Sermon Illustrations
When I was growing up in Columbus, Georgia, we didn't have air conditioning, and neither did most of our neighbors. Moms could hear their kids playing in the neighborhood yards, without having to keep an eye on them constantly. And if someone needed correction, mothers could yell out
Resources
In just a few short days, Confessions of A Small-Church Pastor will pass the 20,000 page views mark! Thanks to all of you who read, comment, lurk, have me on your blogline, and email the post to someone else. Time flies when you're having fun because it
Community
The Ark crew and passengers at the James River State Park Today we made the last "Ark" trip of the 2006-2007 season. The "Ark" is our church bus, and 28 of us made the trek to the James River State Park for a wonderful picnic lunch.
Community
If you're interested in spiritual awakening -- revival -- like I am, you've read the accounts of The Great Awakenings in America. Preachers, famous and unknown, fanned out across America preaching in fields and street corners, in towns and cities, proclaiming salvation in the name of
Community
During my presentation at The City Mission workshop in Cleveland on Thursday, I mentioned the need to develop a theology of collaboration. Collaboration is hot right now, and you can see evidence of folks working together in such diverse examples as wikipedia, chaos and systems theory, and barcamp. Collaboration has
Community
Rich Trickel and me at The City Mission in Cleveland, Ohio I spoke today at The City Mission in Cleveland, Ohio. About 100 people from many different churches attended the workshop, "Building Without a Blueprint: Walking Alongside Others to Transform a City." The City Mission acts as the
Community
Groundbreaking photo courtesy The Star Tribune The official groundbreaking ceremony for our new community center took place today. We had about 50 folks from our community and about 45 kids from the Boys and Girls Club. We gave the kids "hardhats" and beach shovels, and they were our
Community
For those of you who live in Cleveland, Ohio, I'll be speaking at The City Mission next Thursday, June 7, from 10:30 am to 1 pm. Rich Trickel, director of The City Mission, read my article, Learn To Partner in Leadership and asked me to come tell
Congregation
Catch me on a difficult day in ministry, and I'm likely to say stuff about our church like: * "I wish we were more spiritual." * "If only our worship were deeper." * "We should care more as a congregation." Ever said anything like that?
Uncategorized
Lt. Charles Warnock, Jr, 1944, and a C-47 and C-46 My father is 87 years old, a veteran of World War II, and a retired Baptist minister. I often tell people that he's in better shape than I am, which is true. To prove it, he beats me
Community
I am not making this up. On my way to lunch in Danville today, I passed a church sign with the message: Don't forget to take God on vacation! Which brings to mind a host of questions -- 1. Does God need a vacation? Granted, God did take
Congregation
On my bookshelf are at least a dozen church books on vision. Written by some of the outstanding authors in church-related publishing today, each of them describes a "vision" for the church -- build your church by small groups, become a church of influence, raise your church'