I keep obsessive notes in my Bible. I prefer a specific one, a Hardback Cambridge Wide Margin in NIV. I’ve bought a new one each year since 2020. I fill it with notes and take full advantage of its index and note pages to keep track of all the weird fascinations I have with scripture. When I started this process, a few obsessions I had for years came instantly into it. One of them is this unique construction that we find in the Old Testament. “Calling on the name of the LORD.” It shows up...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Friend - We are back with the third email in this series on the Vitality Matrix. If you missed the past two, you can get the archives here. Is My Church Healthy? | part 1How Healthy Are Your Relationships? | part 2 Today, we are talking about the 2nd category in the vitality matrix. Objective Metric Measurements Category 2 in the Vitality Matrix sounds tedious. Or boring. You can say boring. However, it's crucial to grasp objective metrics when assessing growth. This is vital when...
7 days ago • 4 min read
Hey Friends- Are people already in the church being taken care of? If a church isn’t caring for itself… what real reason does it have to be a church? This is part 2 in a series of emails where I walk through what I call "The Vitality Matrix". If you missed the previous emails, you can find them here. Is My Church Healthy? | part 1 Let’s go through this foundational material first. In Scripture, we find this at the very beginning of the church. While people usually focus on Acts 6 for the...
16 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Friend, I’ve been reading St. Augustine's classic Confessions lately. I read these classics devotionally, and for this purpose, I like the updated language versions from Paraclete Press. If you haven’t read classic Christian writing, these are an approachable way to start. St. Augustine, outside of the Apostle Paul, probably did more for the theological development of Christianity than anyone else. His book Confessions is a spiritual autobiography in many ways. Raised by a devoted...
16 days ago • 3 min read
I don't think I ever understood the term "vital" until I was in the ICU having narrowly avoided a stroke at 39. I was standing in my room and the charge doctor was trying to explain how serious it all was. I say standing because I was trying to stretch out a gnarly leg cramp due to a potassium imbalance as part of the treatment. I had no concern for the heart issues at that moment. I focused on how bad the cramping was. The doctor told me, "Mr. Brooks, your vital signs are still not at any...
20 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Friends - It's the last day of 2024. I've spent some time over the last few days working on my hopes and plans for 2025. Here is what we have covered so far in this series. Why think about values rather than goals. | Read here Rhythms for repeated practice. | Read here Today, I want to write about how we can build out systems of accountability as we work toward the best 2025. You've got to track it. Often, when I work with individuals or congregations, they struggle. I find they aren't...
22 days ago • 2 min read
I love the end of the year. Each year, I try to reserve the week between Christmas Day and New Year's for planning and review. This isn’t so much about ministry, but family and personal goals I want to have. We are going to talk about this idea over the next few weeks. I’ve done several emails about using personal values and beliefs to help understand growth and goals. You can listen to them here. Setting Personal Goals Through Values | EP 107 Core Values and Decision Making | EP 77 I like...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
I’m spending the week hunting at the deer camp. This afternoon, while waiting patiently, I had a bit of a thought about how my history deer hunting teaches a lesson about experiencing the presence of God. I didn’t hunt until a decade ago. I started in my mid-30’s and had great friends teaching me the ropes. I think they had a pretty good rope. My first hunt, we walked out to the stand at dark, and then as the sun came up, multiple deer were already feeding in a shooting lane. I picked the...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Friend - It's Friday morning and I just wrapped up a fantastic time of private devotion. I love talking about the power of the private devotional life. It is part of the Christian tradition spanning throughout time, but I still don't think it gets thought about enough. What I want to share with you today is how I think through spending that time throughout the week. One of the fallacies we can fall into is thinking this takes significant time. I don't think it does. What it does take is...
2 months ago • 2 min read