Author: Administrador

I have been caught up reading about Elihu Black, once a promising and articulate rabbi, who after three-and-a-half years of leading a local synagogue forsook his congregation to enter the world of commerce. A brilliant businessman, Black is best remembered for two significant events in his life: First, he masterminded one of the largest business … Continue reading “Preacher to Preacher: Leaders Lead!”

When I first began my ministry as a pastor in a local church, I had one shot at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Sure, I could preach and teach other times during the week, but everyone knew the only thing that really counted was the Sunday morning sermon. Once that sermon was given, I would begin … Continue reading “Preaching Points: The Whole Nine Yards”

MOOCs are the latest thing in the educational world. No, MOOC is not the acronym for a fraternity or a comfortable line of shoes. In the old days—that is, my youth—if you wanted to take a college-level course without packing a bag and enrolling, you took what they called in those days a correspondence course. … Continue reading “Back Page Pulpit: The Bigger the Better?”

I first felt a calling to preach when I was in my teens. To my surprise, my mother, who was not a church-going woman, beamed with pride when I told her. “Oh, Johnny,” she gushed, “you’d make a darling minister.” Darling was not exactly the kind of preaching I had in mind. Sometime later, I … Continue reading “Prophet, Priest or Stand-Up Comedian? The Priestly Role of the Sermon”

During the Pastors Conference preceding this year’s Southern Baptist Convention, one of the sessions featured messages by three pastors known for reaching young urban adults: Nelson Searcy, lead pastor of The Journey in New York City; Erwin McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles; and Kerry Shook, lead pastor of Fellowship of The … Continue reading “Pastors Challenged to Culturally Relevant Outreach”

On Dec. 29, 2006, an ageing John Updike accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Conference on Christianity and Literature in Philadelphia. In his acceptance speech, Updike noted the nuances of his own faith and humbly feigned his connection with Christianity to be unremarkable. Yet, Updike, who never saw himself as a Christian apologist … Continue reading “A Novel Approach to Preaching”

Christian History Institute (CHI) introduces the Christian History magazine and website, a print and multi-media self-study resource tracing major historic Christian themes and key individuals’ lives from the time Jesus lived on earth to the present. CHI delivers the entire archive of the Christian History magazine, presently 104 issues and growing, by downloadable files along … Continue reading “Christian History Institute Introduces the Newly Revived Christian History Magazine in Print and Self-Study Website”

In a recent post at his blog, Thom Rainer shares the results of his inquiry about how much time pastors spend writing sermons. He writes: “I recently conducted an unscientific Twitter poll to ask pastors precisely how much time they spend in sermon preparation. For this question I asked for the amount of preparation time for … Continue reading “How Long Does a Sermon Take?”

“Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer … Continue reading “Border Security”

David Allen’s book Getting Things Done has been a great resource for me, even when I am not consistently following his guidance (which is often!). He also writes an email newsletter, and in his latest edition he reminds us that it’s OK to pop those less urgent tasks into open spots on our schedule. He writes: … Continue reading “Time Management Includes the Little Things, Too”