Yearly Archives: 2015
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Baptism and a Box of Corn Flakes
Posted on May 19, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.My Presbyterian congregation entered 2015 with six women pregnant with child. So far, two have been born. Four to go. For a small church that’s a lot of babies in one year. And a lot of babies means a lot of baptisms. Baptism is a point of contention for some, and misunderstood by many. […]
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Treating Toxicity
Posted on May 11, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.There’s a lot of talk about toxicity nowadays. Toxic people. Toxic relationships. Even toxic churches. When people speak of toxicity they have in mind something poisonous that creates an atmosphere unconducive to sustaining life. Toxic people can infect others with their critical spirit and negative outlook. Their negativity sucks the life out of others […]
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Shepherding – the rest of the story
Posted on April 20, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.People like T. M. Moore and Tim Witmer have done the church a great service in recent years by drawing attention to the shepherding role of God’s leaders. Twenty years ago I used T. M.’s workbook on Shepherding God’s Flock, reviewing for my elders the design of a shepherd in the model of Christ […]
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When Bad Things Happen to God’s People
Posted on April 13, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.James has an interesting take on trials. He tells us that we are to consider it all joy when we face them. Whatever shape or size the trial takes, we are to meet it with joy and expectation. Why? Because we “know” the adversity is a kiln to the strengthening of our faith and […]
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Whether Kelly or Shaquille
Posted on April 6, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.I’ve been in a full-leg brace for several weeks. I wiped out on ice, went flying in the air with my hands full and landed on the edge of my walkway step outside my home. The result was a strained and partially-torn quadriceps muscle. The good news is that it was not a complete […]
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In the Name of Grace
Posted on March 23, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.It was at a CCEF conference on “Sex Matters” that I heard a speaker give one of the most perceptive approaches to celibacy in singleness that I had heard to date. She said two things that struck me. One, she said we often look at singleness as a problem to be solved rather than […]
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Wordless Witness
Posted on March 16, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.Children at my church made a “wordless” gospel bracelet as a project. It consisted of five beads threaded onto a suede strap and tied off to make a bracelet. The beads were different colors, organized to tell a story. BLACK – All have sinned RED – Jesus’ died for sinners WHITE – Jesus washes […]
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My Funeral is Back On
Posted on March 2, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.I’ve heard pastors say that if people really knew what was in their hearts, they would not want them as their pastor. I can attest that pastors sin with the best of them. Lust and greed and envy and all sorts of sin roam dangerously in their hearts. Pastors don’t minister on the basis […]
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Cataracts of Unbelief
Posted on February 16, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.I have a friend at the YMCA. Dave is in his mid-60s. We’re both regular at the Y, so our paths cross fairly often. We were talking last week and he told me he was having trouble seeing to the front of his church. He sits all the way in the back, so he […]
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How do we comfort the non-Christian in grief?
Posted on February 2, 2015 by sdgale in 'CHOP Talk' Blog.Knowing what to say to someone in grief is invariably a tricky endeavor. We want to express sympathy without sounding cliché, and certainly without saying something insensitive. That challenge rises to another level when it comes to extending comfort to someone who is perhaps religious but not a professed Christian, nor was the one […]
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