This is a public forum to share ideas, ask questions, and reflect on being a pastor in the CRC.
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How many pastors does it take to change a Christian Reformed church? The best and right answer is probably “None.” But that hasn’t kept many of my ilk from trying. Some try wisely, some foolishly. We all pray we’re faithful to God in building up the church and serving in God’s world.
With decades-long help from books, friends, and the Scriptures, I am realizing that thoughtless consumerism is daily paying us ever more mini-deaths. How long can God’s world survive our consumerist acquisitiveness?
A book review on Preaching with Conviction: Connecting with Postmodern Listeners by Kenton C. Anderson.
“Tony” was a maddeningly complex person, whose story I rehearse in the light of Paul’s own autobiographical revelations in Philippians 1:12-26, 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 and Romans 8.
The following is a sermon given at a funeral for a 19-year-old who took his own life (see blog post).
This is the last article I plan to post in this series on leadership. I hope that the honest and heartfelt stories count as a helpful, popular, accessible contribution to our conversation and actions about leadership and leaders in the CRC.
A frightfully realistic, hence necessary corollary to all axioms of leadership is this: Church leaders WILL trip, stumble and fall. Not all will do irreparable damage to themselves or others as they fall; sometimes no one but God notices. Regardless, the result is always disheartening.
James C. Dekker, pastor of Covenant Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario, remembers that he never was able to practice personal devotions faithfully until he suffered his own mini-death and found hope from Christ’s resurrection from once-broken colleagues.
In “Leadership: A Working Definition,” the Christian Reformed Church’s Leadership Development Team calls its fourth leadership principle “confluence.” Let's explore “confluence” by using the following river metaphor.
How many pastors does it take to change a Christian Reformed church? The best and right answer is probably “None.” That hasn’t kept many of my ilk from trying.
In a provocative discussion on “competencies,” the CRCNA’s Leadership Development Team claims we “should not overstate the distinction between character and competence.” Yet the echo of competency rooted in character sounds often.
As we dig into “conviction,” the second leadership trait that congregations can develop, we switch to a new image—a ship on a voyage. Here’s the story.
The Leadership Paper defines “character” as that which generates trust on the part of followers. As you read this article, ask yourself, “How does that definition of character affect the following building project and my own work?”
What’s to debate? Isn’t it a given that congregations be healthy? The issues are complex and crucial. At stake is not merely survival of local congregations, but also the direction of the CRCNA in the 21st century.
A book review of The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call by Marva Dawn and Eugene Peterson.
This brief guide is intended to be an introductory checklist for pastors, pastoral care workers, elders or deacons when you visit families or individuals.
A book review on the Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism by Douglas Groothuis.
A review of Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003) and Searching for God Knows What (Nelson Books, 2004)
Engage your right brain for about 1250 more words as you read a recently discovered and freely translated verbatim of a meeting of the Central Jerusalem Wannabe Temple Worship Committee.
There’s nothing wrong with occasionally using another preacher's work when one’s own well is dry. How can preachers give due credit honestly and not awkwardly?