• If you commit to handling the “too hard” cases well, there will be some benefits. 1) Your “too hard” box will shrink. I’m not saying you’ll have fewer difficult cases. You’ll probably have the privilege of working with more difficult cases. What I mean is that there will be fewer […]

  • How do you help people in the “too hard” box? I mean, the whole reason they’re there is that their problem is too hard. One approach is to get degrees in theology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, counselling, psychiatry, and a few other assorted fields and come up with solutions to all […]

  • There is no problem in the “too hard” box that wasn’t made worse by being tossed into the “too hard” box. Regardless of how sinister or innocent our motivation may be, the result tends to be the same. The damage to you You might be surprised by the suggestion that […]

  • If you’re involved in any sort of Christian ministry, you’ve probably got a steady stream of “projects” coming across your desk. Births, deaths, engagements, marriages, family problems, relationship issues, etc. And if you’ve been at it for any length of time, you’ve probably developed an approach to each of these […]

  • As we go about our daily lives, we subtly adopt the terminology of our workplace and culture. Many of the sayings we use come from pagan origins (such as thank your lucky stars). Even though we don’t think about astrology when we utter such a phrase, we are missing an […]

  • It may be classified as a “romcom,” but the subtitle corrects any such misconception: “This is not a love story. This is a story about love.” The 2009 film, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, is indeed an odd commentary on love. I say “odd” because the “(500) Days” of […]

  • I came across two unrelated comments today on the pastoral ministry. The first comment was from Booker T. Washington in his autobiography Up From Slavery. Washington was born into slavery in the United State of America and went on to found Tuskegee University after emancipation in 1863. In his comments […]

  • How do you determine the quality of a sermon or devotional thought? I know some Christians who assess the preaching content based upon the level of humour used; others measure its success by the inclusion of illustrations and anecdotes. Some pre-judge the message based upon the preacher’s personality; others gauge […]

  • One of the indicators of genuine conversion is the presence of a desire to reach others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This reality is seen in the life of the Apostle Paul (Acts 9:20), the woman at the well (John 4:29), the demoniac of Gedara (Mark 5:20), a couple […]

  • That’s how my friend responded to my gospel assertion. “How can you be so absolute?” he continued. “There are no absolutes.” His pluralistic confession came as we sat on the concrete chatting in the car park after a long day’s work. Without getting too philosophical, pluralism which is similar in […]