature of the Word, the title coming from an old Martin Luther quote where he taught that that when the gospel is rightly declared and applied…
Televised Sports, Church Gatherings, and some Good News
College and professional sports completely shut down in March of 2020 and people, including me, believed when televised sports returned that people would long to watch again – perhaps as an escape from reality or from a hunger to feel connected with other fans. To the joy of sports fans, ESPN released the Michael Jordan…
A Tale of Two Pandemics (And Being Compassionate About Both)
The definition of a pandemic, according to the dictionary, is a “disease that occurs over a wide geographic area.” CoVid clearly meets that definition as the virus has spread across the globe, and over 200,000 people in the US have died. And as we all have recognized, CoVid is not the only struggle that people…
5 Thoughts from Gathering in the Middle of a Pandemic
The church I serve gathered again last weekend for large gatherings – outside with chairs set up in a physically distanced format. It has been a progression for us. In June we began gathering in homes. In July we launched smaller gatherings in neighborhoods throughout Orange County. In August we started using our largest campus…
3 Reasons Ministry Leaders Will Leave “Vocational Ministry” During the Pandemic
In the last month I have been on several zoom calls with pastors who I am in “learning communities” with and the subject of pastoral turnover has been surfaced. Early stats are being thrown out as to the number of ministry leaders (not just senior pastors) who will leave vocational ministry during this pandemic and…
6 Surprises About Church Gathering Again
Our church was not the first in our county (and definitely not in the country) to start holding worship gatherings again, and I am thankful for those who began worship gatherings before us as we were able to learn some lessons from them. But as we have begun outdoor gatherings, I am getting emails and…
4 Types of Churches in Dealing with Political Issues
As we approach an election, church leaders will face pressure to overtly or subtly bring politics into their messages or into their worship services. By preaching politics I do not mean teaching what the Bible says on specific topics, but I mean clearly nudging people to vote a certain way. Church leaders also face pressure,…
3 Ways to Define Reality and Give Hope as You Lead
Several of the most famous quotes about leadership point to the paradox of embracing the challenge of the season and giving vision and hope in the midst of the challenges. Max Depree quipped: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is…
Important Interview on Succession With William Vanderbloemen
I recently sat down with William Vanderbloemen of Vanderbloemen search group to talk about succession. William is who helped Mariners through the succession planning, which ultimately led to me coming to Mariners as senior pastor two years ago. I think the interview is important because I ask some common questions people have asked me since…