For many years now I’ve wanted to send you a Christmas gift to celebrate your life, for all the times you’ve watched over me and for the all ways you’ve inspired me, but there always seemed to be something that got in the way, and as you already know I’m the […]
“Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service.” (Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life p. […]
Crowds are clueless. They never get it right. They cheer for the superstars, and look past the saints. They glorify the rich and even cast votes for a new American Idol. Crowds are addicted to all the hype, bling and buzz they can consume, but then complain of loneliness, fatigue and overload. They look for […]
In his excellent book, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Richard Swenson, M.D. describes margin like this: Margin is the space between our load and our limits. It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the […]
I had to take my car into the garage last week for a tune-up. It was running very rough and wouldn’t even idle when in gear, which meant I had to put it in neutral every time I came to a stoplight or traffic slowed down. What a pain! I think it was actually misfiring […]
We all deal with craziness from time to time and usually believe everyone sees the world as we do. But the Bible is clear that some people are just fools and more conversation is pointless. I share this post in the hope it will as helpful for you as it was for me. ~ steve […]
By G. JEFFREY MacDONALD, Published: August 7, 2010, Swampscott, Mass. THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show. And part of the problem, as researchers have observed, is that pastors work too much. Many of them need vacations, it’s true. But there’s a more fundamental problem that no amount of rest and relaxation […]
I just returned home from a weekend of spiritual reflection and renewal with some challenging thoughts. We did an exercise where we were asked to draw a picture of OUR spiritual journey. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, put your thousand word journey of spiritual growth in a pictorial representation. My initial thought was […]
Darrin Patrick from The Journey in Saint Louis spoke frankly of the burden that pastoral ministry is. I have pushed myself to the edge and over the edge of burnout throughout my years in vocational ministry. Subsequently, I have been doing a great deal of research that I am compiling in hopes of not only […]