The Justice of Community
Jesus the Son told His disciples, “The poor you will have with you always.” God the Father told Israel, “There will be no poor among...
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May 16, 20232 min read
Asking For Help
Yesterday I had a little hiccup. About seven months ago, my wife and I felt prompted—I think now by the Holy Spirit—to have a CT scan to...
Feb 6, 20233 min read
Divine DNA...and You
Over the last few decades, there’s been a shift in evangelicalism in particular from the hyper-individualistic message of “personal...
Jan 17, 20232 min read
The Evolution of Language
The other day I happened to notice a poster about a Big New Blockbuster Movie coming out. The top line on the poster read: “Only in...
Nov 28, 20223 min read
Dogpaddling with Dolphins
I’ve been on both sides of a lead pastor transition. Years before serving in the lead pastor role at our church, everyone on...
Nov 14, 20222 min read
The Secret of Servant Leadership
Of the four essential elements that every leader must exercise—Integrity, Passion, Servanthood, and Imagination—Servanthood seems like it...
Nov 7, 20223 min read
A Continuum of Transformation
In a previous post titled Helping People to Become Inviters, I talked about giving the people in our churches more resources for becoming...
Aug 24, 20223 min read
The Problem With Traditionalism
The owner of a Chevron station in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle got tired of plastering advertising deals on his sign. Instead,...
Jul 19, 20222 min read
Changing the “Routine Paradigm”
At one time I had my Christian life neatly prioritized. It was: first, God. Second, family. And third, work…specifically, my work as a...
Jun 7, 20222 min read
Spiritual Warfare and Ministry
Church ministry is hard because people are complicated. But there’s more to it than just that. Over the years, my wife and I hosted a...
Jan 10, 20223 min read
Top 5 Things Pastors Should Stop Pretending To Be
I believe that a pastor’s main duty is making sure the mission of the local church is carried out, which is primarily guiding...
Dec 14, 20212 min read
What Do Leaders Pray?
How do leaders pray? Or more specifically, what do leaders pray? If our ultimate leader in this Kingdom movement is Jesus, how and what...
Sep 22, 20212 min read
Are You More Important Than You Think?
“No one in my master’s house is more important than I am.” ~Joseph (Genesis 39:9a CEV). It seems the fall of prominent Christian leaders...
Jun 3, 20213 min read
Are Leaders Born or Made?
Some years back I had lunch with a young man who had immigrated to America at fifteen to escape an abusive father and a broken family...
May 31, 20213 min read
Leading Through Personal Difficulty
David’s army had just won a military victory over a coup led by his own son Absalom, killed in the battle. David turned what should have...
May 18, 20213 min read
The Worship Challenge
Here’s a question I’ve wondered about: in heaven, would I feel any of the restrained feelings I have here about expressing worship? Even...
Dec 10, 20203 min read
And Now For Something Different: Spiritual Conflict
Though I’ve never really spoken about it publicly, the church I pastored had a number of run-ins with disturbed people. When you open...
Nov 10, 20203 min read
Vulnerability & Leadership
The organizational behavior philosopher Charles Handy made reference to an exercise known as the Johari Window. The Johari exercise...
Nov 3, 20202 min read
Community in a Time of Covid
About 35 years ago, the Journal of Community Psychology featured a landmark article by David McMillan and David Chavis outlining four...
Oct 25, 20202 min read
Circumstances and Leadership
This whacked-out 2020 year is a case study in how circumstances can upend organizations and their leaders: how they function, how they...
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