This Week on Trans·formed (8/4)

Featured Articles on Trans·formed This Week

What I Learned at Seminary. I’ve been a Christian for 23 years, a husband for 9 months, and a college pastor at the University of Oregon for 8.  I love my God, my wife, and my job – in that order, but in different ways. And, in the last three years, I’ve learned a lot through my experience at Western Seminary. Here are some of the most important lessons.

.

.

Spouse > Parents. How does a married person live this out effectively?  What must a husband or a wife do to clearly and substantially make his or her spouse the “number one priority” in life?  The list is likely long, but let me share three simple keys.

.

.

.

Can You Believe the Trash People Dump Here? We listened to a powerful message on compassion, given by Bill Russell (Executive Director of Portland’s Union Gospel Mission). He gave an expansive view of compassion. His closing remarks were something like, What does compassion look like in your life? Your community? It doesn’t need to look like it does at LifeChange (at UGM), although that’s one view. What is your gifting? Where do you live? What does it look like right where you are each day? What do you see?

.

Leadership Lessons From Another Johnson. Those of us who were alive during this moment remember that fateful day, Nov 22, 1963.  We can remember exactly where we were. I was in math class at Emerald Junior High. Our teacher, an older and gracious woman, stepped out of the class for a moment, and stepped back in to announce President John F. Kennedy had just been shot.  I was 13. Caro recounts the passage of power when, in an instant, in a gunshot, the world of Washington turned upside down. I’ve tried to distill a number of leadership lessons from these 26 chapters.  Here they are—

.

Other Posts of Interest from around the Web

• Pastors: Recommit Yourselves to What You Were Ordained to Do. To ministers let me say this as strongly as I can. Preach Christ, preach Christ, preach Christ. Get out of your offices and get into your studies. Quit playing office manager and program director, quit staffing committees, and even right now recommit yourselves to what you were ordained to do, namely the ministry of the Word and sacraments.
• Fear: Our Clear and Present Danger. There are moments when all of us get captured. When all of us get sidetracked. When fear more powerfully shapes ministry than faith. When dread is more powerful than trust. When we are overwhelmed by our weaknesses or weighed down by circumstances. When fear makes us way too controlling. When fear silences us at a time when we need to speak and causes us to speak up when we should be silent.
• Churches with 300-500 in Weekly Attendance Rate Higher with First-Time Guests. After four years of sending mystery guests into churches to evaluate the first-time guest experience, Faith Perceptions has again released their findings in its annual Church Index. It shows that “large” churches (300 - 500 in average weekly attendance) performed better than both their smaller and larger counterparts in nine of fifteen categories. Key areas of strength for these large churches were pre-service greeting, seating, in-service greeting, and friendliness.
• Create a Caring Church. If you want to create a church community that really cares for one another, the best way to do it is through small groups. When small groups become the vehicle for care-giving, the whole church gets involved in sharing one another’s burdens—a much more personal approach than relegating the task to a committee. The whole congregation should be making hospital visits, taking meals to people when they’re sick or something’s happened, doing childcare when someone’s in crisis and giving money when somebody’s lost a job.