Church Growth and Gardening

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Chuck Warnock had a great post recently on What You Can Learn About Church Growth from Your Garden.

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Apostles and Earrings

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I wonder if this belonged to one of the apostles? Simon the Zealot strikes me as the kind of guy who would wear an earring. I recall the time, when I was graduating from seminary, I received an invitation to start a new congregation in a college town. In the letter, they outlined the vision, the demographics of the community, and their expectations for the pastor. The letter ended with a p.s. -- "and of course, your wife will not be permitted to wear earrings." They forgot say anything about ME wearing earrings. For a while, I was tempted to go ahead, take the position, and get my ear pierced.
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How Would You Answer My Friend?

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A pastor friend e-mailed me with this question yesterday: I am working with a well-intentioned man who is considering becoming a part of our congregation. After exploring Wesleyan Doctrine, he is hung up on one thing- that we allow women in ministry. He believes that 1Timothy 2:8-15 is a clear Biblical prohibition against females in ministry. I have always understood Paul's teaching on women in public worship environements in Corinthians and Timothy to be context driven and not a broad theological statement. This has been a learning experience for me because I learned that I was unprepared to defend our Wesleyan position, I had just accepted it. Any Biblical direction, orginal language clues, or historical perspective you could offer would be most welcomed. He is not bigoted about women, he feels they are equal in the eyes of the Lord but have been assigned different duties/roles in the kingdom. How would you respond to his question?
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Pity Parties

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I'm not really a party animal. In fact, usually, if I'm invited to a party of some sort or another, I try to find a good reason to graciously decline the invitation. It's not that I don't enjoy people, mind you. In general, they're fantastic. Like Will Rogers said, "I've never met a man I didn't like." I am thankful for all my good friends. Yep, I like people a lot -- but I dislike going to parties. (Although, if I get stuck and actually end up attending one, it usually turns out better than I imagined. In the car, on the way home, I've heard Cathy say more than once, "There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" I reply with a mumble and grunt, because I know she's right. Still -- I'm not an eager party-goer, and seriously doubt if I will ever become one. Do you know what kind of party is the most common? Birthday? Graduation? Aniversary? You'll never guess! The party held most frequently is. . . The Pity Party! As a minis...
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