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Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science (A Guide for Sinners, Quitters, and Procrastinators), by Drew Dyck, © 2019 by Drew Dyck, Moody Publishers, Chicago On the fifth Tuesday of each quarter of the year, I like to share a book I’ve read recently. I highlight “mustard…
The picture above is Emmet Champion, Wayne, Don, Brenda, and Gail after a picnic as Gail, Don, and Brenda were leaving for Childhaven Fleecy Clouds: One Woman’s Story of Surviving and Thriving after Childhood Abuse, by Gail Champion Barber and Alice Sullivan Written from the heart of a Champion, by Gail Champion Barber and Alice…
Last month, I shared observations about the Lord’s Supper during COVID. The Lord’s Supper: Save it from COVID-19 In some congregations, short times after offering thanks for the bread and fruit of the vine disrupted my meditation pattern. When someone gives thanks for the bread, in a few seconds gives thanks for the fruit of…
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, by Daniel Coyle, Copyright © 2018 by Daniel Coyle; Bantam Books, New York Learn more about this book and buy it on Amazon: The Culture Code. If you buy from this link, I will get a commission. The book will cost the same. Here are the…
One of the most disruptive things to me about COVID-19 has been the Lord’s Supper. For more than forty years, I’ve had a structured meditation for the Lord’s Supper. There are reflections while I’m eating the bread and another series of thoughts for the fruit of the vine. In most congregations, there’s been adequate time…
About two years ago, I visited with a pastor who started a new church. It was in a section of town where people told me you couldn’t grow a church. The neighborhood was changing. This man and his family had started the church in his living room with very few people about three or four…
Family Systems and Congregational Life: A Map for Ministry, by R. Robert Creech, © 2019 by R. Robert Creech, Baker Academic Grand Rapids Robert Creech describes a leadership theory that says a person best leads by improving self more than making others do the right thing. You can view and buy this book on Amazon: Family Systems…
Fifty years ago, I started repeating favorite verses and sayings after my run: Physical exercise has some value (1 Timothy 4:8, GNB). As time progressed, I added more content that was meaningful. When I finish a run, I walk about a quarter of a mile to cool down. During this time I repeat this. What follows…
The Peacemaking Pastor: a Biblical Guide to Resolving Church Conflict, by Alfred Poirier, © 2006 by Alfred Poirier, published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, ISBN 978–1–4412–0142–3 This book has a good analysis of conflict with practical suggestions on dealing with it. Is it a hindrance or opportunity? Since it is a reality of human relationships,…
In the late nineteen eighties, I told Gail, “I’d like to move one more time and do it easier.” Fresh out of school, I didn’t know what I was doing when I went to my first work and I didn’t know what I was doing when I moved eighteen months later. The second church fired…