To my fellow disciples of Jesus Christ. I am weary. I am weary of being viewed as “suspect” because of the translation of the Bible I read, my ignorance of the latest Christian music, or because I have a mistrust of large-event evangelism. I'm your brother in Christ, and we are called to proclaim the…
Tag: Pastoring
Wretched Wonders
My brother and sister-in-law live on Cape Cod. Their house has access to a private beach. For those of you who are not Jersey-Shore goers, please understand that each one of my readers who is a Jersey Shore goer is currently mumbling to themselves about the very concept of a private beach. We’ll give them…
New Tricks!
Today I did one of the most fun pastoral tasks I've ever been blessed to do. To understand why it was so amazing, I need to give some background. Central Baptist, where I serve as pastor, is just a few blocks from Riverview Estates, the retirement home attached to my denomination. It's a wonderful place,…
The powerful reach of friendship
When I was in college, I remember a day when the pastor of a local church came and spoke to the Student Chaplains. During his chat, he expressed his desire to help students who were interested in pursuing pastoral ministry gain some practical preaching experience. It was an amazing offer. For the next four years…
Ten Years
This past Sunday marked my tenth year at Central Baptist. I was thirty when I arrived with my wife, bringing along two small children to an unknown landscape. Even though I grew up fourteen miles from where I now live, I frequently had to point to folks that my understanding of New Jersey geography consisted…
Facing fear
I’ve been pondering a question for a while, “What am I afraid of?” It’s one of those questions people are tempted to give quick answers too, like “spiders!” I’m not sure the quick answers, however, are good reflections of what people are really afraid of. I think people are alarmed by spiders [1]. Fear, however,…
