Homosexuality And The Church: Are We Asking The Wrong Questions?
I have a confession to make: I am a pastor and until now I have largely avoided the topic of homosexuality. I have avoided writing about it. I have largely avoided talking about it. And until a couple...
View Article5 Really Bad Reasons To Leave Your Church
Let’s be honest, while there are some good reasons for leaving a church, there are a lot more bad ones. As a pastor, I hear some of them every now and then as people walk out the door. As a church...
View ArticleThe Tragic Faith Story of Vincent Van Gogh
For as long as I can remember I’ve loved the work of Vincent Van Gogh. In college I had a couple of his paintings hung in my cramped little freshman dwelling – his Cafe Terrace at Night displayed...
View ArticlePost Traumatic Church Disorder
If you’ve ever found yourself betrayed, let down, or hurt by religious people or their leaders, you’ve probably experienced your own fair share of PTCD. As a kid I was deeply hurt by the pastor of our...
View Article‘It Meets My Needs’ and Other Bad Reasons for Choosing a Church
Like many in my generation, I’ve done some moving around and with each new move I’ve had to begin the difficult process of searching for a new church home. If you’re like most, a day is coming when you...
View Article5 Things You Shouldn’t Say To Your Pastor…and what you should say instead
I’ve had the privilege of working with pastors from all kinds of tribes and ministry contexts. Though no two pastors are the same, we do share a lot of the same hopes for our churches. We share a lot...
View ArticleThe Biggest Mistake I Made in Church Planting
Just over five years ago my wife Megan and I and our then two kids packed up everything we owned into our Honda Accord and made the drive from Los Angeles, CA to Lincoln, NE with the hopes of planting...
View ArticleWhy I Can’t Get On Board With The Death Penalty
Yesterday the Nebraska state legislature passed a landmark bill (LB268) to abolish the death penalty in Nebraska. It’s been a long time coming in our conservative state and its passing didn’t come...
View Article5 Reasons Pastors Have Such A Hard Time With People Leaving
This morning a photo popped up in my newsfeed of one of our early gatherings with the Mosaic launch team. Back then we were just thirty-five or so people meeting in a basement dreaming about starting a...
View Article6 Questions to Help You Avoid Regret and Live with Greater Clarity in 2016
I hate regret. It’s an awful feeling. As I look back on this past year, if I’m really honest, I have some regrets. There are some things I did well, but there are also some things I wish I could go...
View ArticleShould-ing All Over Ourselves
One of my heroes, Brennan Manning, used to tell a story about a friend of his named Mary. Mary worked out of her home in New Orleans and in her living room hung a large banner that read, “Today I will...
View ArticleLiving Incarnationally in an Increasingly Excarnate World
Something is wrong. You can feel it in the air. Many of us can sense it in ourselves. Something has shifted and it’s not for the better. Never before has a generation existed that is more connected...
View Article7 Ways to Deal With Stress and Anxiety as a Christian
I’ve always considered myself to be a person who handles stress pretty well. I like to be busy. I enjoy taking risks. I tend to have my hands in numerous endeavors at any given time. I never thought...
View ArticleNever Compare Your Valley To Someone Else’s Mountaintop
“Oh my god! Did that just go in?! I think that went in!” I was fifteen years old and I had just hit the golf shot of a lifetime. Set deep in the trees with over a hundred yards to go and just a six...
View Article5 Pastoral Post-Election Thoughts
Wednesday morning I woke up to learn that Donald Trump will be our next commander in chief. It seems like just yesterday he announced his intentions to run for president and the country collectively...
View ArticlePlanting Cool Churches? Don’t Believe The Hype
I love church planting. I’ve committed much of my life to it. My passion is to see new churches planted that transform lives, serve neighborhoods and impact cities. But over the years I’ve seen a kind...
View Article
