Many people probably didn't notice, but for me, this past weekend at Mountainview was a special weekend. What made it special? The fact that it seemed to be a regular weekend is your first clue. I have been in ministry for twenty-five years, not counting my four years of undergraduate education. In addition, I have been in and around churches my entire life. Counting Sunday evening services, I estimate I have been in approximately 4,000 regular worship assemblies. That's a lot of communion. On a personal level, I am friends with scores of pastors and ministers of all kinds. Nearly every week I am meeting or eating with a local pastor. Through prior work experiences as well as things such as blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, I'm literally connected to hundreds of other pastors on a regular basis. You already know this, but I'm odd. Not for all the (legitimate) reasons that come…

I’m sure at some point you’ve seen one of those “God is My Co-Pilot” bumper stickers. The idea sounds good … “Me and God, we’re in this together.” If bumper stickers aren't your thing, you can also get the same slogan on coffee cups, trucker hats, and baby outfits. I even found it on a Koosie for your beer can, but I'm not sure I could recommend that in good conscience. The idea of “God is My Co-Pilot” sounds good. But let me just say this: if God is your co-pilot, then we’re both in the trouble – because that plane is going to crash somewhere. And it’s not God I’m worried about – it’s you! And for good reason … Raise your hand if you have ever thought you had a situation or a relationship completely figured out only to find out you were wrong. Wives, you have to let your husband raise his…

I grew up in a denomination that had a high regard for what the Bible taught AND for what we thought the Bible should have taught. Author Phillip Yancey had a similar experience. He described his childhood church this way: “They wouldn’t go bowling because liquor was served in bowling alleys and they wouldn’t go roller skating because it looked like dancing.” The underlying message was this: If we get everything right, God will be pleased with us and will bless us. We even sang hymns that reinforced it … When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word What a glory he sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt…

Do you have any phobias? If not, I found a list of phobias that you could choose from: Carnophobia = fear of meat (I have the fear of not eating meat) Chorophobia = fear of dancing (some of you should fear this, too) Ideophobia = fear of ideas (tend to become politicians) Pogonophobia = fear of beards (seems reasonable) Ecclesiophobia = fear of church (maybe you once had this fear) Glossophobia = fear of public speaking Public speaking consistently ranks in the top three most common fears. People are afraid of standing in front of groups large or small and speaking. I’m about to say something profound: Most of time, we speak because we have something to say. At other times we’re just rambling. At Mountainview, we just finished our fifth week of our series on the Life of Job. The short summary is this: Job has lost everything –…