Fear the Goat Guy

goat-animal-horns-black-and-white-86594

A famous pastor once said there are exactly three ways to crash in ministry: pride, lust, or greed. The way he put it was: “Avoid the glory, the girls, and the gold.” It’s a great lesson. If you’re in ministry and doing it right, it’s so easy to fall into traps that will slowly damage you, and the ministry, beyond repair. The enemy knows us well and knows how to draw us into areas that will destroy us. Men and women of God better than you and I fall every day. We need to be alert at all times and remember we are broken, messed up people. Continue reading

Nothing Changes Unless…

hourglassVery soon, this decade comes to an end. The average person only experiences about seven or eight decades in their lifetime. Not that we should wait for the end of a decade to take stock, but it does mark the passage of time and tends to remind us that the clock is ticking. It’s good to look at where we are, what we’ve done, and where we’re going. Are we headed in the right direction?

“An unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates

Continue reading

Embrace the Mess That is Short-Term Missions

Screen Shot 2019-12-08 at 1.22.04 PM

Most people are a complicated jumble of conflicting priorities, values, and reactions. Anyone who has worked with a homeless outreach, done marriage counseling, or worked with teenagers will tell you that the vast majority of people are messy. In a perfect world, things wouldn’t be so difficult. It’s not a perfect world. Not even close. Until we embrace the “messy,” ministry will be an unending exercise in frustration. Continue reading

Just Be Quiet!

pexels-photo-374832
There is a new Tom Hanks movie out called “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood“, about the life of Mr. Rogers. There is one scene that’s being mentioned over and over again in reviews. While sitting in a diner during an interview, Mr. Rogers asks a reporter to be silent for one minute. Mr. Rogers doesn’t speak, the reporter doesn’t speak, for one full minute. A full minute to just listen. There are no flashbacks, no inner-dialog, only silence. Two men are just sitting in a restaurant booth. A minute of silence with no action in a movie feels like an eternity. It’s something we all need to practice. Continue reading