“practicing what we preach” is a lot easier said than done! like most everyone, i’d rather preach it than practice it. it’s fun to talk about community, to dream about community, to advocate for community. and to actually live it is a whole different story. i am very grateful to live in a community that […]
Read Morewalking wounded: hope for those hurt by church
have you… been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”? felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked? been told that you are loved but not your sin? questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside? felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences? i’m […]
Read Morethe great distraction
a few weeks ago i was in a conversation with a friend about the use of the Bible in our Christian faith. i sometimes get criticized for not using the Bible enough, in that i am not that excited about exegeting passages intellectually. i definitely believe in the value, challenge, and beauty in the Bible, […]
Read Moreco-pastoring part 3: here's what it looks like here
i am in the middle of a series on co-pastoring or shared leadership, just processing some thoughts out loud about it because I think it is far under-looked as a potential model for leadership in communities & organizations. you can watch the first two video conversations here: co-pastoring – part 1 co-pastoring – part 2 […]
Read Morefriendship, freedom & a lot less fear
“there is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” st. thomas aquinas uh oh, i’m on my “men and women need to learn how to be friends” kick right now. I think it’s appropriate in light of the shared leadership conversations, too, because it gets to the center of so […]
Read Morecopastoring part 2 – a video conversation
this is part 2 in a 5 part series i’m doing here on co-pastoring & shared leadership. if you missed it, you can watch the first video conversation with my friend & refuge teammate karl wheeler. one of the things we talk about in this piece is the difference between roles & relationship. this is […]
Read Moresome thoughts on co-pastoring, part 1
when i first started this blog over 3 years ago i wrote a little post about shared leadership that still gets a lot of play–why i believe in co-pastoring. it makes me happy that people are at least considering the idea enough to do a google search on it & read more about it. 5 […]
Read Moreout of the darkness: singleness & the church, part 2
i did a series of conversations in 2009 and 2010 called out of the darkness. it had honest stories from my friends on topics that often never get talked about in church. if you didn’t read them, here they are: self-injury brave thoughts from a former abuser hope & healing from sexual addiction the lingering […]
Read Morewhen crazy is actually sane & sane is actually crazy
one of my favorite gospel stories is the woman who busts into simon the pharisee’s house in luke 7 and falls at Jesus’ feet, wiping his feet with her tears. in that moment, he was hanging out with the put-together, religious elite talking about theology. they were supposedly the sane ones, and she was the […]
Read Moreascent vs. descent
last wednesday at our house of refuge we kicked off our summer journeying through down we go: living into the wild ways of Jesus. at first i wasn’t really excited about the reality that it won the vote (the group decided together what to do for the summer), but after the idea settled in i […]
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