Thom Rainer shares how church members can help their pastors. I heartily agree – – including the one below about sharing unnecessary or last minute announcements right before the pastor preaches! I know. Pastors aren’t perfect. But they do have…
A European question for Dr. Wittmer (and you too)
June, 2010 Dear Church Family, We went to Dachau this week. As a result, I have a question for Dr. Mike Wittmer who is preaching to the Bricks. Hopefully, he will give an answer however brief from the pulpit. Dachau…
No severing tendons!
Be encouraged to be in a Bible believing church on the Lord’s Day. If possible, treasure the opportunity to be together with the Body of Christ. Calvin: “If any man say he will withdraw himself from obedience to the church,…
The valley we really love (Coach Lalor would like our choice of t-shirts)
Can you think of a way to help make your pastor’s family be excited about the place where they are called? I cannot describe how much our family has enjoyed the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland. One of our Lauterbrunnen neighbors…
The Generosity Matrix
Some helpful thoughts on giving from Justin Taylor and J.D. Greear: I’ve found this post by J.D. Greear to be very helpful in thinking about giving, generosity, and possessions. He begins by identifying two different extremes that Christians often hold…
The radio station received complaints when I suggested this summer science project . . .
Here is a summer science project. Do this one at your own risk. Choose an afternoon when the summer sun is burning down, get a magnifying glass and a pile of some dry combustible material. Dried leaves will work just…
Pentecost: Babel Turned Upside Down
Pentecost Sunday is when we celebrate the pouring out of the Spirit and the inauguration of the New Covenant.* Think prayerfully and deeply about Pentecost. It is an epochal Sunday! In his book, The Holy Spirit (Contours of Christian Theology),…
Are you ready for Sunday?
Why not spend some time on Friday and Saturday plowing the ground in your life in preparation for Sunday? We are told men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. …
Mucking out the Stables
As a farm kid from the GSOI, I appreciate this one. Eugene Peterson (Under the Unpredictable Plant) on the nature of pastoral work: Pastoral work consists of modest, daily, assigned work. It is like farm work. Most pastoral work involves…
Stuart Briscoe: “At all costs . . .”
It is worth reading Stuart Briscoe’s book, Flowing Streams: Journeys of a Life Well Lived, if only to read the final chapter, “Stones from the Stream,” where he summarizes five basic principles that may be helpful to Christians and local…