
Are You Driven or Called?
In his famous book, Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald contrasts being "driven" by negative or selfish motives, verses being "called" by God. He declares that being "called" should provide our motivation. He explains that yielding to God's call brings great peace and rest to our lives. In my life and ministry experience I have been both “called” and “driven.” I believe there is a positive side to being driven – Jesus was “driven” into the wilderness by the Holy Spi

Pay-ers, Pray-ers, and Play-ers
There was a time in Christianity when there was a clear divide between the professional clergy and the laity -- the priests and the people. The prevailing paradigm was that the people gave their money in the offering on Sunday, and then the talented and God-ordained ministers did the work of preaching the Gospel. Of course, this idea was utterly unbiblical. The New Testament makes it clear that we are all ministers before God: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priestho