Today I am switching places with Thom Rainer. He was supposed to be preaching in chapel at Southeastern Seminary today, but we switched about ten days ago due to some scheduling conflicts. So, if you were coming to chapel to hear Thom Rainer today you will be greatly disappointed.

In the spirit of switching places, check out the program from this year's Christian Book Association / International Christian Retail Show (CBA/ICRS) in Denver. As you can see (below), I am no longer President of LifeWay Research but am now, according to the ICRS program, president of LifeWay. I am very excited about the promotion.

Oh, there will be new policies, fellow LifeWay employees. Many new policies. And many others will be deleted. I'm currently considering 4 day weekends, and lunches catered by PF Chang's. Please stay tuned.

As part of a new feature here at the blog, I am planning to interview authors with books helpful for church leaders. B&H is helping me with the interviews (thanks Julie Gwinn), and it will include interviews with authors from many publishers about their books, mission, and focus. More on that later, but be sure to go by their church leadership portal, which is part of www.churchleadershipbooks.com.

There is a widget on the sidebar that will list each of the interviews so you can find them easily as you return to visit the blog.

The dubious honor of going first is to the Rainers, Sam and Thom, who have written a new book called Essential Church.

ES: What prompted you to write Essential Church? From where did the idea come?

Continue reading B&H Church Leadership Book Interviews: Thom & Sam Rainer.

This Sunday we attended Long Hollow Baptist Church. It's a huge church, about 4,000 people on Sundays. David Landrith, the pastor, is a great communicator.

We sung "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love." It must have been "70's day," which is always a plus for a man my age, who became a Christian in the late 70's. (The song was written in 1966, but I did not hear it until the 70s.)