It has become a bit of a frustrating game with the Lord the past couple of years. The way we interact has changed and so the way He tends to speak … [Read more...]
Significant Sustenance
Soul care, equipping and encouragement of those who find themselves on the front lines of vocational ministry. The endless demands of church growth, budgets and growing healthy vibrant communities of faith place a lot of pressure on leaders and their families. Be equipped and resourced to facilitate healthy leadership, proven strategies for balancing family and ministry demands, conflict resolution plus preventatives to avoid burn out. Significant Sustenance focuses on your needs as a vocational minister so you can continue to support those within your community.
The Breath of God
05/15/2012 By Leave a Comment
I have been experimenting with video and various ways of sharing faith. These often take the forms of rich ancient thoughts and prcatices which have … [Read more...]
Random Thoughts: Community
04/13/2012 By Leave a Comment
A Random snippet reflecting on Ephesians 2 and Galatian 3 as it pertains to Unity and Kingdom Community. How in Christ, we are one. The basis of our … [Read more...]
Loving Yourself: Forgiveness
04/03/2012 By Leave a Comment
Rhythms of the Heart - Video- We are encouraged to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31) but what if we don't love ourselves? Jesus also … [Read more...]
Restoring Fallen Leaders
03/09/2012 By Leave a Comment
It seems we are always looking for heroes, someone to place upon a pedestal and inevitably they fall from the heights we have elevated them! … [Read more...]
Challenges Ripe with Opportunity
02/04/2012 By Leave a Comment
Whether we realize it or not, all of us are leading in a multiplicity of ways all the time and while we may lead well verbally, our actions and … [Read more...]
Is our Spiritual Life Connected to Real Life?
01/24/2012 By Leave a Comment
Many people are realizing the disconnect between their faith life and their everyday life, and this sense of disconnection is inhibiting the deep life … [Read more...]
Pastors: Take Care of Yourself
01/23/2012 By Leave a Comment
According to researchers, 72% of a sampling of American pastors report only spending time in the Bible when they had a sermon or lesson to prepare … [Read more...]
Turkey Mouth
01/16/2012 By Leave a Comment
Two Fools on the Road to Emmaus Podcast (Archive) - Ever had a piece of turkey so dry it sucked the moisture right out of your brain? Well Mike … [Read more...]
Growing Faith: Wonder
01/08/2012 By Leave a Comment
There is an important aspect of faith which is often over looked in many lives and that is the idea of wonder. When we talk about wonder we are … [Read more...]
Pastor Burnout
12/05/2011 By Leave a Comment
If ever there was a career path that was uniquely vulnerable to burnout, it is the pastor / minister. It is estimated that 40% of pastors and 47% of … [Read more...]
The Cobled Path to Peace
12/02/2011 By Leave a Comment
World peace is a journey That begins with a single, faltering step Upon the cobbled path of inner peace. Inner peace is the perfection of inner … [Read more...]
Is it Godly Leadership or Control?
11/29/2011 By Leave a Comment
In an organization, leaders generally consider themselves in the right. It is part of the paradigm they create for themselves: if you have succeeded … [Read more...]
Stability in Leadership
11/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
So far in this series on effective leadership we have looked at the importance of leaders being trustworthy and caring. The next important aspect of … [Read more...]
Don’t Sell False Hope
11/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
It is a very disappointing feeling to have put our hopes in someone's promises only to find that what was promised did not eventuate. It may be the … [Read more...]
Being More or Doing More?
11/13/2011 By Leave a Comment
The wrestle with the dichotomy of being and doing comes from the emptiness that often accompanies doing religious things out of religious … [Read more...]
The Writer
11/13/2011 By Leave a Comment
There are days for the writer when a torpor settles upon the mind, and a malaise upon the heart. The story withers to a dry riverbed and frustration … [Read more...]
Jesus Laughed
11/10/2011 By Leave a Comment
Faith can be a very serious matter, but let's face it - some folks look like they have been baptized in prune juice! Throughout history, faith … [Read more...]
Learning to Live Deeply
10/28/2011 By Leave a Comment
For centuries people have spent life-times on the journey of discovery. To explore what it is to be human, to discover meaning, purpose, peace and a … [Read more...]
Untangling Unity
10/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
Early in October I had a wonderful experience with a number of folks in North Carolina. It was marvelous for several reasons, the people were … [Read more...]
Courage: Character of a Leader
10/11/2011 By Leave a Comment
"Real courage defends values, principles and people not property and profits." Mark Twain once wrote "Courage is the resistance of fear, the mastery … [Read more...]
5 Things Common to Healthy Churches
09/26/2011 By Leave a Comment
Healthy Churches, whether they be traditional, simple, house or otherwise, that effectively propagate life in the lives of those they serve and share … [Read more...]
Apocalyptic: Godzilla & the Kingdom of God
09/19/2011 By Leave a Comment
[I wrote this article a few years ago and I am re-posting it for our members. The turmoil in financial markets, weird weather and other … [Read more...]
Closer to the Heart: Love Paradigm
09/09/2011 By Leave a Comment
[I wrote this article in September 2009 as I was bringing pieces of the Love Paradigm together] Over the last several years I have been on an … [Read more...]
Really Free?
09/08/2011 By Leave a Comment
There is an interesting bit of scripture in Galatians where Paul states: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Gal 5:1a, NIV). It is … [Read more...]
