Sabbatical: What Are We Doing?
Gardner Gordon is a friend of mine from seminary who planted Coquina Community Church in St. Augustine, Florida, the same year that we planted Coram Deo. For seven years now, we’ve been trading church planting stories, sharing wisdom, and occasionally talking one another off the ledge. Gardner and his wife Frances have consistently invited Leigh and me to come to St. Augustine any time we want to get away. We’re finally taking them up on the offer.
Five Reasons for A Pastoral Sabbatical
During the months of November and December, I am taking a sabbatical leave from my pastoral duties at Coram Deo – and from my normal rhythms of life and ministry. Below are five reasons for a pastoral sabbatical. These reasons, among others, explain why more and more churches are making sabbaticals a regular practice.
All The Single Ladies: Audio
A few weeks ago, my wife and I sat down with six of our friends for a very interesting question-and-answer session. These six successful, vivacious, post-college single women wanted to talk freely and openly about dating, marriage, and sex from a gospel-informed, biblical perspective. They spent a week gathering and sorting their best questions and then joined Leigh and me in our living room to invite our answers.
Impudent Prayer
"Impudence seems to best describe this man's actions, but how are we supposed to be impudent before God? Are we supposed to 'bother' him in the middle of the night? Or perhaps we should pray in the nude? This story seems only to raise questions. Jesus goes on to teach that if you seek you will find, knock and the door will be opened, ask and you shall receive. But I spent ten years asking God for very specific things – things in line with his will – and he didn’t give me any of those things. Why not?"
Redemption Stories: At The Table (Part 1)
Brittany’s family ate dinner together at the same time every night, no matter what. Her mom would make the meal with Entertainment Tonight on in the background, and every night Brittany would come to the table worried about what would set off her dad’s temper... making the gesture of family dinner didn’t make up for the reality of a broken family life.
ReForming Our Rest: Ten Principles for Sabbath
The whole point of Sabbath is that it’s worshipful rest. It’s resting in God’s provision and enjoying the life He’s given. It’s not posting on Facebook, checking your email, calling your grandma, or running errands. Attend church. Read a book. Take a nap. Walk the dog. Take your kids to the park. Hang out with good friends without looking at the clock. Serve others. Share the gospel. Turn your cell phone off and don’t check your email...
What I Would Tell a 27-Year-Old Church Planter
Recently a friend who's planting a new church in New England - in some of the hardest spiritual soil in the United States - wrote to me and a few other mentors, asking what advice we'd give him as a young leader. He's 27, with a wife and three young kids. He's aware that youthfulness can bring with it some blindness, and he's trying to mitigate that blindness by seeking wisdom from others. I am humbled and encouraged by his initiative... unfortunately, too few young leaders have the foresight to learn from the mistakes of others instead of making their own.He asked for three nuggets of wisdom I'd have wanted someone to tell me at his age. Here's what I wrote him.
Choosing Childlessness?
As my husband and I read God's Word together as a couple, we learned that God desires for us to worship Him by fighting the self-serving nature of our flesh and choosing to live sacrificially. We knew that sleepless nights, restricted schedules, and child-friendly financial choices would be difficult sacrifices to make, but the Bible also made it clear to us that choices rooted in selfishness, fear, or preservation of personal comfort do not lead to the life God calls us to. We began to see the bigger picture and understood that the real question of family planning is not "Is choosing childlessness biblical?" but "Is living for myself biblical?"