As I pastor, I typically have thick skin. But there are definitely days, and weeks, where the skin gets thin and things hurt more than normal. Or when enough things pile up to pierce the toughness that is typically there. Many pastors I know are like me in that if 99 things are going well […]
The Difference in Church Customers vs. Contributers–Which Are You?
Most people think 1 Corinthians 14 is only about whether we should speak in tongues in church or not. What I found when preaching on this text a few weeks ago was a much broader, and in my opinion, much more important meaning. What this chapter ultimately answers is the question, What is the purpose […]
For When I Want to Be a Christian Celebrity
I officiated a wedding this weekend and was reminded of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was essentially the Christian rock star of the 1st century: huge crowds followed him, everyone retweeted him, and he was on the New York Times best seller list every time he wrote a book. In fact, there were murmurs […]
Why do we talk about race at our church?
I never heard a sermon that referenced race while growing up in church. What does race have to do with people coming to know Jesus, anyway? Or what does it have to do with the Bible? When I talk about race in sermons at Crossroads, I think these are thoughts that go through the minds […]
Is the Church unified in Jesus or layers of race, ethnicity & culture?
We began a sermon series in 1 Corinthians a couple of weeks ago. Week 1 on the first chapter went off fine. I talked about how the church at Corinth was a squabbling, quarreling church and that Paul was writing this letter to them to teach them to be united Christ and to get along […]
Homogeneous Churches are Mutated (& Crippled) Bodies of Christ
I preached on the Church as the body of Christ last Sunday, using 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 as my text. It’s a familiar text and familiar metaphor to many Christians and it typically leads to one of a few quick interpretations. One being how Christians play different roles in the local church, some being good at […]