Clik here to view.
Pastor: a unique calling to serve a unique community
For 34 years now, I have had the privilege of serving as a pastor. Even after all of these years I consider myself to be a student of ministry, not an expert. I have been privileged to serve remarkable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Proof being a pastor is a tough job
As I’m shaking hands with church goers after worship one Sunday, I talk with a congregant about meeting him during the week. His reply? “I thought pastors only worked one day a week!” Truth be told,...
View ArticlePastors grieve too
In the last three years, I have conducted funerals for almost 40% of the active participants in my congregation. I have also officiated more than a dozen funerals for non- and inactive members. These...
View ArticleReflections of Easter
I sit in expectation of the horror of good Friday and in hopeful expectation of the work of Easter Sunday. This time of year is always the most contemplative for me, perhaps because it offers the...
View ArticleMore reflections on the rising student debt: A Latina Christian perspective...
Some days ago I published a blog about why student debt has become almost unavoidable. I mentioned that there are at least two sides to this issue. The first one is the increasing cost of education....
View ArticleOn baptism and peace
Baptism was abused and used violently as a form of capital punishment in 16th century Europe, a time of significant Anabaptist persecution. The death method of choice was drowning in order to mock...
View ArticleHealthy self-care is essential for a pastor
Self-care includes developing and maintaining good physical, spiritual and mental health, a uniquely challenging but crucial discipline for a pastor. While these three areas of wellness are intertwined...
View ArticleChurchcraft
I have coined a new word: Churchcraft. What I mean by Churchcraft is an individual’s ability to say and do the things that will help to build the organized church. My observation is that a lack of...
View ArticleWhich six pastors best represent Baptist preachers? A review of Joel...
Four years ago Joel Gregory, Professor of Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, was commissioned by the Baptist World Alliance to study representative Baptist...
View ArticleWill you be known when you die?
Years ago, there was a national ad campaign aimed at helping Americans understand the importance of going to church. One of my favorite ads in the series showed pallbearers carrying a casket in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The case for the 45 credit seminary degree
The Atlantic ran a disturbing article on the state of middle class clergy carrying a seminary degree: high debt, low wages, vanishing churches, and part-time pastor positions. The piece profiles...
View ArticleNeeded: Christian ministers who do the stuff
A dramatic story—perhaps an urban legend—about John Wimber, one of the founders of the Vineyard Movement, relates to something that happened following his conversion to Christianity around 1963. It is...
View ArticleIf you really want to make your pastor’s day
Last week, as more and more cards and notes appeared in my inbox, in my mailbox, and on my desk, all thanking me for serving as their minister, I began to wonder if someone had announced my retirement...
View ArticleHere’s to a better tomorrow
Be strong and bold . . . for it is God who goes ahead of you. – Moses to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6 I love Moses’ phrase, “God is gone ahead of you.” Rob Bell talks about it in his latest book, What...
View Article
