Browsing all posts in Spiritual Growth.

You Will Be Accountable for This

Who do you admire?  I imagine that if you’re a preacher, you admire other preachers.  If you’re in kids ministry or student ministry, you’ve got a few leaders you follow. Graphic designers study and admire other graphic designers, musicians often follow other musicians. If you work in the marketplace, you admire other friends, colleagues or [...]

Game Changer

I’d love your input!  I’ve been invited to speak at a conference where the theme is “Game changer”.  I’ve been reflecting for a week now on some game-changers in my life…and I’m not sure what to choose.
There have been a few, but I really want to find one that resonates.
Sooo….

What’s been a game changer for [...]

It’s Worth It (Really)

Need some encouragement to keep going in ministry?
A few times every year I see a passage that I swear someone added to the Bible since the last time I read it.  It just pops out…I just missed it before.  Had one of those experiences this morning.  I hope it encourages you.

From childhood we have [...]

Five Things That Stop Great Leaders from Entering Ministry

Some insightful discussion last week around this question: where are the great leaders in this generation of church?  What’s keeping the next generation of leaders from using their gifts in ministry?
So if the best and brightest of the current and next generation aren’t bring their gifts into full time ministry, why not?  Here are some [...]

Happy Father’s Day (aka How to Get Fired on Mother’s Day)

If a lot of us preachers treated Mother’s Day the way we treat Father’s Day, we’d get fired.
On Father’s Day, we often say “Dads, time to get your act together…step up…accept responsibility…be a leader…we expect it, and you’re not measuring up.”
Try that on Mother’s Day.  Exactly.
I’m not saying we should be hard on our moms [...]

Nothing Is Actually Free

Years ago, one of my best friends told me "Nothing is actually free."  We were talking about a free lunch I won.  He said, "Sure, it’s free to you. But somebody paid for it."
Never forgotten that.  And it’s completely true. 
That free CD you got – somebody paid for it.  That free ticket to the show? [...]

One Thing That Will Fuel Your Passion

Earlier this week we had a look at seven things that won’t fuel your passion, which leaves this lurking question:  what will fuel your passion?
Here is one thing I’ve found that answers that question better than anything:
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Face it, there are [...]

Does God Trust You?

 "But not with my servant Moses.  Of all my house, he is the one I trust."  (Numbers 12.7).
That’s God speaking , by the way.
Most of us spend a lot of time trying to figure out whether we think God is trustworthy. But this verse changes the game significantly.  Maybe the only question isn’t whether we [...]

What’s God Doing IN You?

I’m at one of my favourite places (the Orange Conference) with some of my very favourite people. (If you’re not at Orange, catch glimpses of it online here).
Conferences are often places for information and ideas.  And I’m a strategy wonk for sure.
But what I love about Orange10 is that this year, it feels like God is [...]

Modern Idol

I’m so grateful for my Calvinist background.  One of the Calvin quotes I think about regularly is that the human mind is a perpetual factory of idols. 
What this means is that we continually invent new ways to crowd God out of our lives and worship something else.  For some of us, that may mean other [...]