Undercover Pastor
Thankfulness: Not So Obvious
Yesterday afternoon, my kids were starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. It was hot, and the air had been smoky for most of the day, but by late afternoon, the air had cleared a bit and a cool breeze was blowing. “Why don’t you go outside and play, Johnny?” I suggested. “There’s … Continue reading
Small churches have a unique call
I had a wonderful opportunity to address pastors and elders from small churches at the Presbyterian Church’s biannual General Assembly on Monday. I really do believe in the ministry of small churches. By their definition, we are Trinity are now a medium-size church, but we’re still a lot smaller than many of the churches around … Continue reading
Decisions, decisions!
The past couple of weeks, I’ve been troubled in my spirit… Is that good Bible language for spiritually messed up? Our church has experienced a lot of growth lately and we’re having growing pains. That’s partly because our building is way too small. It was built in a time when a) churches didn’t have parking … Continue reading
Waiting for God
I don’t like waiting at all. It’s annoying. And then there’s all that uncertainty. I preached about waiting for God on Sunday. Then as I was feeling frustrated today about a couple of things, I happened to hear two different people on the car radio at two different times talking about waiting on God… And … Continue reading
First African-American Presidential Nominee
Today was a historic day. I was trying to explain to my 5-year-old son why the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States is such a big deal. He didn’t get it. I had to explain to him that there are still people in the world who judge … Continue reading
The Mars lander has landed!
We’ve landed on Mars! Check out news from the Phoenix Mars lander.
Stay-at-home parents cause cancer?
A recent study claims that kids in daycare have better immune systems than those with stay-at-home parents, possibly leading to a reduced likelihood of leukemia. See the New York Times article here. This makes me feel a lot better about the various sicknesses that some of our church kids passed around recently. You see, as … Continue reading
Our God Is a Great Big God
My wife woke me up for morning prayer this morning and I went back to sleep. This was a bad choice because there’s a lot going on in my life and the life of our church right now. As a church grows, it can no longer connect everyone “automatically.” It’s a much more conscious and … Continue reading
Agree with God and be at peace
I was just reading Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional for this evening, and it referred to Job 22:21. In the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), it says, “Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.” In the NIV (New International Version), it says, “Submit to God and be … Continue reading
The church and the needs of sexual assault survivors
Last week, I attended a “round table” of sexual assault survivors and members of the clergy. The honesty of the six women who had survived sexual assault was extraordinary – and extremely difficult to hear. But the hardest part of what they had to say was the part about how their churches had treated them. … Continue reading
Goodbye, Myra
In Memoriam Oscar Myra Mendoza Whitney (Myra) 1994-2008 Last night (April 30), our long-haired miniature dachshund, Myra escaped from the back yard. When we realized it late last night, I went searching for her in the neighborhood and after about 45 minutes, found her across Jefferson Blvd. (a busy, highway-like street with 4 lanes). She had … Continue reading
God works through difficult stuff
I preached on sex, lust, and divorce on Sunday. Blech! I knew that I needed to do it, but I sure didn’t like the idea of standing in front of a whole group of people and talking about sex. Heck, I don’t want to talk to a small group of people about sex. And my … Continue reading
An exercise in God’s love for YOU
First a word of introduction. I had the great pleasure of attending the Bayside Church (of Granite Bay, CA) THRIVE 2008 conference. It’s nice that such a huge and wealthy church – that could easily hold a world-class conference just for its own leaders – invites leaders from other churches to come and learn and share fellowship … Continue reading
A new advisory system – What’s your level?
Tired of the Homeland Security Threat Level or the fire danger level? Try this. My level of caffeination (is that a word?) is on the low side today. Where’s yours? HT: KC Wahe
Don’t just do what you’re told!
About a year ago, I was at a ministry conference and someone I had been talking to the day before came up to me and said, “I have a message for you, Steve!” “Uh, OK…” I replied. “The message is that you’re ministry is on hold until you can stop caring what people think.” Now, … Continue reading
Enough or Too Much?
Johnny had a birthday party for some of his little friends last Saturday. We always struggle with the gift issue. Eleanor wants to have a “no gifts” party, and I imagine what that would feel like for the kids. They bring presents to all of their friends’ parties. Is it fair for them not to … Continue reading
God in the Mess
Last Sunday, many things went wrong in worship at Trinity. Now we’re not one of those churches were everything is polished and perfect, but even we are not accustomed to the sheer number of small things that went wrong, from people being out sick to sound system glitches to bulletin information being wrong. And you … Continue reading
Who’s my boss?
Eleanor and I were having a conversation over lunch and the topic of the church came up. I said something about the church not being my church. Well my son Johnny said, “It is your church, daddy,” “No Johnny,” I replied, “It’s Jesus’ church. And he’s my boss.” Without skipping a beat, Johnny responded, “He’s … Continue reading
Follow Mii?
OK, I’m not a big Nintendo Wii player, but why are people so disturbed by this image of Jesus? Check out a blog entry about Mission Bay Community Church’s attempt to reach people by using the culture. The blog post by “Ryan” at the Two Small Coins blog does a nice analysis. Our church used … Continue reading
Botox poisons the brain?
You’ve heard about Botox – the toxin (poison!) that people use to minimize the appearance of wrinkles – to look younger. Well, there’s a new twist. A recent study in rats shows that the toxin that people inject into their foreheads may travel to the brain, damaging the brain stem! There have also been human … Continue reading