One of my favorite questions to ask people this time of year is if they have any family traditions to celebrate the holidays. One person I talked to said their family hides a green ceramic pickle on the Christmas tree and the first person to find it gets a prize. Another said they always cook…
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One of the interesting things about having lived in a variety of places in the United States of America is that each area, state, culture, and zone has its own unique ways, standards, and laws. One of the most interesting uniqueness I have found living in Montana for the last ten years has been the…
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A couple of months back I read a fascinating (and sad) article about a Navy sailor who died during BUD/S (Navy SEAL training). There is a lot that can be gleaned and discussed from this story, but one thing in particular caught my attention. Over the years, the BUD/S program has become increasingly difficult, and the graduation…
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Throughout this year, for a variety of reasons, I have been “going down memory lane.” I am thankful that in a rapidly changing world and culture that the memories in my head cannot be changed, re-imagined or deleted. When it comes to November, I go down “memory lane” to various family gatherings through the years, to amazing ministry events in this…
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For churches with fiscal year January-December, October is the time to put together your budget for the following year. Budgeting is important as it defines how much money is available to support planned ministries. Budgets act like a map for church leaders and set expectations for spending. A worship leader or head of Sunday school should know…
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October is Pastor Appreciation Month! This special recognition was started by Focus on the Family in 1994 in the throes of the Promise Keepers Ministry in the mid-1990’s. Some churches in the RMD have embraced this special time of recognizing their pastor or pastoral staff while others have not regularly done so. In either case,…
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Last September we had a “water event” at the District Office that basically necessitated remodeling 85% of the inside of the building. Beautiful wood floors were ruined, carpet was destroyed and all kinds of disruption took place in the office. Decisions were made regarding re-modeling, upgrading and re-fitting the office in terms of carpets, cabinets…
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Last month, I wrote about how easy it is to be more dependent on ourselves than on the Lord. We can get so proficient at “ministry” that we can, over time, find ourselves estranged from the One we serve. This usually happens through any number of small steps that move us away from God rather…
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This week the 4th of July was celebrated — a day to remember the founding of the United States of America. Many have been saying that we, as a nation, are less than united, in these days. Shootings — like the one in the Chicago area on the 4th, and many others large and small…
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