Your story might make a great parable
This is for pastors. The rest of you may listen in. We have all had defining stories occur in our families and our personal lives that would make great teaching parables. Interesting stories in...
View ArticleMy biggest challenge in crisis ministry
A friend on the staff of a large church emailed about a family basically living in the ICU ward of a local hospital in our city. Doctors had told the parents nothing more can be done for the daughter....
View ArticleWhat true love looks like
No one will ever convince me Solomon wrote the “Song” attributed to him in the Old Testament. No one with hundreds of wives and a gymnasiumful of ready-made girlfriends can focus on one woman the way...
View ArticleA favorite story for about fathers. Dads too.
It was mid-way through December and I was telling a minister friend how I had preached on Joseph, the father of Jesus, the Sunday before. The message was all about obedience and carrying out the will...
View ArticleMountain-climbing: “He makes me walk on my high places”
He causes me to walk on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:19) Monica Kalozdi is a New Orleans resident with a passion for climbing mountains. For some reason, years ago after the birth of her third child,...
View ArticleHelping a child through the first faith crisis
And when your children shall say, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say…. (Exodus 12:26) Parents, you’d better be prepared. That day will come. More than likely, the way children will ask...
View ArticleThrough no fault of their own: The preacher’s kids, caught in the crosshairs
The little boy was 7 years old and loved the church where his dad served as pastor. So, he was not prepared for the bully who decided to take out his frustrations with the preacher on him. Each week...
View ArticleFlirting with temptation; playing with fire
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” (Proverbs 27:6) Perhaps the most dangerous place on the church campus is the pastor’s counseling office. When the minister is shut up in a tight space with a...
View ArticlePastors and discipline: Maybe we need a ‘plebe’ year.
You may know the name Jimmy Doolittle. Doolittle flew those boxy bi-planes in World War I for the United States, and then barn-stormed throughout the 1920’s, giving thrills by taking risks you would...
View Article10 bad things that happen when pastors commit adultery and 2 good ones.
A minister falls into adultery and it becomes public knowledge. This becomes a sad, sad day for everyone who knows him. And yes, I am aware it takes two people to commit this sin. However, this blog...
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