Training For Something Greater
Here’s another lesson I learned about preaching from my brief stint as a guest speaker in multiple churches: Surrender control of the outcomes. One of the freedoms I enjoyed most as an interim preacher was that my sermons were usually not generated by a specific situation at the church where I was speaking. I found [...]
Several weeks ago I preached a sermon from Acts 2. I mentioned Pentecost, but didn’t take the time to explain the background of the Pentecost Festival because I was trying keep my sermon from going too long. (From what I can tell, at the church where I preach, anything over thirty minutes starts to feel [...]
From March 2009 to September 2012, I didn’t write very many sermons from scratch. During this three year period, I did plenty of preaching, but it was almost exclusively sermons I had already written and preached before. Being a guest speaker in a church, even when doing four or five Sundays in a row, is [...]
It is my pleasure to announce that I have accepted the Senior Minister position at the Preston Road Church of Christ in Dallas. I was a guest speaker there back in March and that led to multiple conversations with the elders, search team, staff and other key leaders about filling the position. I tried to [...]
1. Playing Words with Friends improves my vocabulary. 2. The graphics on ESPN inspire me to spend more time on my PowerPoint slides. 3. Playing Call of Duty improves my reflexes so that I can better respond to tough questions after my sermons. 4. I pray some of my best prayers in between shots on [...]
When I was a kid I tried to sneak The Black Stallion into church one Sunday. I planned on reading it during the sermon. My mom caught me and made me leave it in the car. She told me I was old enough to listen to the sermon and be bored to tears just like [...]
Yesterday I launched a new blog called Preacher Geek. Why? Because sometimes preachers talk about the strangest stuff and I wanted to host a dedicated blog for such discussions. It’s going to be a place where I (and others) will write about all kinds of preacher stuff that is far too geeky to inflict on [...]
Imagine that you are a preacher. Scary thought I know. You have decided that you’ve done everything you can do at your current church and it’s time to move on to a new one. In fact, you’ve completed a weekend interview with a prospective church and they’ve offered you the job. You’re excited, but you [...]
While I’ve been writing these posts with preachers in mind, I’ve had several readers tell me that they see them applying to other situations as well. Thanks for the great feedback. When we have the opportunity to leave a job, church, or relationship for another one, it’s easy to believe that changing circumstances will make [...]
When I went to work with the Garnett Church in 2003, I believed I was stepping into a ministry with tremendous upside. After being there for less than a year, I found myself in a mess I hadn’t signed up for. A key staff member, someone who was crucial to my effectiveness there, resigned unexpectedly. [...]
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
