Concerning the lack of vision, this is how it worked for me: When I pastored my last local congregation, we didn’t have a vision statement. Not until the end of my ministry there was there any talk of vision. We had no vision statement meetings, goal setting or vision-casting meetings or anything of the sort. We did talk about values. I resisted for as long as possible the whole vision industry. We would explore things like grace, generosity and compassion,... Read more
You can buy a fine art print of this cartoon here. Jesus chastised religious leaders for laying heavy burdens on the backs of people and not lifting a finger to help them. Yet we don’t blink an eye when we place the burden of vision on others. Just because it’s cool. It’s such a fad. Businesses have vision and they pay people to fulfill it. Purpose groups have vision and they get people to commit to it. Focus groups have... Read more
The passage in 1 Samuel 8 where Israel asks for a king is a pivotal point in the biblical narrative. It recalls another pivotal passage where the people ask Moses to go up the mountain in their stead to hear the voice of God with all that accompanies it. Both represent our inclination to engage surrogates. Rather than immediate experience we prefer reported experience. Rather than immediate living, we prefer dispensed living. Rather than live life, we prefer watching it.... Read more
Recently I was communicating with a pastor. (I talk with many so don’t think it was you.) He was obviously burning out. He originally used to disagree with my thoughts about vision, but now he was beginning to see what I was getting at and he was sick of it. He realized it was useless to tweak the vision. They’d been doing that for years to no avail. He finally knew the whole thing had to be rejected altogether. But... Read more
Do you want your church to be a family? Or do you want your church to be a purpose group? If you want it to be the first one, then you cannot have a vision or a goal. If you want to be the second one, then you’ll need a vision and a goal. You can’t be both. Not at the same time. As soon as you introduce vision and goal to a community, it cannot be a family. The... Read more
If I could, this is what I would say to a lot of theology out there… Christian and otherwise: You talk so blithely about God and so loftily about humanity, no wonder you get the two confused. Read more
Here’s a happy new year cartoon for you! We’ve been successfully kicked out of 2010. So… LET’S FLY in 2011! I’m pleased to announce that Elaine Case of Saint John, NB (where I live) is the winner of yesterday’s FREEBIE FRIDAY contest. I’ll be getting the painting to her this week. Congratulations Elaine! Hey! Get my t-shirts! Read more
Happy New Year! I’m giving away a free ORIGINAL watercolor painting of mine: This is a watercolor on Arches 300lb hot press acid free cotton rag, 2.5″x3.5″. I call it “Blackbird Breeze”. All you have to do to enter the contest is: Join my free newsletter. Comment on this blog post. The contest ends midnight tonight Atlantic Time. You can check out more of my fine art pieces here. Read more
Yesterday I heard a story: A young woman friend who is home for Christmas was telling us that her younger sister, 18 years old, was telling her that she just had to read this cartoon book her mom and dad got. She was going on and on to her older sister how awesome it is and that she had to read it. It’s my cartoon book, nakedpastor101. Another similar story: A friend of mine thousands of miles from here has... Read more
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