Leadership

Over the last 2 decades of full-time ministry, I’ve made a lot of ministry mistakes!  There are messages I wish I could take back – meetings that I should have never called.  There are some days when I’m totally amazed that anyone has stuck with me over the years! For example, for those of you…

Nobody ever believes me when I tell them I’m an introvert.  I tell people that I’m actually a naturally quiet guy and they all laugh — probably because they hear my super-passionate messages and humor every Sunday.  Or when people read my book Pharisectomy, they laugh out loud at the comedy and think, “This guy…

Recently, some delightful members of Substance gave me a “Thank-you” book filled with affirmations from our congregation.  People wrote little testimonies and encouragements.  And every time I see it, my heart fills up with God’s love.  And I have to say: Those encouragements have meant a LOT to me this year.  This last year has…

I LOVE to sing “God Bless America” out loud while I vote. And, yes, I always have to make up a few words; but, nobody really knows them all, right? The important thing is that God blesses America through my contagious patriotic singing.  Sure, the person in the voting booth next to me usually has…

As you can see from blogs part one and part two on rest, healthy Sabbathing requires us to look at a lot of deeper issues in our lives.  It takes six days of preparation to have one true Sabbath.  We must plan ahead.  Rest is not a passive activity.  Quite often, it requires just as much…

In part one of “How to have  Great Day Off” we talked about how God designed our bodies to rest.  “Goal Oriented” activities, whether fun or not, cause your body to release stress-hormones.  So, even though your stress may not be work-related, it still has all the same results:  low immune system, lower patience, and…

After all of my classes at Bible school and seminary, I never remember taking a class called: “What the heck to do on my day off.”  (In fact, if there was such a class, I think it should be named exactly that.)  And maybe I’m the only person who struggles with this.  But it’s hard…

As a teenager, I was all about indie-music. If it was bizarre, I was into it.  But I vividly remember the first time I mixed on a pair of turn-tables… it was downright magical. Almost every dollar I owned went into my tables and crates of records.  It was loud, throbbing and physical.  In fact,…

People at Substance are always asking me:  “Peter, where did you fly this last week?”  And I love to talk about it because:  Much of the coolest ministry that Substance does happens outside of the Twin Cities.  And even though this fruit isn’t as visible as the stuff that happens locally, it’s nonetheless powerful to…

I love to ask people deep questions.   For example, “What is a deep church?“… or “What is a healthy church?”  When people answer, I can almost immediately figure out what they love and hate most about church.  For example, there’s a lot of people who love extended worship because they grew up in a church…