This week senior staff leadership (me, Tom, Chris, Brian, and Alison) have been invited to California for a review and evaluation of how we work together as a team. The invitation comes from our friend Patrick Lencioni, founder and president of The Table Group, a management and consulting firm specializing in organizational health and executive […]
It is always funny (as in irritating and annoying) that so many people, even parishioners, are unaware that this church is run by a professional lay staff. Anyway it is, and as Nativity has grown so has our full time and part time staff members. At this point we have 12 full time employees and […]
We have kicked off our second message series of the new year, and it is already getting a lot of attention. Maybe because it’s the topic: love. And not just any old kind of love…we’re tackling tough love. To begin with, to truly be people who love others, we need to come to the fuller […]
That is an interesting question, which I once heard Pastor Perry Noble ask, and answer. It was actually a friend of his who asked him the question originally and his answer was “start a church.” Which is exactly what he did, planting what is now easily one of the largest, fastest growing churches in the […]
From time to time I like to give my loyal readers an update on what is going on around Nativity, just to let you know what’s new, what’s next, as well as what happened. Message Series We are this weekend finishing up our first series for the new year, Greater Than. It has been a […]
As we begin a new year, we are going to look at worry. And our goal is to learn to worry less and move in the direction of eliminating worry. And as we begin, I want to make two clarifications: There are some among you who believe that worry is inevitable. You would say that […]
Brian, Tom and I arrived in LA on Monday, around mid-day, after many, many hours of travel and delays. We rented a car and drove to Malibu, through a surprising lack of LA traffic. We were staying at the Serra Monastery, a beautiful facility, with stunning views of the Pacific. It was the location ABC […]
The year that is coming to a close was an interesting one from many perspectives. Personally it was one of the most consequential and fulfilling years of my whole life. And though there were some grave disappointments and set backs, I would say I enjoyed 2013 as much as any and more than most. Here […]
Nine years ago we did something unexpected and, to many, unwelcome. We moved Christmas off campus. We decided to end the annual exercise in dysfunction and disappointment that was our Christmas Eve. The plan was to relocate our celebration in a setting that could accommodate our parishioners and allow us to welcome the visitors and […]
Be patient. James 5.7 Patience is the virtue held high esteem in virtually every religious tradition: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. And it is a key characteristic of holding and having hope. It is about: – accepting delay peacefully – remaining calm through disappointments – not getting annoyed with distractions – not getting angry […]
