I was asked about church leadership in a recent interview. The question was along these lines, ‘What would be your primary goal if you transition into leadership in a new church in the first 3 months?’ I answered it this way: I would review the systems that are currently in place and the preaching schedule … Read more
‘Hope delayed makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is the tree of life.’ Proverbs 13:12 Who hasn’t been disappointed? You miss out on the position or promotion. The invitation you expected never arrives. Every day of the tropical holiday you saved for is raining. The pain of relationship breakdown is too much. The doctor … Read more
‘The cross kills the me-centric bent of iChristianity, which bends the Bible to support one’s views and treats God as little more than a cosmic Siri to bless and comfort on demand.’ Christianity Should be Uncomfortable – excerpt Giving Up “Dream Church” and Embracing Discomfort – excerpt Uncomfortable by Brett McCracken is a book dealing … Read more
The “dream church” picture I painted in the introduction looks very little like the church, Southlands, where I am now a member. Southlands is nondenominational, meets in a renovated prosthetics factory, and has only the slightest liturgical bent. It’s Reformed-ish but Holy Spirit focused, with impromptu “words” from the congregation and quiet prayer in tongues … Read more
Uncomfortable by Brett McCracken is one of those books I’ve been reading where the author dares to say what he’s thinking. So often Christian reading feels like a cheer rally. I put a book down believing I can conquer the world. This isn’t the case with Brett’s book. It’s up lifting. It’s full of truth. … Read more
In my last post I looked at how Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him and fish for people. I also asked what ways following Jesus changed them. It seems to me that when Jesus called them to fish for people, he radically changed their mission in life. Jesus was willing to … Read more
The calling of the disciples is one of the craziest stories in the life of Jesus. Sure, there are more remarkable ones. There’s spectacular miracles, and demonic deliveries. Sure, he walks on water, and turns water into wine. But the calling of the disciples is still right up because of the crazy choice the disciples … Read more
No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im is one of the finest books on intentional discipleship I have read. It is a privilege to feature this excerpt from Daniel’s book where he challenges Christian leaders to shift to a kingdom perspective. In this post, he calls us to be intentionally missional in how we live our … Read more
Note: This Single Question Interview is different from others on this site. Normally I ask a variety of respected followers of Jesus a question. I find the varied responses bring a depth and richness to the Christian faith. Today’s question is too big. Instead, I only asked the question of John Stackhouse to allow him to … Read more
Georgie is one of the girls at my church. Both her, and her husband, work. They have young kids. And yet she feels bad about not having enough time to do missional things. Can you relate? What if missional living didn’t mean doing anything extra? What if Georgie saw her workplace as a place where … Read more
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