One of my favorite times of theological development and thoughts of following Jesus comes through great phone calls with old friends.

Prepping out a presentation for a church this afternoon. Came across the quote in my notebox. It is so true. You can either save the day, or prepare people for a new day. - Tod Bolsinger

s Just because your church is stable doesn't necessarily mean it is healthy. Also, if things are unstable, shooting for the stars and imitating the big church down the street isn't the best strategy either. All of this stemmed from a 5-minute conversation over a burger last year.

I downloaded an academic article this morning. I found myself laughing a bit when I saw the file name. It had the word "final" in it around 3x. Glad others have to do the same thing.

I miss the Christian/Theology podcast scene of 2005. You'd hear of someone giving a great talk somewhere and you could find the audio through a handful of great accounts. Now, I've spent the last 20 minutes hunting a special lecture series and the audio isn't anywhere.

Anyone have access to Brill and can slide me an article? It doesn't appear to be in JSTOR.

Wrapping up some admin tasks before the end of the year and trying hard not to dive into the sociology of Hartmut Rosa and/or researching the Biblical scope of "trust" as a predominant theological action instead. Y'all pray for your boy!

For the first time in at least 15 years, I didn't get a single book for Christmas. Looks like I have some catching up to do...

The daily office reading this morning is throwing me into a relaxing afternoon taking notes and making connections around a biblical theology of election from a Wesleyan perspective. I love having time for things like this during time off.

I'm stoked for my mini-course Preach Focused Sermons launching tomorrow. 7 templates I use in every message prep, video teaching, AND my ebook on creating a 12-month preaching calendar. $27 total. Get on the free waitlist for 5 days of emails on sermon design. bit.ly/PrepareFocus...

Hey Pastor - For 15 years, nearly every sermon I've preached has started with some version of this sheet. It has been downloaded thousands of times by other leaders. Want your copy for free? Sign up for the "Prepare Focused Sermons" waitlist and get it in your inbox. bit.ly/PrepareFocus...

I've got another template pack I'm turning lose for a 72-hour sale after Christmas. It's focused on sermon preparation. Some of these are my oldest, most iterated personal tools. Keep your eyes peeled for the waitlist.

I've stumbled across multiple youtube channels of CoE livestreams from University chapel services. You could call me decently obsessed with listening to these services during Advent as my morning soundtrack.

A church will spend 10 grand to send out mailers to the community but won't train their folks to be intentionally evangelistic and says working on their integration system is too complicated...

Anyone built a solid feed yet with Spiritual Formation folks? Would love to engage with more of them here.

I'm just over here streaming all the Christmas Services from Oxford and other UK Colleges. The only time I ever really wish I was British was during #Advent. The C.o.E goes so hard during this time of the year.

I haven't shared my yearly Advent/Christmas playlist on bluesky yet. I add a song each day. A fun mix of sacred and secular. I'm digging where this years vibe is going. open.spotify.com/playlist/0uQ...

Keeping a paper prayer list helps me engage with so many things through a spiritual lens. It keeps me from functional secularism. It isn't bad luck, ill health, or mean people. It isn't good luck, favor, or plain skill. All of life can be dealt with spiritually.

I spent the last 72 hours in South Louisiana. Anyone wanna guess how many times I ate a dish with the word "boudin" in it?

Fighting Brain Fog in Ministry Thinking Tasks • High cognitive demand • Need for deep Focus and time Doing Tasks • Less demanding, often repetitive • Routine and perfect for low-energy moments. bit.ly/prodpastor116

Normal-sized churches have experienced tough things over the last few years, but still have the capability to do amazing things for the kingdom in their neighborhoods. It means intentional shifts and focusing on the mission. What worked in the past won't cause vitality in the present.

Distilled two books worth of notes on the history and sociological behaviors of conversion this morning. Now, it's time to add them into my #Zettlekasten.

Jiu-Jitsu today was pretty much working out every bad good decision I have made in the last 7 days.

If we want to deal with suffering as Christians, we have to do it in a way that is uniquely Christian. • Lament • Confession • In community • Break from a framework that assumes all in life will be easy. Reject the modern moral order for human flourishing.

I can't wait for Advent to start.

Holidays, and not being at home, are a great way to slide out of your devotional rhythm. Here is how I keep mine up during weeks like these. • Have a consistent, known routine. • Keep the Daily Office app on my phone. • Try to find 20 minutes to get away by myself. • Give yourself grace.

I bought a volume of Barth's Dogmatics in a used book store and ended up explaining Barth, why Dogmatics is so expensive, his work on Romans to my father-in-law on the drive home. He smiled and nodded. Then I bought him a half-rack of ribs to make up for the firehose.

The one thing I'm not scared of is a big project. • Start a new church • Capital Campaigns • Building facilities (during C19 no less) I always build things backward. This episode of #productivepastor is how I design big projects. bit.ly/prodpastor122

This quote has been in my mind all day long.

In almost every conversation about ministry productivity, these are the first steps. • Practice a Time Audit • Declare Priorities • Responsive rather than reactive • Do a bit of block planning Just that gets you pretty far down the line...

"Discernment, especially heavy discernment, is only a thing if you sometimes decide not to do something even if you want to." A reflection on making big decisions... bit.ly/3YTgFda

Most of the time, my work as a congregational developer happens either by myself, or with churches I don't know that well. Today, I had lunch with a staff member and two others at the church my wife and I currently are part of. We brainstormed ways to start men's ministry at our church. Awesome.

John Wesley's sermon The Wilderness State. Sermon 46. I love how this sermon makes us realize that sin, regardless of how recent, can be a barrier to experiencing God. I keep thinking about one particular section of it.

I've got this thread I am running in the book of Jeremiah. It has been in my mind for the last 5 years, but I am finding clarity in it right now. I'm doing a deeper read in the book currently and tracking the instances where any sort of leadership failed to listen and witness to the LORD.

Not because I am a Pastor, but because I am a Christian, I think the devotional life is paramount. Every day, I find a way to make it happen, regardless of how busy things might be. Here's how I break mine down depending on my schedule. bit.ly/4fypZt8

The nature of the church isn't to first of all to serve itself, but to serve God. C. John Miller

My journey this morning. • Hear about a great book on a podcast. • Realize the book sounds familiar and you think you have it. • Look for it, but can't find it. See on Amazon you do have it. • Finally find the book. • Realize it's 500+ pages and you don't have time to read it. Bummer.

Engaged Person in Church > Member Hear me out. Not dogging membership, but it is a status, not an action. Engagement is about the people committed to both the formation AND mission of the local church.

Friday mornings mean long devotion. • Daily Office Prayers and Scripture Readings • Read a few chapters of Augustine's Confessions. • Journaled • Wesley's "The Wilderness State: Sermon 46". Took notes as well. This is the perfect start to a weekend.

It's finally under 50º in Louisiana. It's going to be a great weekend.

Knock Knock