Coming Soon

We previewed the movie "I Am" today in staff meeting and I thought I'd post the trailer here, as well.  We'll be hosting the movie at WestWay a couple times in October.

Mad Church Disease

Anne Jackson has a new book out called Permission to Speak Freely that looks really interesting. I haven't read it yet, but I did finally pull Mad Church Disease from my pile of books waiting to be read. The book digs into the struggle with burnout that so many pastors feel from the perspective of someone who's been there (Jackson grew up as a pastor's daughter and has worked in a number of ministries as an adult) and offers hope in "overcoming the burnout epidemic" (the book's subtitle).

She points out some of the environmental factors inherent to ministry that contribute to burnout, but spends the bulk of the book seeking to give the reader some good tools for dealing with the stresses and expectations of ministry.

An Unwanted Visitor

I'm sitting in my office today, feeling a bit paranoid. I can't quit checking the floors, looking to see if anything's creeping around in the corners or behind the shelves... because, when I went out into the common area of our offices today, I found a little strand of slither laying beneath a chair - Pituophis catenifer sayi. If that's too cryptic, I'll translate: I found a freaking bullsnake in the office!

Curious? or Ignorant.

"But they didn't understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant."

When Jesus told his closest disciples that he was about to be killed and resurrected, this was the confusion that ensued.  They weren't getting it.  They'd missed his point, but the more discouraging thing is that they let their fear keep them from understanding.  How many times had they had to ask Jesus to clarify?