Reason, Religion, and Politics

Nothing ignites one’s personal passion, fury, excitement, etc, like religion or politics. Everyone knows it. Smart people steer clear of these topics with people they don’t know well, lest they risk a fight; physical or verbal. Recently I had this well-known truth exemplified for me once again at a local political caucus. Normally the local caucus is fairly tame event. This year, due to a number of factors, our local county caucus was imbued with power and importance.

Blogging for Pastors: Tips & Thoughts

The odds are, since I’m writing this in a blog,  that I am probably preaching to the choir.  I certainly don’t stake any claim  as a master Christian blogger or social media maven.  Yet, as I become more involved in writing blogs, reading blogs, commenting on blogs, and involving myself in the blog/social media community, I cannot help but think how important blogging is, or could be, for pastors.  Of course I realize that I am nowhere even close to being unique in having this sort of epiphany.  The power of blogs and other social media platforms is readily apparent.

Blogging, tweeting, and the power of social media should not just be employed by pastors of large churches.  Without citing any sort of statistics,  If your congregation, home church, life group, etc, is made up people ranging from 16-50 years of age, the odds are that your “tribe” is at least minimally acquainted with technology and social media.  I would even venture to guess that a large and growing portion of your congregation has smart phones of some sort.  Americans love their gadgets.  As a pastor, no matter what size your church, it is irresponsible to not take advantage of the tools available to reach your audience in every way possible; especially since many of the tools are free.

Artful Armor

Once upon a time, as a child, I went backpacking with my father in New Mexico.  It was an incredible experience.  While there are many things I could focus on with regard to that trip, the one I will mention is my rock collection.  Like most children, I went through a phase where collecting pretty and shiny rocks was a powerful passion.  On that backpacking trip I discovered that The Rockies had an excellent assortment of collectible rocks.  I brought back tons of rose quartz and more than a few pieces of fools gold.  Until I was gently disillusioned, I was overwhelmed with “gold-fever.”  I just new I was going to be rich.  As I look back and try to remember what happened to “my precious” collection of rocks, I cannot help but remember my disappointment when I learned that all that glitters is not gold.