We Buried the Hatchet
Twenty-five years ago, my wife and I moved into a lovely farmhouse in the country. But in our hunt for that house, we made huge blunders in understanding (or misunderstanding) each other, and those communication errors stressed our marriage. Within a few years, those growing tensions contributed to significant marriage difficulties. We saw a Christian counselor, and after an extended time...
Read MoreOld-fashioned Pharisees with a Modern-day Makeover
You and I are just normal folk: we struggle to make lasting friendships. But we also know people who casually stroll into a room of strangers, and leave with a dozen new friends, three lunch dates, and a personal introduction to someone’s dear old grandmother. We wish we were more like them: delightful and enchanting. Last summer I read a BBC article entitled, Tricks to Make Yourself...
Read MoreMeasuring Fruit
My father pastored five different churches between 1949 and 1994. His first four churches averaged 200 members, and his last church grew from 250 to 750 during his ten years of care. A few years before dad retired from that last, rapidly growing church, I came home for Christmas. We went out for coffee, and he shared with me some reflections on church growth. When he pastored his first four...
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