Matthew | October 27, 2010
Everyone always has a suggestion for a preacher or elder. Often these suggestions are some feedback on how you can do something better. Sometimes these ideas are really helpful. I remember some years ago, a dear friend named Gilbert Cooper told me to stop running up to the pulpit to preach. See, I was young, [...]
Matthew | October 22, 2010
Every church has stress. A lot of those who write about church stress call it congregational anxiety. This anxiety seems to be involved to some level in every congregation. Some churches are more anxious than others, but all churches have this tension because no church is perfect. The problem is that this anxiety can become [...]
Matthew | October 20, 2010
No one wants to be a Ned Flanders Christian. It seems that often the world has this image of a Christian man. The perpetually nice guy that is always polite and giving. He wears modest clothing, desires to always do the right thing, and is mostly a nerd. It is interesting that often the world [...]
Matthew | October 19, 2010
This was another book I read for fun. Everyone needs some of these titles, and it was read a little after college football season started. It just made the love for college ball even greater. The book is really good, though a little outdated, but most of the material is still relevant. It is interesting [...]
Matthew | October 17, 2010
My friend Doug from Castle Rock has been working hard and we have added audio sermons to Youtube of the Sunday Morning lessons. This is our first sermon that is recorded and uploaded, but we are excited about adding more material as it comes. Hopefully, we will also be having video of the sermons. So [...]
Matthew | October 14, 2010
At Castle Rock, sometimes we do things differently. We are pleased with this approach. One of the best things that happens at Castle Rock is the Elders-Teens retreat. This is a whole weekend that the teens and the elder spend together. There are no parents, no preachers, just the elders and their wives and the [...]
Matthew | October 13, 2010
I love SEC college football. Even last week just reminded everyone of how unpredictable the game can be. I picked this book to read on vacation as it seemed to be some light reading. The last thing I want to do on vacation is read some deep theological material, as I do this all the [...]
Matthew | October 11, 2010
I was having a wonderful conversation with one of the great deacons at Castle Rock this Sunday. He was teaching a class about mentoring. He noted that this was another work for “discipling.” There is no word for “mentor” in the Bible, but there is definitely the idea of mentoring in the text. The bible [...]
Matthew | October 7, 2010
This is a good book about the poverty industry in the USA. It focused mostly on the pawn shops, payday loads, and other ways that the wealthy have taken advantage of the poor working class. Some of the stories in this book are very sad. It seems so wrong that people will purposely take advantage [...]
Matthew | October 6, 2010
The missional team that I have put together at Castle Rock is one of the best groups of Christians I have ever been involved with. The team members are highly motivated and gifted for this role in ministry. When I selected this team, I deeply prayed and thought about the best dynamic for the representation [...]
