College sports is one of the most peculiar oddities of American culture that I have experienced. I don’t understand it at all, but I do love it.

And so I will wear my burnt orange and hold my hookem horns up high, but make no mistake, that while I cheer, I’ll be asking myself … but why?

Next time you are feeling overwhelmed by the leadership role and responsibility that God has given you in the church, and next time you aren’t sure about what it is that God has called you to do in that role, it might be helpful to remember this simple image. In and amongst the many complexities of leadership lies the simplicity of a picture of those who were faithful enough to stand firm in the middle of a river.

Stand in the Jordan, and enjoy watching the tumultuous work of God.

Four unbelievably easy things I do to maintain pastoral connectivity and availability even - and especially - in the midst of very busy, and very large, ministry environments. I am painfully aware that these sound small, obvious, and perhaps even pitiable, and that none of them would be necessary in a smaller church (a blog topic for another day) but they have all been really effective tools that have helped me and the people I serve as we seek to walk this life of Jesus following AMONG one another.

Different people might need different approaches at different seasons in their lives. One thing they all need is patience.

Patience is grace applied over time.
We all need that.

As I write this, the sun is rising over a cold Texas morning and I cannot help but think of how similar Texas winter days are to Johannesburg winter days. Frosty ground on dormant grass, with big blue skies overhead which seem to reflect the cold rather than offer the warmth that the unhindered access to the sun would usually afford. The day is just beginning here, and I know that it is ending for my friends across the globe. The Lord made the day for me just as He did for them, and He gifts the grace and mercies that we will need to begin this day as He does for those whose day is winding down.

What a big and small world. What grace to call more than one place home.

All too often we have embraced the power grabs of culture as the way to be heard, but as I look at the life and teachings of Jesus and as I study the remarkable instructions given to the church in the New Testament, I see a people who are called to live lives of beautiful protest, people who resist the systems of the day by showing the beauty of another way.

A roundup of some articles that I found interesting this week.

Welcome to The Resident Aliens! A place of content creation and collation from a pastor who isn’t from around here.

I am an introvert with a call on my life to surround myself with people. Here are some things I have learned about how to do that well.

It is very difficult for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom. Very. But, it is possible with God.

We need good shepherds to do the hard and slow work of pressing some camels toward some very small openings, and we need to trust God to make them fit. That’s our only hope.