2 Jul
I have the unique privilege of being raised in the conservative holiness movement, but my story could have been different. I wrote an editorial for the August issue of the Standard about the conversion of my great-grandparents, Lewis & Barbara King as well as the tragic ending of one of my neighbors. You can read it here.
You can download the entire August issue here or view the archives of the Standard here.
17 Jun
I am happy to announce that www.godsmissionarystandard.com is live.
The last three years of issues are currently available to view and download as PDF files. My goal for the next year is to get all of the issues available online. On the website, in addition to viewing and downloading the issues, there are subscription options.
1. Anyone can subscribe to receive the print issue.
2. You can subscribe to an RSS feed and be updated when new issues are posted online
3. Twitter. Twitter is a social-networking tool and we are using it to update “followers” when new issues of the Standard are available.
Feel free to spread the word. I am very excited that we have this tool available. Also special thanks to Jon Plank. He did an incredible job with the design of the website – thanks Jon!
1 Jun
In our day it is so easy to become caught up in the media blitz of celebrities, sport-stars, and musicians. Some even call a few of these individuals heroes. I like to think that a hero is someone more than a celebrity who draws attention to themselves or one who can crush a baseball five hundred feet. From time-to-time, I hope to write about some heroes who have had a major influence in my life and the lives of others.
Today is the 149th birthday of Samuel Logan Brengle and I want to celebrate by paying a bit of a tribute to this man of God.
A Life of Tragedy
When Brengle was two, his father fought in the Civil War for nine months. He returned home physically sick and was never the same again. Three months later, he died leaving a family devastated and financially hurting. Brengle’s mother remarried two years later and some accounts indicate that this was a marriage that was full of tension and displeasure. Brengle’s mother, the one who was the rock in his life, passed away when he was fifteen.
God Speaks to Samuel
Before the death of his mother, Brengle attended a church revival service where he heard God speak to him. He gave his life to God in that methodist revival service. After his mother’s death, he studied for the ministry at DePauw University and then later at Boston Theological Seminary where he began to hear the doctrine of entire sanctification taught.
Ministry with the Salvation Army
Brengle became attracted to the Salvation Army when he heard William Booth preach at an open-air meeting. Traveling to London to join the Salvation Army, he met Booth who was somewhat skeptical of this seminary trained preacher. Upon his acceptance, Brengle’s first task was the menial job of blackening boots. Rather than complain as he was tempted to do, he completed the task with as much enthusiasm as he could manage. Because of his spirit of humility, and sharp mind, he rapidly rose through the ranks of the SA. Brengle was appointed to the United States where he served until 1931. He became the first US born SA officer who attained the position of Commissioner.
Legacy
Brengle left a legacy of helpful material on the doctrine of sanctification. Books that are still in print to this day include Helps to Holiness and Heart Talks on Holiness. When he was asked how he lived a life of holiness, this was his response. “Keep in the will of God, obey Him, seek Him daily, waiting at His gates. Read the Bible regularly. Never neglect secret prayer. Keep testifying to the grace bestowed upon you. Help others.”
21 May
I have been WAY behind in updating Kalena’s picture gallery – but never fear, pictures were still taken. Her site is updated with some new pics and many more are still to come.
20 May
As I wrote in my engaged learning project, one of the things I learned about myself was that I was on the fast-track to ministry burnout. I read several books that we
re very beneficial in helping me ascertain this in my life. The primary book that I read was Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic by Anne Jackson. I thank God for Anne Jackson. Since then I have read her blog and she has written more great stuff along the lines of burnout, ministry and setting boundaries.
The dirty little secret is this, many pastors and church leaders either suffer from burnout or are on the road toward it. Growing up, I heard preachers that I admired say that one “must burnout for Jesus”. And I agreed, then, but not now. Jesus does not want us to be burned-out, our families need us to NOT BE burned out. When burnout happens, we are no longer as useful to the Kingdom of God as we need to be. We live on a culture that admires success over quality of life. Pastors are encouraged to work seven days a week, be connected at all times, leave their family on the sidelines. The result is usually disaster. Many pastors are quitting every month either because of moral failure, or burnout. This must stop.
I have an extra copy of this book and I want to give it to a pastor who feels that they are suffering from burnout or are quickly approaching it. OR you know a pastor who is “there” and you think this book would be of a help to them. Regardless, I do not want this book to simply sit on the shelf, I want it to help someone. Email me.
19 May
One of the classes that I took this past semester was Spiritual Formation in Ministry taught by Dr. Laurie Mellinger. It was a pretty intensive class with a ton of reading and writing (what a concept!). One of the major projects that we were to do was an engaged learning project. We were to take a spiritual discipline that we weren’t currently doing or had questions about and to do research as well as live that discipline out for a part of the semester.
After praying, I chose to do the Sabbath because I felt like I don’t know what keeping a Sabbath entailed for the life of a pastor. Sure, I honor Sunday, set aside that day as a holy day, but it isn’t a day of rest for me. Most weekends I preach three times and usually am exhausted come Monday morning just in time of another busy week.
Here is the engaged learning project report if you are interested in reading it. Please understand that it is an academic paper and it reflected my current understanding of what a Sabbath means to this pastor. [PDF]
18 May
The past three years I have experimented with several task management solutions and really didn’t care for any of them. Most of them were cumbersome and very difficult to use. But I think I finally found the task management software that I can’t live without. It is called Things by Culture Code. Unfortunately, it is a Mac only application. If you are looking for a PC based task management solution, you might start here. Things works with both my Mac and my iPhone, making it the only task management software that I need. It is both simple to use and yet powerful enough to handle many projects. Things has helped to revolutionize my schedule as I am trying to be more intentional in my schedule (more on that later). It isn’t free, but most of the free applications that I have used have hardly been worth my time.
I also found a helpful resource called Productive magazine. They have published two issues and both of them are available as PDF downloads. There is some helpful material including a great interview (in the first issue) with David Allen. David is the founder of Getting Things Done (GTD).
14 May
8 May
As I prepare to enter a new season of blogging, I am curious as to what some of your expectations are. What are some things you are interested in reading about on my blog? To help facilitate, I created a survey that will take 2-3 minutes to complete. I would be honored if you would give me some feedback.
Click here to take the survey. All entries are completely anonymous.
4 May
Last week I posted the video of Kalena’s dedication. You can read the letter that I wrote to her here.
The new issue of the Standard is available to view as a PDF download [