As church leaders, whether staff or elders, one of the issues we return to constantly is the tension between following God's Spirit and planning or organizing things with excellence. Ideally, we wouldn't feel this tension at all, but could creatively weave both elements together. However, if you've served long in a church, you know what …
Trusting
For many of us, our lives are filled with thoughts about the future. Because of the economic down-turn, many of us are asking questions about what’s next and what that means, whether for financial decisions, jobs or careers, or housing situation. The past few weeks, I’ve been pondering some familiar verses from the book of …
Listening in order to Speak
Eugene Peterson is the pastor-preacher-professor who translated the Bible into the highly popular paraphrase, The Message. One of the most striking aspects of The Message is how Peterson used everyday language in it. The 'everyday'-ness of the wording is sometimes strange because we are used to using one set of words for our religious life …
8 Trends Shaping the Future of Global Missions (Eric Swanson)
Eric Swanson, Leadership Community Director at Leadership Network, recently put together a great article entitled "Eight Trends That Will Shape the Future of Global Missions." You can read the entire article here, but here are some highlights using Swanson's own words from his interviews with fifty leaders of larger churches engaged in global missions. 1) …
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First Week of Lent
This past week, we have entered the season of the church year known as Lent. Lent is more than a worn-out old tradition of the church, but a way to enter more deeply into Jesus’ death on the Cross in order that we might enter more fully into the joys of Jesus’ resurrection. During this …
Matthew Erickson 