Striving for Pastoral Faithfulness
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) In the Great Commission, we find our marching orders. The mission of the church is to make disciples who make disciples who…..make disciples. Jesus did not simply say this to the apostles. He did not simply say this to pastors and church leaders. He gave […]
Read More Helping One Another Follow JesusThe world has changed dramatically over the past few months. Well over a million people have COVID-19 and tens of thousands have died from it. In many ways, life will never be the same again. Many people are scratching their heads, asking big questions, and searching for answers. This is a good thing. If you […]
Read More Making Sense of Suffering, Death, and Global PandemicsJohn 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Among the many “radical” teachings of Jesus, we could definitely put this verse in that category. The […]
Read More Two Keys to a Healthy ChurchHard to believe, but this past May marked my 10thanniversary in pastoral ministry. This has been a deeply gratifying and rewarding experience and I am grateful to God for His call upon my life. While in some ways I am still just a beginner in ministry, there have been many lessons learned during my first […]
Read More Some Lessons Learned From 10 Years of Pastoral MinistryWe have all heard it before. You pass someone you know and ask them, “how’s it going?” or “how ya doing?” Answer: “fine.” Or….. “I’m fine thanks.” There are other go-to responses to that question, but “I’m fine” tends to be among the most popular. Steph and I had the opportunity to attend a pastors conference […]
Read More Stop saying “I’m fine!”Last week our family had the opportunity to go to a play in Dubois, PA. We had a wonderful time watching “Anne of Green Gables” and the gal who played Anne was simply superb. As you might have guessed from the above picture, the play was in an old church which was converted into a […]
Read More When a Church Closes Its DoorsHard to believe, but I have been in pastoral ministry for 6 years now. This has been a deeply gratifying and rewarding experience and I am grateful to God for His call upon my life. While in some ways I am still just a beginner and pray for many decades of fruitful ministry, there have […]
Read More 6 Lessons From 6 Years of Pastoral Ministry“We read in the New Testament about disciples and apostles, and we tend to think that the two words are synonymous. They are not. A disciple is a learner, a student. An apostle is one who is commissioned by his master with the master’s own authority, then sent out in the master’s name. That distinction […]
Read More The Difference Between Disciples and ApostlesA few months ago, my wife Stephane came up with some parallels between discipleship and nursing. I thought they were insightful and decided to pass them along to you. 1. Both must take place often. Mothers know that every few hours, her baby must be fed. The baby only has a small stomach and therefore […]
Read More Some Parallels Between Discipleship and NursingI live in Waverly, NY, which sits right on the New York – Pennsylvania state border. Rarely a day goes by in which I don’t cross into Pennsylvania for one reason or another. I am also a Canadian citizen and with most of my family still living there, at least once or twice a year, […]
Read More In Essentials Unity, in Non-Essentials Liberty, in All Things Charity