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 […]

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 […]

How an Ice-Age Context Impacts One’s Approach to Leading

When the pandemic began, Andy Crouch, Kurt Keilhacker, and Dave Blanchard insightfully gave leaders categories for how they were viewing the pandemic — as a blizzard, winter, or the beginning of a little Ice-Age. The imagery is helpful. You hunker down and wait it out in a blizzard, expecting things to return to normal pretty […]

5 Things I Am Preaching to Myself While Preaching to a Camera

Last week I shared six things I am greatly missing from teaching in old-school physical gatherings among people I love who are singing to God and ready to hear a message from His Word. When preaching to a camera, it can easily feel like I am preaching to God’s people without being among God’s people. […]

6 Things I Am Deeply Missing While Preaching to a Camera Each Week

A few weeks into this madness, the global pandemic that has resulted in the unprecedented move to not provide physical worship gatherings at our church, Kenton Beshore called to check on me. Kenton is my predecessor, our pastor emeritus, and he still serves as teaching pastor for us. “How in the world are you not […]