He was a towering man adorned with stylish wardrobe and a wide smile. He laughed easily as he carried himself with a light-hearted playfulness. This pastor was a student in the 8 week philosophy class I taught for non-traditional students, mostly pastors looking to sharpen their ministry. I remember he had a lot of important … Continue reading
I’m beginning to gather thoughts on “success in ministry,” and would love to hear some unfiltered, raw, honest responses to the question “What is success in Christian Church ministry?” I’d love to hear the perspectives of regular church-goers, pastors, professors, unchurched, non-Christians and anyone who might be interested in responding. What are you waiting for? … Continue reading
This is a response to an editorial in the Memphis Newspaper Commercial Appeal entitled “Teens Are Listening” which appeared December 5th, 2012. You can find that article here: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/dec/05/editorial-teens-are-listening/ The recent editorial entitled “Teens Are Listening” celebrated the fact that unprotected sex is on the decline among students at MCS. The article implicated “it will … Continue reading
When I started this series on community, I talked about how America is characterized by individualism and how that can be a significant cost to community. Every human being’s greatest need is community (network of close relationships): with God and with others. In the contemporary obsession with convenience and immediate gratification, community and relationships counter-culturally … Continue reading
Community doesn’t “just happen.” It takes time, intentionality, vulnerability and mutual commitment to develop. Yet, there are sure fire ways to kill community and key values that can create or grow community and in this post I want to take a look at both. Let’s start by looking at some ways you can kill community. … Continue reading
Metaphors are pictures that help us to take a closer look at realities embedded in a concept through a tangible analogy. I want to describe 7 metaphors (or pictures) of community given to us in Scripture. This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it will paint a broad and ideal picture of the … Continue reading
Community would be much easier if people weren’t involved. I meant what I said in my last post that God values community and that the community we experience in the church should mirror the oneness of the Trinity. I would even go so far as to say that the community we experience with God and … Continue reading
JimHShultz.com 