“How many you running at your church?” The first time I heard one pastor ask another pastor that question, I remember my first reaction was instant nausea. My brain started deconstructing the question, which quelled my queasiness a bit, but only because I found a way to distract myself from the topic at hand. It…

My one of my favorite pit stops on the info superhighway is Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed Blog. (Can I see a show of hands? You too, right?) Thoughtful theological/eccelsiological/coffee/sports/Crocs discussion, emceed by a truly kind person. Since today is day 1 of that 40 days of purpose leading into resurrection day – better known as…

My coffee table is covered with pictures of monkeys, goats, a spaceship, a glued-together horse and carrot and a lot of confetti-like pieces of paper. My grandson Gabriel was here today. It occurred to me the last time I was at Target that he’d never been properly introduced to the pre-schoolers’ friend: a scissors. It…

She’s adorable – no doubt about it. Come on – just look at that skirt! But how did she become our prototype for the Proverbs 31 woman? I was always pretty freaked out by her, because I thought I was miles away from ever being her. I used the Scripture passage as a sort of…

It started in a trailer behind a church building. It now resides in a converted grocery store in a small strip mall in a leafy neighborhood full of 1960’s ranch homes and apartment complexes. Part of the strip mall is given to fairly mundane tenants: a realtor, a coffee shop, a small independent bookstore, some…

In recent weeks, I’ve run across a new phenomenon in church leadership. It is that of the long-distance Pastor. As in, the person with the title of Pastor jets back and forth every week between his/her home in City A and his/her employer, a church in city B. These people tend to be the Communicators…