We hear a lot about priorities these days and their importance in leading healthy lives. But as Greg McKeown points out in Essentialism, the concept of “priorities” (plural) is an oxymoron (you know, like “jumbo shrimp” or “a new classic”). For 500 years after its introduction to the English language, the word was always singular…
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I’m not the first person to ever say this, and I’m confident that I won’t be the last, but here it is anyway: balance is a myth. More critically, it’s terribly misunderstood. As we talk about it in Christian circles, this elusive thing we call “balance” seems to mean everything in our lives getting equal…
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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted here, not because I haven’t been learning lots about leading a mega-church, but just because leading a mega-church is far more demanding and time-consuming than I could have ever anticipated. But as Coletta and I were talking this morning after a workout, I shared something I’ve come…
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One of the clearest things I’ve been learning during my first few weeks here in a mega-church concerns the power of touch. I’m not talking about physical touch, though I do think there is great power in a quick, entirely chaste, touch on someone’s shoulder. I’m talking about the power of gently touching an idea…
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Some people want to know “what’s it really like becoming the lead pastor of a mega-church?” In terms of meeting all the people and trying to learn names and who’s who, here’s what it’s really like: it’s like standing in front of an avalanche, trying to catch individual snowflakes…and even when you manage to snatch a…
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A couple of weeks into this thing and I’m realizing that yes, as I mentioned before, a mega-church isn’t just a larger version of a small church, but also that there are some fundamental similarities. For instance, one of the challenges of any church is striking the balance between the past, present and the future.…
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Well, I made it through my first full week as the senior pastor of a mega-church. And, in spite of more preaching, team meetings, lunches, dinners, consultations and “I just need a minute”-moments than I would have thought possible to fit into a single week, I even managed to finish up this coming weekend’s sermon…so…
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Coletta and I were privileged to be able to spend a couple of days last week with the former pastor of Mission Hills Church, Mike Romberger, and his wife, Jane. They were both very gracious in welcoming us and spending a very sizable chunk of their valuable time telling us their story and answering our questions.…
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I have always liked big churches. I realize that’s not really the “in” thing to say, but it’s the honest truth. What I like about big churches isn’t necessarily spiritual, just personal. I like the resources big churches have to do big things for God. I like the momentum big churches have to keep moving forward…
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This week saw the release of the 7th horrifying video detailing the practices of Planned Parenthood’s abortion and “harvesting” practices. Personally, I cannot watch it. While the vast majority of Christians are rightly opposed to abortion, the question of how best to respond to Planned Parenthood is complicated. On the one hand, some Christians…
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