Blog – Page 3 – St Andrew's Presbyterian Church

I heart Valentine’s day (and I’m not scared to say so)

The ability to endure by Michael Chitwood

an example of love for all of us

Christian, how are we to engage the world today?

Let God be God by Matthew Brough—reviewed

One Thousand Gifts. Ann Voskamp-Reviewed

Office Coffee VS. The Coffee Shop

A short word on age and finishing strong

In his two highly readable books “The Contemplative Writer: loving God through Christian spirituality, meditation, daily prayer and writing” and “Eat, Write, Grow: Cultivating prayer and writing together” writer Ed Cyzewski offers loads of advice, is very pastoral and encouraging, and delves into intersections of life that many Christians will find familiar. I recently…

5 Reasons Not to Copy the Successful Church down the Street

I have four boys living in my house and nothing is more tedious and annoying to listen to than when they start to copy each other. I know it’s part of regular development and that younger ones learn from older ones, but man can it grate the nerves to listen to and witness. I so desperately want…

Video Games, Violence Against Women and Christianity – Here Comes Thanksgiving

Talking with younger folks, and some not so younger folks I notice a growing issue in my life as a Christian leader. I am encountering more and more violence against women, as well as a general increase in violence and degrading hate speech. Something caught my attention during a recent television…

10 Things I’ve Learned in Two Years of Ministry

Things I have learned after two years in full-time ministry, in no particular order: It is such common knowledge it is almost nonsense to write about it: millennial leaders are more co-operative than their predecessors. I have noticed that this isn’t really about age of body but rather of mind.…

Applesauce and the #s of Ministry

Yesterday I was making some apple sauce. I mean I was making it good and plenty. I was peeling and coring and boiling and trying not to spill as I poured it into jars. I was so engaged in it. A kid was there helping me, counting apples, moving apples around. I was excited. There might as well have been two kids making apple sauce (except, of course, we actually succeeded…

You Should Read this Book Monthly?!?

While being on paternity leave I managed to sneak in the reading of a few books. I will share about several of them in the next few weeks and months, but the first one I want to write about is Timothy Keller’s little 46 pager The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness (kindle version is only $1.99). I want to start with it because I am literally going to read it once a month until…

Honestly, I’ve Been Anxious about My Return to Ministry

I first felt the call to ministry a few years ago and I did all the normal things one does. I spoke with family and friends, sought guidance from my pastor and eventually went to seminary. The church has been nothing if not affirming and welcoming. I have been leading a congregation for almost two…

Parental Leave: a Time to Serve

My office is all packed up, the bookcase is bare, I am not leaving the church but while I am away on a 10 week parental leave a new office is being built and our new music director is taking over my current space. Things are changing rapidly around St. Andrew’s Duncan and around my house. 10 weeks with four little boys (and summer vacation in full swing no less!) and a…

Mass Shootings and an Old Promise

You may or may not know that I have two boys 6 and 3 and another due in a month, and a foster child (age 6) in my house. What sort of world are we making for the children, we being us, the adults? I am as biased and confused and frustrated as anyone about the goings on in the world today, the number of news stories I struggle to explain to the boys makes me feel small,…

4 Keys to a Vital Congregation

People seem to dig the list when it comes to blogs and ministers and lay folks alike seem concerned about the decline of the church and wary of the future. More important all of us are trying to figure out how not only to lead the church but also how to be the church. Many people have pointed out that these days feel a lot more like the church of the Book of Acts than…

Enough. Contentment in an Age of Excess – By Will Samson

I’m reading Enough partly for my own edification and partly in preparation of an advent series (maybe pre-advent?) on the art and joy of living simply. The courage and the empowerment of saying, “I have enough” amidst a world where everyone seems to be striving for more, seem worthy of seeking. The…

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