imagining how the church can reorient around mission

I read a lot of white men giving advice about what it takes to be a leader in today’s church. To say I haven’t found help from these men would be a lie.

However, as one of those white men, IMHO, one of the key elements that is rarely mentioned in the lists of leadership advice is the need to respectfully listen to, learn from, and be led by people different than me – in particular women and people of color. read more

10 things I fiercely loved when 2021 started and still did as it ended. These are very meta, so I can copy and paste them for 2022, as well.

1. Robi – I am afraid I have grown to love her to the point that life would not make sense without her. I know that sounds a bit co-dependent-ish. So, be it. read more

Just what’s on my mind this morning.

I have been trying to get my head around the question: what are the qualifiers American Christians are willing to employ regarding the universal commandment to love your neighbor. read more

I have been trying to discern what God has been saying to me in the last few weeks.

 You see, as if 2020 has not been challenging enough with a global pandemic that has befallen us, plus the death of two very good friends, both to the ravages of cancer and each dying without a natural way to grieve and give them honor, but several weeks ago now it was discovered that my heart was not getting enough blood. I don’t feel like it’s important to go through all the details, but suffice it to say that two out of the three main arteries that are suppling my heart are not OK. One is completely blocked, and another is mostly blocked. In technical language, that’s really bad. The upshot? I will be undergoing multiple bypass surgery this coming Monday. Yikes. read more

It was a sunny, breezy, end-of-summer day eight years ago when I stepped foot on Whitworth’s campus for the first time as a student. I remember like it was yesterday the confidence I had as I waltzed around campus with my nerdy lanyard–student ID card in full view for all to see. I don’t want to be unnecessarily hard on myself, but I do remember feeling like I was pretty cool already, like I was going to take this university by storm. Just like high school, I was going to get all the jobs and leadership positions, make a ton of friends, do all the right things, and you can bet I was going to stuff my calendar full of all the right activities. (Yikes!)

I would run into friends around campus, and at times I’d find myself sort of bragging about how busy I was. A full plate and a growing resume of success, however small, were badges of honor. I think I was a little blind to the love around me, and of course, I was also blind to the suffering around me. I was living in to a twisted theology that said I was loved only when I really proved myself. Busyness and a good reputation were my idols, and the unsustainable approval from my community replaced the unconditional love of God. read more

"Rigor without encounter is legalism and death. Encounter without rigor leads to an emotionalism or worse, duplicity."

A while back, I was privileged to listen to Scott Arbeiter, the President of World Relief, speak at a community leaders’ breakfast. He was quite inspiring and captivating. Nevertheless, something he said opened a door in my mind that led into one of those tangential moments. He shouldn’t feel bad about my daydreaming, because as someone with ADD, it happens in almost every situation of my life. I think it even happens when I give talks. 🙂

He made mention to the idea that he had hoped that what they were doing at World Relief, helping refugees and immigrants, would become viral (this was several months ago, so the current example of how a virus can travel was not on the radar yet) read more

A few years back now, I was approached by a prospective church planter seeking to get an endorsement for the project. This person told me his plan of planting a church to attract and teach young people the Scriptures like what was happening at the church I was pastoring (the church I was leading at the time was made up of about 60-70% college-aged folk). To say that how I responded caught him off guard would be an understatement. Because of a core theological belief I hold that God is a missionary and that the church should emulate that identity, my advice was, “Go home and take off your pastor hat. Put it in the closet. Then, put your missionary hat on. Spend your time reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus. If God allows you to reach young people with the Gospel, then you can put your pastor hat back on, but if you don’t start with your missionary hat on first, I don’t think you should plant the church.” It was obvious by this person’s crestfallen countenance that the advice wasn’t what he was hoping for.

Those who know me might find the title of this blog unnecessarily provocative, if not disingenuous. After all, I’ve spent the “lion’s share” of my 35 years in ministry catalyzing church planting, both locally and internationally. Over the years, however, as a result of my involvement in church planting in the region, I feel the need to qualify my commitment. I’ve been approached by scores of would-be church planters, looking for advice about how starting a new church might happen in Spokane. If I can be completely candid, over the last 15 years I have discouraged as many of those people as I have encouraged. The reason is, unfortunately, much of church planting is a replication of things that have gotten us into the dilemma we are currently in regarding the church. It’s been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Statistically the trajectory of the church in the west, and in particular, the Pacific Northwest part of America is one of obsolescence. The church is shrinking faster than we can add new members or new congregations. The flood of younger people looking for the exit ramp out of churches grows at an almost exponential rate. There are many reasons for this, but in my humble opinion, one of the foremost reasons is our attempt to start churches, rather than to do mission both individually and as church communities. read more

This is a webinar from Exponential featuring Rob Wegner and Ralph Moore…and hosted by Daniel Yang as they discuss the power and beauty of the dispersed church. I just wanna say that I am all in on this and always have been. Those in the early days of New Community will hear language in this that is similar or identical to that we used then.

It is the very center of what I hope for at Immanuel Spokane. read more

Here is a talk I gave regarding the topic of generosity and how we might utilize our stimulus checks to bless vulnerable people during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

I wish this idea would become viral. #givethecheck #payitforward