I recently blogged on baby dedications, and I mentioned we do them during our guided prayer time in the worship service. A pastor posted a few questions about our guided prayer, and I’ll answer them in this blog. Here’s what he asked: I am interested in your guided prayer time. We are having a problem as we are a quickly growing church and have lots of events and activities added to our schedule every week. We have gotten to the point that every ministry wants to make some sort of announcement. Read more [...]

Below is a letter to my daughter—arrival date June 28th—that I included in our church’s weekly newsletter. I thought I might share it with you as well. Dear Maggie, We can’t wait for you to arrive! I love you so much. Mom loves you. And our church family loves you. In many ways, you are already blessed. You will be born into a family that loves Jesus, supported by another family—First Baptist Church Murray—that loves Jesus too. You will be born into a great community in a great nation Read more [...]

Most of you may know from my Twitter and Facebook updates that I’m going to be the dad of a little girl. Maggie Elizabeth is expected to arrive in this world on June 28th! My wife and I could not be more excited. I’m mentally preparing for a new world of pink and purple. I grew up in a household of boys, so I’m one of those clueless, first-time dads. One of the joys of pastoring is dedicating children to the Lord. It will be special day when Erin and I get to dedicate Maggie. A child dedication Read more [...]

The fastest growing area of poverty in the United States is in the suburb. The Brookings Institute released a report in January that details the change in the U.S. poor population by community type. Here’s one of many findings in their report: Between 2000 and 2008, suburbs in the country’s largest metro areas saw their poor population grow by 25 percent—almost five times faster than primary cities and well ahead of the growth seen in smaller metro areas and non-metropolitan communities. Read more [...]