FIRST-PERSON: Simple questions
It's not always a good thing to be comfortable at church, Jeff Iorg writes, particularly if there's a dearth of children and more memorial services are being held than adult baptisms.
FIRST-PERSON: Character always matters
Character still counts in leadership, Jeff Iorg writes; when key decisions must be made, "leaders (like every other person) revert to their basic convictions, guiding principles and core values for guidance. … When the pressure mounts, what is squeezed out counts."
FIRST-PERSON: Hope in the New Year
Amid the world's tumult, Jeff Iorg envisions hope for 2018 by sharing the Gospel, making disciples, doing good works and aiding organized efforts for even greater works.
FIRST-PERSON: A common myth exposed
Christianity is distinct from other religions in its passion for life, Jeff Iorg writes, noting its global lead in serving children -- from refugee camp schools to feeding programs to ending abortion as a birth control method.
PASTORS: What causes a man to take a job like this?
Most pastors, in their profound sense of God's call, cannot imagine doing anything else, Jeff Iorg writes. "They serve selflessly, motivated by an inner compulsion to preach, teach, counsel and lead."
FIRST-PERSON: ‘Please walk forward and talk with me’
An important part of worship, Jeff Iorg writes, is inviting people to make an immediate response to the Gospel.
FIRST-PERSON: Fresh perspective
Jeff Iorg recounts a young Asian woman's gratitude to God despite the challenges and sorrow she has faced -- an outlook that "jolted me to a new level of gratitude and appreciation for God's blessings."
FIRST-PERSON: Resolve to confront greed
Would you like to improve your life, improve the lives of others and make our world a better place? Seminary president Jeff Iorg has a suggestion: confront the greed that afflicts our lives and churches.
FIRST-PERSON: Small but healthy
Seminary president Jeff Iorg visits a church of 60 in worship -- one that's "neither stagnant nor dying; it's just small -- and very healthy." Without such churches, he notes, "millions of Americans wouldn't know the joy of Christian fellowship and service."
FIRST-PERSON: Getting what we asked for
The 2016 presidential election will reflect "the prevailing values of an electorate that, by and large, seems to have acquiesced to the inevitability of amoral and immoral behavior becoming our new normal," seminary president Jeff Iorg writes. "When any society rejects moral authority," he notes, "chaos and anarchy always lead to collapse."
