Don’t we need pastors to equip the saints?

As a former pastor, I viewed my preaching ministry through the lens of Ephesians 4 (below) and seriously believed that my twice-a-week sermons fulfilled, to a large extent, the discipleship mandate found in the Great Commission. I invested an enormous amount of energy and time out of my weekly schedule to study a passage of [...]

Go to Church or the Devil Will Get You!

Those who live in northwest Florida or South Alabama may be familiar with this billboard along Interstate 65 north of Montgomery, Alabama. Evidently it’s been there for years, but I just saw it a few days ago as I was traveling to Birmingham. It speaks volumes about the use of guilt and manipulation, based in [...]

Transition update

These past two Sundays have been my first experience outside the institutional church. Ever. Sure, I’ve skipped a few “services” (I’m beginning to loathe that term) in our lifetime, but otherwise we’ve been active, faithful members of a Southern Baptist church since birth. On the first Sunday, my wife and I slept a little later [...]

My Last Easter Service

Yesterday, I attended the church where I have been on staff for several years. All of the church elders were out of town, so they had asked me to lead the service. When I agreed to the date a few weeks ago, I didn’t realize it was Easter Sunday. A slight oversight on my part, [...]

Lights, Cameras, Action :: Pass the Popcorn!

Christian Smith writes:
Dressing only in our best on Sunday mornings is not a big deal. But it is symptomatic of a problem that is a big deal. People bring to church too often only their nice selves, attractive selves, dressed up selves. Leaving our real selves, the selves our families see, at home and bringing [...]