A View from the Bottom
09/08/2011 By Leave a Comment
Why is it that when I sense a leading from God and follow through, the resulting consequence so heavily determines my hindsight? For example, if … [Read more...]
Wholeness: Thoughts & Actions
09/07/2011 By Leave a Comment
Have you ever waxed so eloquently on something, and while standing amazed at your passionate over flow, all of a sudden you're arrested by the … [Read more...]
The Cross, Victory and the Non-Violent God
09/01/2011 By Leave a Comment
Worldview runs silently in the background of our consciousness, filtering and shaping the way we interpret the world around us. It is from … [Read more...]
In the Light of Common Grace
08/23/2011 By Leave a Comment
As a couple who try our best to live and make everyday decisions according to a personal life rule to live simply and tread lightly upon the earth, my … [Read more...]
How to Resign from a Job with Grace
08/03/2011 By Leave a Comment
According to a 2008 government study, the average worker in North America will have on average 7-10 different jobs in their lifetime. This works … [Read more...]
Answers Amidst the Struggle
07/25/2011 By Leave a Comment
There is a collision that occurs within a kingdom heart, often unseen beneath the surface; it occurs in the spaces between empty knowledge and honest … [Read more...]
When Good isn’t God
07/25/2011 By Leave a Comment
And you Peter. Who do you say that I am? Master, you are the Christ, the promised son of David, the King; you are the Messiah that we have awaited … [Read more...]
Recognizing Jesus
07/25/2011 By Leave a Comment
Rhythms of the Heart - In this episode we explore the experience of Mary at the empty tomb just after Jesus' death. It must have been a very … [Read more...]
Which Jesus?
07/15/2011 By 1 Comment
“What are people saying about who the Son of Man is? ”They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one … [Read more...]
Wholeness: Faith in Real Life
07/07/2011 By Leave a Comment
I really appreciate what Rohr has to say in the quote below. I believe it is important that our spirituality, our faith life, is fully grounded in … [Read more...]
Living Awake!
05/12/2011 By Leave a Comment
The idea that God can be found in all things has been a rich and welcomed renovation in my life. I am coming to understand that the mystery that is … [Read more...]
Sex and the Church: Pastoral Sexual Misconduct
05/10/2011 By Leave a Comment
Clergy sexual misconduct is not a new phenomenon and dates back to the Old Testament when God rejects the sons of Eli for their sexual misconduct. … [Read more...]
SEX SCANDAL: Healthy Boundaries for Healthy Leaders & Communities
05/09/2011 By Leave a Comment
I was alarmed to hear of another church leader struggling with his sexuality. The pastor is a young married man working with youth and I was made … [Read more...]
Personal Experience Matters in the Long Run
04/04/2011 By Leave a Comment
A modern parable: Filbert was a dog who lived in a small prairie town. He was a good and happy dog who had a good family that treated him very … [Read more...]
Avoiding Burnout in Ministry – Healthy Boundaries
04/04/2011 By Leave a Comment
As a Ministry leader, you know the constant, subtle and not so subtle demands to be personally involved in many of the different activities of … [Read more...]
Importance of Worldview
02/14/2011 By Leave a Comment
For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a … [Read more...]
Crazy like a Three Legged Stool!
02/12/2011 By Leave a Comment
Two Fools on the Road to Emmaus Podcast (Archive) - Spurred on by their own kind of craziness, Mike and Mark embark on a conversation around … [Read more...]
Prayer for Busy People
01/18/2011 By Leave a Comment
It’s a no-brainer to state life is incredibly fast paced and busy! Seems there are more demands for our time than time in a day and yet we strive … [Read more...]
I’m a Little Cracked Pot…
01/12/2011 By Leave a Comment
Hello , Nothing like a little stress to bring things to the surface of my life that I need to deal with. You know... the not so nice things that … [Read more...]
Life in Healthy Tradition
01/11/2011 By Leave a Comment
Let the recovery from the madness of the holiday begin! Take a deep breath! Let it out and hopefully we can reflect on the joy of the season devoid … [Read more...]
Aim Higher!
01/06/2011 By Leave a Comment
A fascinating video clip of Viktor Frankl, filmed in Toronto Canada in 1972. In this video, Frankl is calling humanity to aim to a higher standard, … [Read more...]
The difference between Coaching & Spiritual Direction?
01/06/2011 By Leave a Comment
What an excellent question and while volumes have been written on both it is important to understand the two are not the same thing as if Coaching … [Read more...]
We Awaken in Christ’s Body
12/13/2010 By Leave a Comment
We awaken in Christ's body as Christ awakens our bodies, and my poor hand is Christ, He enters my foot, and is infinitely me. I move my hand, and … [Read more...]
Life from Conflict
10/05/2010 By Leave a Comment
We co-hosted a weekend gathering in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada. It was an opportunity for people from a wide variety of backgrounds and … [Read more...]
The Question
10/05/2010 By Leave a Comment
“Who do they say I am?” The question surely rang strange in the hearts of His friends. “What an odd question. What does He mean?” They were … [Read more...]
Resources for the Spiritual Practitioner
09/22/2010 By Leave a Comment
The demands on today’s Pastors and ministry leaders is tremendous! Pressures and challenges which are unique to vocational ministry. Budgetary … [Read more...]
