1 hour ago10 Books for Christians in Deconstruction and DoubtWhen I was seventeen, I started growing in my Christian faith. I went back to church with my girlfriend (now wife) and I was welcomed by her very loving family and her very loving church. I visited a Christian bookstore at the mall for the first time in my life…Faith15 min read
May 35 Arenas of Leadership for PastorsFor about a decade and a half of my life as a pastor, I spent a lot of time focusing on being a better church leader. …Leadership6 min read
Apr 5You Can’t Multi-Task, but Can You Multi-Career?There are two schools of thought when it comes to the idea of whether you should focus your life on one single purpose and pathway, or get involved in all of the various things that interest you. We’ve all heard the stories of the people who did amazing things by…Careers4 min read
Mar 29How to Avoid Hitting People When You Feel AngryShould you slap people when they make you mad? No. Granted, it happens sometimes. Sometimes it even happens on a stage on live television with millions of people watching. But it’s definitely not an appropriate or acceptable (or legal) way to handle your emotions. …Anger4 min read
Feb 3Going the Wrong Way On the Way to the Right WayNobody is better at speaking truth in love than my wife, Angie. She’s a skilled therapist, but goes easy on me as I try to swim to the depths with her when it comes to the heart. The other day, she gave me a children’s book called What the Road…Decisions3 min read
Jan 14How to Cultivate Authenticity In Your Leadership CultureBe real with people, or be prepared to lose them. It’s hard. As Pastor Rick Warren wrote once, we all fight against three particular fears: the fear that we will be exposed for who we truly are the fear that we will be rejected the fear that we will be…Leadership3 min read
Dec 8, 20215 Ways to Spend Your Leadership Equity WiselyWhen you walk into a leadership opportunity, you go with a little bit of equity by virtue of your position and the inevitable honeymoon period during which those you lead will let you get by with just a bit more than they will a decade later. But you have to…Leadership3 min read
Nov 30, 2021The One Thing I Miss Most About Being a PastorThere is a LOT that I miss about being a pastor. Like staff meetings. That’s where culture was created and protected. We sharpened each other while shaping plans for carrying out the vision of serving the community according to our guiding values. I miss teaching on Sundays, for sure. I…Ministry2 min read
Oct 28, 2021The Valley of Transition: 7 Lessons from 6 Months of Radical ChangeIt’s been six months since I preached my final message as Pastor of Grace Hills Church, which Angie and I founded together in the summer of 2011. We spent a decade of our lives gathering with people who were passionate about embracing the brokenness of humanity and creating a safe…Transition7 min read
Sep 28, 2021I Don’t Know YetAt the ripe old age of 19, I was married and serving as the Senior Pastor of a small church in rural Arkansas. And I knew it all. Perhaps not “all” as in, everything that can be known, but all as in everything I thought I might have a deep…Philosophy3 min read
