One of the funnier Letterman top ten lists as of late: 10. ”Churn Your Enthusiasm” 9. ”Not-So-Modern Family” 8. ”Cash Buggy” 7. ”That 1870s Show” 6. ”I Dream of Electricity” 5. ”Battlebarn Lancastica” 4. ”Win, Lose or Plow” 3. ”A*M*A*S*H” 2. ”How I Met My Second Cousin” 1. ”Two and a Half Mennonites” Have one you’d add to the...

The talent, skills, reputation, and personality originally helping us to land a ministry position are never enough to help us keep it. This reality should be the starting point for developing leadership and relationship safeguards to diminish the potential for future derailment. Just internalizing healthy principles before beginning a new ministry position will not ensure ministry health, especially when some of those unforeseen circumstances are beyond our control. Ignoring those principles, however, will almost always guarantee abbreviated ministry tenure. And retroactive implementation is rarely...

Bob Coy, pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale: One of the most important lessons I learned early on in ministry is that it’s not about me. Whether people applaud you or attack you, you can’t forget that it’s really all about the Lord and representing him. Don’t take things too personally, in either the negative or positive sense. That way, you don’t get too prideful when you’re praised, and you don’t get too discouraged when you’re persecuted. We are simply an extension of the Lord. We are heaven’s earthly ambassadors, and that’s something that you cannot put a price tag...

Rob Bell will be back at the church he founded this Sunday. Bell will speak at the 9 and 11 a.m. services at Mars Hill Bible Church this Sunday. Maybe he’ll make reference to his newest video promoting his new book.  In the video, he suggests “for a growing number of people in our modern world, God is a bit like Oldsmobiles”.  According to an article on MLive.com, in the 3-minute clip he questions long-held tenets of the “tribal church” including damnation of gays, prohibition of women in leadership and insistence on a literal 6-day creation in the face of scientific...

Consider this quote: “It’s in the nature of institutions that they want to maintain their independence. But in today’s economy it is increasingly difficult and, in my opinion, not good stewardship. We have a lot to gain to partner together.” Those are the words of Bill Greer, the President of Milligan College. Milligan is merging with Emmanuel Christian Seminary. The reason? “There’s just not enough money in our movement to support all the schools we have,” according to Emmanuel’s President Michael Sweeney. The same could be true for many churches. Small churches are having a...

From Seth Godin this morning: We armor ourselves against the cutting remark, the ad hominem attack, the person who just doesn’t like our stuff. But all of this is the feedback we get when we touch a nerve and are doing work that matters enough to care about. No, the worst sort of feedback is no feedback at all. That means we’ve created nothing but banality. Ouch. Read that again: The worst sort of feedback is no feedback at all. Are you a ‘banal’ pastor? Or a ‘banal’ church leader? Are people so indifferent that they offer no feedback whatsoever. Maybe it’s...

An interesting study finds that people that are the most successful work the same or less hours than people who are not successful. That sucks if you’re working 60 hours a week trying to keep your head above water. And we all know people that seem to be really successful, but are cool as a cucumber, not seemingly all that busy, and much more relaxed than we are. (which also sucks). Enter the difference between ‘hard work’ and ‘hard to do work’: Hard work is deliberate practice. It’s not fun while you’re doing it, but you don’t have to do too much of it in any one...

A laid-off man has won $1 million after buying some lottery tickets on a whim against his wife’s wishes, in Southern Oregon. After receiving his winnings the man immediately gave a 10 percent tithe to his church. According to reports, Riley Gunn was traveling with his wife and three children to their one bedroom residence when he stopped to purchase some corndogs. It was a rare treat for his family, because after he had been laid off in May they had felt the squeeze on their finances. So it was even more surprising that Gunn decided at that time to buy some lottery tickets as well. Even though he...

Todd Rhoades and Matt Steen discuss this piece by Chris Huff: Here are some corollary thoughts about doing favors in the workplace: It is never a favor when my boss, supervisor, or anyone else “above me” asks me to do something. It’s my job. No matter what it is…no matter how small or seemingly unrelated to my day-to-day responsibilities. Therefore, watch yourself and be careful not to begin an emotional “bank account” with people above you in the organization. They are never indebted to us. We are always clean — fair and square- after every paycheck. CLICK...

Kurt Willems writes: There is an unspoken (or, often overly spoken) code of theological, cultural, and political beliefs that many within evangelical churches often champion as “TRUTH.” Rather than admitting that we all need to be humble in these matters, some are quick to drop the “heretic” bomb (just read the comments section of any blog about the work of Rob Bell  ). The link between “heresy” (well, some folks’ definition of that word) and evangelical rejects is sad and obvious. Many faithful disciples of Jesus find themselves in situations where they are labeled a “heretic”...