I was ordained on July 22nd, 2007. That was 13 years ago. Which means that my ministry has now hit its teen years. I have now been a pastor for longer than I have lived in any one place. I haven’t been married for 13 years. I haven’t been a father for 13 years. Basically,…

Back in 1896, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noted that in Italy during his day about 80% of Italian land was owned by about 20% of Italy’s population. This got people thinking about the ratio of 80:20. Normally when you hear about the “Pareto Principle,” it is specifically that about 80% of the work is done…

Fellowship is a weird Christian word. It means a lot of different stuff to different people. Add to that, it sounds like something lifted out of a copy of Lord of the Rings. It seems…well…kind of fantastical, like elves and orcs and hobbits and stuff.  The Greek word for fellowship is “koinonia”. A koinonia can…

I’ve had this idea in my head for a few months now to put together some kind of “Leadership Lessons from the Lectionary” resource. I believe that the Bible is a great resource on leadership – if perhaps a different resource on leadership than what you might get in some business books or leadership podcasts.…

One of the more frustrating things about this year has been the sense of starting over. This stopped, so we did this instead – which was like starting over, often times from scratch. But then whatever that was stopped, and so we had to start over again. For me? That was starting online only church.…

Last Sunday we talked about what we agreed to, the things that we said that we would do and be. I brought up two instances where you may have agreed to things: your confirmation and your participation in a new member celebration here at University Lutheran. If you have been confirmed in a Lutheran church,…

I’m coming back after some time away, and even though I still worked an average of almost 20 hours a week for church while I was “gone” there’s still some readjustment. A part of that readjustment means that things slip through the cracks, things aren’t planned for adequately, etc. This is “reentry”. Reentry is what…

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Ephesians 4 We’re angry. Or maybe we should be. …

Greetings from St. Louis! I’m up here on part two of my sabbatical experience taking care of some familial obligations. As a part of that, today I helped my parents mow the lawn. I suppose it’s what little I can do to earn my keep around here. I’m no stranger to lawnmowers. During the summer…