Tom Allen

I've been a pastor for almost 33 years.  I've had the opportunity to pastor thousands of people over that period of time.  After seeing all shapes and sizes and personality types, I've realized their are basically two types of church members: OWNERS & CUSTOMERS. What's the difference?  Simple...                CUSTOMERS                                                                           OWNERS *Are there to be served by the owners                             *Are there to serve the customers *Are concerned that their experience is good                   *Are concerned that the customers' experience                                                                                             is good *Have no loyalty to this place                                           *Have total loyalty to this place *Tied to quality of the product                                          *Tied to quality of the relationships *Tendency to voice complaints      

Susan & I just returned from a week off.  We ventured into the Great Smokey Mountains and then a few days in Nashville.  We saw some of God's "showing off" with a beautiful part of this world, had a little adventure white-water rafting and visited a city we'd only heard about.  We VACATED & RECREATED. Sometimes we miss the necessity of those two things.  Sometimes, you just need to "get out of Dodge".  I think that's even more important for a pastor.  I find as long as I can be found, work will find me.  I got lots of emails and texts telling about situations and what I needed to do while I was gone.  Everyone's expectations.  But, "I'm in Tennessee" got me off the hook.  It's necessary to get away physically, emotionally and mentally. But, we didn't just get away...we played.  We recreated.  We hiked, we rafted, we explored, we enjoyed beauty, we re-connected with one another and did things outside the norm.  Recrea

STUFF HAPPENS LIFE NEVER TURNS OUT THE WAY YOU PLAN IT BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE IF IT CAN GO WRONG, IT WILL MURPHY'S LAW RULES Stupid stuff happens that shouldn't happen.  Some are devastating.  Some are painful.  Some are just inconvenient. Right now, I'm sitting in Panama City Beach, Florida, expecting 125 students and sponsors to roll in any minute.  ONLY PROBLEM:  They're stuck on the side of the road in Covington, Louisiana.  FUN. Why?  Because we live in a fallen, sin-soaked world where stupid things happen.  It's frustrating.  But, it's our world.  It's the only one we've got.

It breaks my heart when I see couples, but especially women, who struggle with infertility.  It can be the most devastating thing in a person's life.  I partly have problems understanding because I'm a man.  Although that desire to have children is real in men, it is totally different in women.  So many women feel like less than a whole woman when they face fertility issues.  Again, I'm not a woman and will never completely comprehend how that would make a woman feel, so I won't even try to address it. My point is, even though I don't understand it, I should.  That same desire that God built into women to bear children is built into each one of us who call ourselves a Child of God.  We were created to reproduce spiritually.  We were created to "give birth" to new Children of God.  We were created to bring new disciples into the world.  And, if we aren't or can't or don't, that should stir some emotions in us. Paul called Timothy his son.  N

OK, it's pretty easy to be a Monday Hater.  It's just...MONDAY.  Kinda rhymes with MUNDANE.  Same idea.  For me, Monday isn't coming off a great weekend, it's following up the start  of my week and the biggest day.  For most folks, your week builds to a climax.  For pastors we start off our week (on Sunday) on all cylinders, then, splat, down to earth with Monday. Maybe that's why most pastors resign on Mondays.  Nope.  Didn't make that up.  Fact.  It's a little like sky-diving, knowing your parachute is going to fail to deploy.  You love Sundays so much, you jump anyway.  But, then there's always the Monday landing.  For me, Mondays usually mean staff meetings, followed by Strategic Leadership Meeting, followed by lunch (sometimes a meeting), followed by an occasional Creative Team meeting, some individual meetings and ending with a Service-Planning meeting.  (Who said this job isn't sexy?)  Oh yeah, one more meeting this evening.  And you thought