To be fair, I would guess the readers of this blog are less than 1% executive pastors.

I would have no problem interviewing people outside my church--but they would need to know that one of the requirements of the job is that "this becomes your church." I would have them attend for a few weeks before hiring to make sure the church is a place where they could grow and thrive--I want them as excited about the church as they would be about a new job.

I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to question the theology of my letter.

Patrick - you should be getting a contact from Dave Frederick. He'll help figure this out with you.

Nicki - really good question. I'm going to do a follow-up blog post with some ideas, and hopefully get some others to chime in with their own ideas.

It drowns out the typical hotel noise (people walking down the hall or in the room next door). Plus, I tend to be ultra sensitive to clocks ticking and air conditioners creaking--so a fan makes everything go away.

I'm so grateful for your prayers Rob.

It depends on each kid. I might encourage one to go to a Christian college, and another to go to a state college. My kids have all grown up in the public school system, attending a high school with 3,000+ students. So they have definitely have not grown up in a Christian bubble. They have had to figure out what they believe and learn how to talk about their faith through relationships with others who are very different than themselves. For Heather, this was a perfect next step.

I'm going to close the comments on this post, but encourage you to continue giving this some serious thought.

Thanks for commenting Jim. I think there is a biblical distinction between obesity--and height, age, attractiveness, or disabilities. In the case of obesity--it is the only one that is caused, in many cases, by not following one of God's commands. (I'm not, of course, suggesting that every obese person is guilty of the sin of gluttony.) But there are no contributing sins that cause tallness, attractiveness, old age or disabilities.