SAM, A PASTOR Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine.  Let’s call him “Sam.” Sam, a pastor with 30 years of service said to me one day, “John, I’m so tired.” I understood him completely in that moment, and I knew he needed deep rest. My response to Sam? “Listen to…

Read More

There are only a few moments in our lives when our understanding and role as leaders change dramatically. The first for me was being inducted into my first pastoral position at the young age of 23. The next came when I became a husband at the age of 25, followed by becoming a father at…

Read More

As followers of Jesus Christ, we can find ourselves living life with great tension. Pressures that hit us from multiple directions. They seem to be tied to our past decisions, current conditions, and future concerns. They manifest in the weight of the bountiful blessings of God or the harvest of sin in our lives. They…

Read More

I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania and recently we buried my Pap at the tiny chapel on the edge of his farm where he lived until he was 93 years old. Making the drive home was nostalgic. Miles and miles of country road twisting and turning through the wild forest leading me to the…

Read More

This is the blog that almost never was. This morning, I opened my laptop while on an airplane to email the district office with my apologies for not delivering on my promised post. But instead, I ended up writing the following. I hope it encourages you… Less than 24 hours ago, I received the phone…

Read More