Don’t Beat the Sheep

My particular rod of choice was my tongue. I was (and still am) quick witted and could conjure up snarky unkind responses at the drop of a hat. All a church member had to do was corner me, or hit me up before the church service was beginning to complain about something, and the rod (that was my tongue) would get whipped out and promptly applied to the head of the unsuspecting sheep.

The Parable of the 2002 Mini Cooper: A Lesson On Getting Help

There once was a man who was in the market for a car that was really good on gas mileage, was cheap, and was small (he worked in a downtown area where parking was minimal). This man found a 2002 Mini Cooper with 56,000 miles on it for a darn good price. He took it […]

A Word of Caution to the Spiritual Fathers of this World

Being called a Spiritual Son or hearing someone call themselves my Spiritual Father (or mother) was something I wasn’t used to growing up in the Southern Baptist Church. Which is odd, because there is certainly this type of relationship displayed throughout the Bible.

6 Signs of an Authoritarian Church Leader

au-thor-i-tar-i-an /əˌTHôrəˈterēən/ adjective: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government at the expense of personal freedom showing a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others; domineering; dictatorial. noun: an authoritarian person Nothing is more unattractive to me than a church who has leaders and a pastor who […]

No, Your Pastor Shouldn’t Be Expected to Lead Your Friend to Jesus and The Church Gathering is Not For The Unbeliever

Have you ever seen those commercials or read the inserts on some prescriptions that seem to describe side-effects that far exceed the issue it is supposedly treating? You know, crazy things like, “This drug treating a mild cough could cause internal bleeding, the breakdown of the intestinal walls, or cause cancer.” And you’re like “Look, […]

A Pastoral Epidemic of Biblical Proportions (Part 1)

In recent weeks, months, and even years there has been a growing concern for the mental and emotional health of pastors (especially younger pastors) as we have seen far too many of them take their own lives leaving behind ministries, families, and friends behind to wonder why. Many of these pastors were the senior pastors […]

20 Signs of a Consumer Driven Church Culture

I just recently read an article titled 20 Signs of a Toxic Church Culture, where the author Dr. Joseph Mattera recounts several signs that he has observed over time that indicate that the church you are part of may have a toxic culture. The article appeared on Ministry Today Magazine‘s website, and to be fair, the author […]

10 Lessons I’m Learning About Being in Ministry

I’ve been serving in the ministry in one shape or form for the last 15 years. Be it volunteer or paid, full or part time, or as a youth minister, music minister, or both at times. And while I certainly don’t have the track record of many who have gone before me that doesn’t mean […]

Doctrinal Sandcastles

American Churches, and more specifically, American Pastors have a growing theological problem. No longer the more vocal, and more publicly visible pastors standing on a theology built upon The Rock, but they are sliding further and further toward the beach and beginning to build their theology upon a foundation of sand. A foundation easily shifted by […]

2016: A Series of Unfortunate Revelations

You know, around January 1 everybody put out a “Year in Review” blog or Facebook post or something out there in the social media ether discussing 2016. I certainly have my thoughts on 2016, but didn’t want to get washed over by the plethora of writings I’m sure hit the airwaves that day. Now that […]