The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. -Proverbs 18:17 I’m not an expert counselor. But I hope I am growing. Early on in my ministry I dealt almost exclusively with counseling teenagers. As one in my early twenties and still with plenty of youthful vigor (or perhaps rebellion) in my heart I listened intently as teenagers would tell me about how much they were victimized by their parents. It is much to my chagrin that I confess that for the first year or two I really thought that these kids had horrible parents that simply did not … [Read more...] about Don’t Proxy Counsel
Time to Bring Back the Parsonage?
In my ministry, I have been privileged to serve as Pastor of four wonderful churches--three with parsonages and one without. When living in a parsonage, I sometimes felt the desire for a home to call my very own. Asking others about drapes, carpets and repairs made me feel like I lived in a nice apartment with a friendly landlord, but clearly had no authority to make the place my own because, of course, it wasn't. I was thrilled to finally enter the world of mortgages about twelve years ago. But there is one very significant occasion when living in a parsonage can make a lot of sense, both … [Read more...] about Time to Bring Back the Parsonage?
Blogging Can Be Doing, a Response to @PastorMark
Pastor Mark Driscoll* tweeted this last week: That he is no fan of bloggers is no secret. He’s been known in the past to be quick to use his sharp wit to lampoon the critical blogger. I realize also that by responding to him I am probably becoming one of those “pontificating” bloggers that he so disdains. Fair enough, but I thought this might serve as a decent opportunity to share the benefit of blogging. On one hand I totally agree with Pastor Mark. Pontificating about what others are doing while doing nothing yourself can be very annoying. There is no doubt that one of the negative … [Read more...] about Blogging Can Be Doing, a Response to @PastorMark
Meeting God and Remaining Unchanged? (by Andy Hynes)
Andy Hynes is the Director of Admissions and Dean of Men at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary and a PhD candidate there. Follow him @ABHYNES on Twitter. The battle within me Today’s society is enthralled with self. We live in an era of persistent narcissism. The constant clamor of people bragging about themselves; engaging in constant self-promotion, seemingly drowns out other voices. However, it may be that there are times when focusing on self is really not a bad thing. When it comes to how we understand the qualities and characteristics of God, and apply them to our lives, it … [Read more...] about Meeting God and Remaining Unchanged? (by Andy Hynes)
Evidently, the Early Church Didn’t Know How to Do Evangelism!
I've been preaching through Acts on Sunday nights and I keep getting more confused as time goes on. You see, I went to seminary and I got me an edumacation and lots o' book-learning. I've been to evangelism conferences and training sessions. And, with all that I have learned about evangelism and cultural engagement, I am left with only one conclusion: Those poor folks in the church in Jerusalem just didn't get it. They did not know the effective evangelism strategies that we have learned today and they didn't know what we now know about engaging our culture in a positive and tolerant way. … [Read more...] about Evidently, the Early Church Didn’t Know How to Do Evangelism!
Worst Commercial Ever?
As one who loves baseball, I absolutely cannot stand this commercial! … [Read more...] about Worst Commercial Ever?
Thank You, Mississippi Baptists!
I want to say a public thank you to Mississippi Baptist men and a ministry they have that has blessed me three times over the 22 years I have lived in Iowa. The last two times they did it, I didn't have a forum like this to say thank you, but now I do, so here goes. I know a lot of you young whippersnappers preach in t-shirts and sandals, in your ratty ol' ripped blue jeans. But those of us who, like fine wine (grape juice?) have matured with age still wear our suits and ties when we preach on Sunday morning. And those suits do not come cheap, especially when you pastor some small church in … [Read more...] about Thank You, Mississippi Baptists!
Blogging and the Battle of Hürtgen Forest
I am no expert on World War II, but I have read about the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which took place from mid-September of 1944 to February of 1945 on the German/Belgian border. By the accounts I have read it was a fierce battle, which caused 33,000 casualties on the American side and around 28,000 on the German side. Bloody. Brutal. And according to most of what I have read, largely unnecessary. Charles B. MacDonald, an Army historian who also served in the Battle of Hürtgen called the battle "a misconceived and basically fruitless battle that should have been avoided." Evidently, as the … [Read more...] about Blogging and the Battle of Hürtgen Forest
The Benefit of Spiritual Gifts Testing
For the last two days I’ve noted a potential pitfall to spiritual gifts testing. (See here and here). Though I think there are dangers to spiritual gifts testing I do believe they can be beneficial. As I mentioned yesterday, our church does a 3 in 1 profile that considers personality as well as spiritual gifts. Such tools can be helpful to the body in these ways: If a foot thinks it is a hand you’ve got problems. Though I’d rather have two hands and a confused foot that thinks its a hand over zero hands, I’d much rather have hands and feet do what they were created to do. Gifts … [Read more...] about The Benefit of Spiritual Gifts Testing
If You Had Any Doubt, Evangelicals Are Now an Unwelcome Minority in America!
Louie Giglio is hardly a fundamentalist firebrand. But in the brave new world of Obama's progressive secularism, little distinction is made between Giglio and Fred Phelps. Anyone (and according to Lifeway research, that is 44% of Americans) who believes homosexuality is a sin is unwelcome in the public square. One who holds to the biblical truth about this subject will not be eligible for appointed office or elected to significant places of service. I mentioned this in a post last week, that we are going to have to get used to being a minority, and increasingly, I believe, an excluded and … [Read more...] about If You Had Any Doubt, Evangelicals Are Now an Unwelcome Minority in America!