Talbot Davis's Blog, page 49

ForCLT Launch: For The Gospel

For CLT What would it look like if the churches in a city all preached the same messages at the same time? We’re about to find out. Good Shepherd is joining with more than seventy-five other churches in the metro Charlotte area throughout the month of September, preaching and teaching about ForCLT.   At the

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Counseling & Preaching

I probably spend 15-20 hours a week preparing messages. And 8-10 in pastoral counseling and visitation. Sometimes I wish I could counsel less so I could prepare more; other times I wish I could prepare less so I could visit more. But as I have thought about that dynamic in recent weeks, I have come

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The Big In The Small

Frances Havergal said this: “Faithfulness to principle is only proved by faithfulness in detail.” Think about that. How applicable to the life of a pastor. I may believe in the principle of servanthood, but am I faithful to the detail of helping with Room In The Inn or at the Charlotte Rescue Mission? I may

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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five (Or Eight) Things I Didn’t Learn In Seminary

Thirty-one Septembers ago, in the year of our Lord 1987, I started classes at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. While I loved my three years there, I realize now there are some pretty important things I didn’t learn there. Or . . . I wasn’t paying attention when these things were taught. In no

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The Curse Of Knowledge

In Made To Stick, Chip and Dan Heath talk about the “Curse Of Knowledge.”   It goes like this: Once you know something, you forget what it’s like not to know that thing. That’s so true. And especially applicable to the world of faith and church. Once you know the bible stories, you forget what

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Transformation Through Life Groups & Bible Studies

Podcast CliffsNotes? Really? Yes, it’s true. Sometimes you’re in an office without access to earbuds; other times you just prefer to read. If you don’t have time to listen to my entire podcast with Jim Cowart, this post is for you. Jim and I are graduates of Asbury Seminary and we’re both Abingdon Authors. I read

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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Memories Of Working At The USTA

With the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament starting this week, it’s time to wax nostalgic about my time working for the organization that puts on the event. Huh? From 1985 – 1987, I worked in the New Jersey office of the United States Tennis Association, the not-for-profit body that puts on the final of the tennis

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Fresh Start, Week 3 — The “Fresh Water” Sermon Rewind

Yesterday’s message was to set the table for this:   Planned baptisms followed by the spontaneous variety, all leading to a morning where, as Shane Bishop says, the church feels more like a movement than an organization. And in what is perhaps the least coincidental coincidence of them all, after preaching this message involving the

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Fresh Start, Week 3 — Fresh Water Sunday

We’ve had The Freshest Start. And then Fresh StartS. Then, this Sunday, it’s Fresh Water Sunday. I believe we’re going to see a whole lot of this: Will you prepare for this celebration by reading Acts 8:26-40?  And then prepare even more by praying it will not be merely a worship service but a genuine

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The World’s Worst Question To Ask In #BibleStudy

Something about this image strangely warms the heart of those of us involved in leading, attending, or even supplying curricula for bible study: With bibles open, group members sit in circles & not rows, and share their lives together through encounters with Scripture. Yet there is one question that can ruin even the spiritual serenity

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