This past week, our team of staff who plan our message series’ (what we call the “Message Oval”) set aside a day to draw up a rough sketch of the topics and themes of what I will be preaching about in the upcoming year. Yes, I did say year. We make it a point to […]
This week Nativity’s Strategic Leadership Team (there are 6 of us) took a day for an off-site retreat to reflect on and assess how things are and where they are going. Our retreat was not prompted by any major issue or particular problem, but by the consistent, ongoing evaluation that characterizes any healthy, growing organization. […]
Right now our Lenten message series at Nativity, called “Attitude Adjustment,” is all about the virtue of humility. Of course, the more you think you have it, the less you really do. Even blogging about it is a little awkward. I’ve heard it quoted that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; humility is thinking of […]
“I will suffer and be killed, and then I will be raised.” Luke 9.22 Reading this Gospel passage I always wonder what the original disciples must have felt when they heard these words spoken by Jesus. His message is suffering and death and then a strange promise they did not understand. Furthermore, he tells his disciples, if you […]
Sometimes I like to use this blog as an opportunity to keep readers up-to-date with what’s happening here at Nativity, travels, books, etc. Despite the presidential campaign trail, I’m a little busy with a different kind of “congress” this month. These next few weeks will be Catholic “congress” season. Right now, we’re right in the […]
Did you know that medical textbooks need constant updating? It’s not because the human body changes- it’s because constantly new methods and information about the body become available that compel doctors to evaluate and revise their practice of medicine. Perhaps there’s an important lesson here for the Church and our practice of ministry. Jesus Christ […]
Leadership is more art than science. That means it grows through practice and willingness to learn from your mistakes. Your effectiveness and success as a leader gets compromised when you fall into unhealthy “traps” of thinking and acting. Here are just five traps I’ve seen and experienced time and time again. If any of these […]
Pope Francis has declared an “Extraordinary” Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will run through November 20, 2016. What is that? It is actually a perfect opportunity to make church matter by following God’s call to extend mercy to the lost and broken. Here are four areas we’ve been trying in our parish, and we hope […]
Where did you get your Christmas shopping done this year? For the first year, I didn’t set foot inside a single retail store or mall to find exactly what I wanted. You guessed it: online shopping. Not only that, but by shopping online I actually had access to more options, spent less time, and avoided […]
There’s one difference between God and the Church: God doesn’t need to change. But, the most effective and successful churches are constantly changing. The message and the mission never change- that’s a God thing- but the methods and techniques we use to communicate that mission/message are in constant need of re-shaping to reach the ever-changing […]
