Category Archives: church history

Leaders and Transformation: The Place of a Rule of Life

Two weeks ago, I reviewed with our New Life Fellowship pastoral staff team our “Rule of Life.” First drawn up in 2007, it has been the abiding document to order our life together for over five years. I read through the document paragraph by paragraph, giving history, context, and theology around important sections. Our new staff asked many very good questions. I walked away convinced, more than ever, of how important, and powerful, this tool is for each church leadership team. How can we lead others to transformation in Christ if we are not experiencing transformation ourselves? I share this document with you with the hope and prayer you will consider thinking through some of these issues for yourself and your leadership team. I invite you to read the entire Pastoral Staff Rule of Life on our website. I am including here a few paragraphs that are particularly significant. NLF Pastoral Staff Rule of. Read more.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Applications for Leadership

I recently finished Eric Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. It was, by far, the best biography on Bonhoeffer I have read. After pondering his life, the following were three key questions I asked myself: 1. Do I really have the courage to follow Jesus wherever He leads? Between his natural talents and upper-class, family connections, Bonhoeffer could have done anything with his life. Yet he became a pastor and theologian. When Hitler came to power in Germany, passing legislation that German Jews without Aryan blood be removed from the German Christian church, Bonhoeffer immediately saw the contradiction. He was one of the first to speak out: “Only he who cries out Jews can sing Gregorian chant.” We must “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31). As a result, he lost his position, his security, his reputation, his opportunity to marry the woman he loved, and his life out of. Read more.

My Top 10 Books: Fall/Winter 2011

When I was asked recently about the best books I read in 2011, I soon realized the challenge of trying to limit it to a top ten. In my case here, I have eleven. The following list is not in order of importance: 1.The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being, by Daniel Siegel. This was impactful in understanding the neuroscience and research for emotionally healthy skills and contemplative spirituality if we are doing to do transformational discipleship in our churches. 2. Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing, edited by Robert Inchausti. I love writing. It is art to me, not business. His integration of prayer along with writing as a calling was a wonderful gift to me in my own efforts to be faithful to God as a writer. 3. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. Again, impactful for my leadership and writing. His. Read more.

A Mini-Interview with a Trappist Monk – for pastors/leaders

The following is a six minute interview with Father Meninger, a Trappist monk for the past 52 years. We have just finished 4 very enjoyable days with him at New Life. Perhaps the greatest challenge for us as leaders is to drink from an interior life with God sufficient to sustain our activity/work for Him. Lessons from the Trappists, one of the most contemplative monastic orders, enable us to step back and examine our leadership from a fresh perspective. Enjoy this brief interview or, for more in-depth insights, click here for a full 40 minute sermon in which I interview Father William.

Church History & Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

I am finding that I need to speak more frequently about why a proper understanding of our church family history is paramount for growing spiritually. (click to see a larger version) I emphasize three critically important, major truths: 1. There was only one church for the first 1054 years. The first major split happened between the Eastern and Western church then. This was followed by the split of the Roman Catholic church in 1517 when Protestantism was born. Since then we have had over 200,000 other splits with countless Protestant and independent churches. So my particular tribe (evangelical) is finds itself far up into the upper right of the above chart. This is not a bad thing but I/we come from a family genogram. We are not the whole church by any means. And the church did not start with Luther, Calvin and the Reformers. 2. We need to learn from other traditions of. Read more.

Fast for Lent: Receive the Gift of Sabbath

At New Life Fellowship Church we have launched a church-wide initiative to keep Sabbath during the seven weeks of Lent. We asked people to choose a 24 hour period –either from Saturday night, 6 p.m.,to Sunday night, 6 p.m., or from Friday night, 6 p.m., to Saturday night, 6 p.m. We also asked them to mark the beginning and end of their Sabbath by lighting a candle. To listen to the sermon and see further resources , go to www.newlifefellowship.org. One larger goal of Sabbath, I believe, is that the qualities of biblical Sabbath (STOP, REST, DELIGHT, CONTEMPLATE) infuse our other six days. John Freeman’s book, The Tyranny of E-Mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox has been a gift to me these last few months as I seek creative ways to eliminate hurry and multitasking from my daily routine. The following are the suggestions that I found most helpful that I am adding to my “fast” this Lent: 1. Don’t Send. E-mail only . Read more.

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