A promise of the Bible is that none of us are “everything enough” — because no human but Jesus was ever intended to be enough. No church is “everything enough” to accomplish the beautiful, weighty, spiritual task of sending — because no church without God’s Spirit can accomplish what only God can accomplish. Another promise of the Bible is that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

This year, many churches and leaders will wring their hands in worry about the political process in the United States. One way or another, on one side of the aisle or the other, Christians will be convinced that the destiny of Christianity, the existence of our country, and the state of our world will hinge on the contents of ballot boxes on the first Tuesday in November.

This year, many churches and leaders will wring their hands in worry about the political process in the United States. One way or another, on one side of the aisle or the other, Christians will be convinced that the destiny of Christianity, the existence of our country, and the state of our world will hinge on the contents of ballot boxes on the first Tuesday in November.

We all hear many pastors and preachers in churches or on radio and television who seem to think their calling is to condemn the sinners of our world and who encourage Christians to hate and avoid the people around them whose lives and ideas are not Christian.  But Jesus shows us another way!  Do we listen to him and love our neighbors, both believers and unbelievers?  Do we do good to those who hate us?  Do we bless those who curse us?  Do we pray for those who abuse us?  The one who saves us daily from our sins is indeed the best model for us if we desire to make the gospel known today.

Christians throw out the word “gospel” and the phrase “good news” a lot: “The gospel is good news; Jesus is good news.” But to keep these words from being empty, we play a game sometimes in our church gatherings to see if we know how various aspects of Jesus are actually, specifically “good news.” For example, a question I like to ask people regularly is “What was it about Jesus that made the gospel sound like good news to you?”

As the height of the 2020 presidential election season approaches, many Christians are asking important questions about our political responsibility: What policies should I support? Do I vote on party lines or on the issues most important to me? In the midst of a global pandemic and racial tension splintering our society, the stakes feel different this year. But important questions about parties and candidates can easily obscure another question at the heart of our political and spiritual lives: What story am I buying into?

Much has been said about Christianity in the West and the need for the Church to rethink its approach, so I won’t belabor the point here. But I will say this: if the studies are correct and our current models of church will only reach about 20% of a given city at best, we must ask how we can reach the other 80%. We need a definition of church that allows us to go anywhere and reach anyone, with possibilities as expansive as the mission of God it’s called to participate in…

Should you pursue a Bible degree, or a formal residency process? Maybe (I’m biased!). But whether you do or not, if you have a desire to plant and/or lead a church, don’t waste your current situation. Live in the present. “Bloom where you’re planted.” Make use of the time, season, and church God has you in. Because if you want to plant and/or lead a church one day, your training starts today. Look around you: everything is a residency.

I want to submit that Barnabas was a far more vital leader in the early church than we give him credit for — at least in a western, “leaders-are-those-with-the-best-stage-presence” mentality. Without Barnabas, the Jerusalem church would have struggled financially -- and the Antioch church might not have existed….

Ask yourself this question: Which are you more tempted to pretend that you are: an everywhere-for-all, a fix-it-all, or a know-it-all? What do you feel you will lose if you stop pretending in these ways and entrust yourself to Jesus?…

I am learning to see and value my story, past and present. I discover opportunities to heal just by showing up in the daily things of life with honesty and willingness to bring my wounds into the light. Knowing your story is about where you’ve been and where you’re going, but it’s also about understanding who you are in every present moment. So, what are you feeling?

What keeps churches from planting churches and sending missionaries? For nearly a decade in various roles, I’ve been honored to create and oversee training for discerning one’s ministry fit and for equipping potential church planters to plant across North America and in multiple nations. I've also been honored to serve, coach, and train church planters in various cultures all around the globe. (I often learn more from them as they learn from me!)

I want you to imagine for a second the person you know who is the least likely to wake up on a Sunday morning, get dressed, eat breakfast, get their family in the car and drive to a church gathering. For many of us this is pretty normal behaviour, it is what we do, because we are followers of Jesus, and this is a part of our rhythm of following him. But for many the likelihood of this happening is becoming increasingly unlikely.

“PREACH THE WORD”: This was the motto at the school where I received ministry training. It was known for its commitment to biblical exegesis and literal interpretation. So, semester after semester, I learned what the actual words on the Bible’s pages meant, and how to explain that meaning to others. I was young in my faith and just learning to know and love the Bible during those years. But looking back, I think I learned to preach the Bible’s words, but not actually preach the Word. And there’s a difference.

While it’s probably true that 18-25 year olds of every generation are sort of anti-institution, we have not seen any other generation born into the age of the internet, extremely heightened by social media, raised in an economic recession, plagued by mental health diagnoses, navigating college during the most politically and racially divided moment in our lifetime, and then thrust into the workforce in a global pandemic.

Gen-Z is not a snowflake generation. They’re just accurately reflecting back to us the cultural chaos that started off this decade.

The birth of Jesus was the deepest, most heartfelt song the world has ever heard. God’s beautiful masterpiece made its debut with a note ringing out clear and bright. It has resonated throughout the ages in the hearts of those whose longing ran too deep to be satisfied by the pervasive but placid promises of this broken world. For centuries, followers of Jesus developed Christmas into a joyous recognition that where there is darkness, the Light of the World will shine through.

For Christians, suffering produces real hope by pointing us away from possibility and to what has already been done in Christ and the love of God that has already been given to us through the Holy Spirit.

Suffering produces hope, and I really wish there was another way. But if hope were earned through chances and striving and results and luck, who could attain it? And how many could attain it?

As we wait through our own silent periods, we wait in hope. The One who heard and answered Zechariah is the same One who hears us today. The One who sends snow to quiet the world is the same One who quiets our hearts even when we can’t hear him…

How do you join civic action with the work of faith? I look forward to discussing this with you in the upcoming (free!) workshop “Faithful Discipleship in a World of Activism” (September 14th, 1p ET / 10a PT).

Did you know that the Bible never refers to itself as God’s Word? Of course, the Bible is a primary means by which we can know God’s message and God’s Son, but we must distinguish the two concepts. Because God’s words, rightly read, point us toward God’s Word.