Love works, criticism is lazy.

Love is the thing that motivates the heart of God toward us. That love is executed through the church. So when mistakes are made, the proper way to handle it, is in love. When we fall God responds in love, when other's don't live up to our (unfair) expectations, love will change the entire dynamic.

Any other motivation is slap in the grace of God. (including getting your opinion heard and being right) Jesus was right but He didn't allow that to get in the way of redemption. He denied His "rights" to appeal, His "rights" to be heard, His "right" to be respected; to esteem others.

If that attribute is being reflected in you, consider yourself the 10% of the church that get's it.

-These and other truths brought to you by. . . the Bible, now in Technicolor!

the Devil is in the generalities and the details...

Grace vs. Us

The sooner we accept our ineptitude, the sooner grace changes us.



The problem in the modern leadership paradigm that we’ve created with our modern "spectacular rock-show exhibition seeker obsessive church-plant megastar media whore-of-a-ministry" model (whew) is that even though we place an immensely weighted emphasis on the gospel (which is wholly good) we also place more and more onus on our abilities and others.

If you took away all the pretense and all the glamour of your church experience could you stand to be exposed to a small room of 20 people studying and discussing the bible on its own merits and personal revelation? There is NO ability in us that transforms others, no value in our expertise; it is grace alone that changes men! Anything else is a demi-idol that threatens the true work of the gospel in men’s hearts.

We cannot partially rely on grace.

rePost from RESURGENCE:

from: Brad House 

I have recently noticed a trend of churches giving up on the notion that community is an essential component of church life.

Many are deciding that community is an optional experience that is helpful but not elemental to being a healthy disciple of Jesus. I think this is a significant mistake. There is no biblical support for personal, autonomous Christianity. If we want to truly make disciples who advance the gospel, we must not only see the importance of community, but we must understand it to be essential to the church.


Community is a gift of God’s grace and essential for the Christian life. Community is not a peripheral ministry. Our communities should be the most palpable expression of the gospel within the church. As culture reflects the values of its citizens, Community Groups reflect the values of the church.

If our church does not place a high value on community, then we are already disconnected from the gospel convictions related to community.

My experience has been that most churches consider community a value, but many have a hard time living out that value in a way that is visible and recognizable. The church is constantly pulled to do so many things that it can be easy to neglect or devalue Community Groups within the sea of programs churches provide.

Breathing Life Back into Your Small Group

If, however, we are going to breathe life back into the community of the church and see it function as God designed, we need to start thinking differently. Social justice, overseas missions, youth programs, food banks, sports ministries, and so on are acceptable programs, but they are not the center of God’s mission. They are support tools through which a gospel-saturated community can intentionally engage the world.


If we put all our energy into the tangential and neglect the center, we have no fertile ground where people can land and grow. I have heard such tangential ministries described as a funnel, drawing people into the church as they swirl toward the center. Ignoring the visual similarity to being flushed, the problem with a funnel is that it has a hole in the center.


Similarly, this has also been my experience when we neglect building the body of Christ. In order to breathe life back into your small group ministry, you must have a clear sense of its value and importance to your church.
You cannot hope to gain momentum and life in such a ministry while simultaneously marginalizing it through resource allocation or ministry dilution. Elevating Community Groups to the proper (and balanced) level of significance is critical 

You are the Movement

my new blog idea  =/<240 words

People often get the wrong impression when i say things like "we are building toward a movement", or "I don't want a ministry I want a movement." I'm guilty of a lot of things; one of my primary vices is saying the same things continuously with little (or no) exposition.

Yeah, it's shutterstock, So What?

What is this "movement" I'm so apt to throw around in casual conversation? Well, of course we want a lasting/impacting community that is authentic, spirit-led, and reproducible, but the intent of movement (as far as I’m concerned) is not organizational, it is explicitly individual and ever-increasing in measure. I want to see movement in singular hearts that ignites faith into action and action into deeper faith. Make no mistake, there is no reproducible system that is not first individually transformative and gradually tested.

That is all.

Looking back - thinking ahead - living now

Caught in Wash - Dry - Rinse - Repeat


It often feels like everything in our lives demands our attention. We are constantly in a flux of self-doubt or self-conceit and the smallest circumstance pulls us deeper in both extremes. Nostalgia plays a big part in the disappointment that we often feel about our lack of involvement or the winding down of excitement in our lives. Fear of the future is another point of contention that drains us of the courage and fortitude to make a sound and lasting impact in our respective communities. There is a better way, we were made for “more than living”. 

There are plenty of things in my past I’m not proud of and there are even more lost opportunities than I can count, but if I allowed those things to dictate my destiny I would accomplish nothing from here on out. In the same way, dread of not accomplishing anything worthwhile hinders my ability to function accordingly in the immediate.

So what do we do?

We consider all things in the past gone, the only thing the past provides is perspective; everyday is different and poses new challenges so what could we possibly gain from filling ourselves with sorrow over things that are “over”. I’m not saying get over it because that is shallow, simplistic, and in a lot of cases not the best answer. Don’t “get over it”, but allow it to be over. Confront it, let it settle, recognize that the past is a part of you but it isn’t all of you unless you allow it to be.

In the same way we must step into the present with fresh eyes; recognize there is no ideal future we can plan for. It doesn’t exist, there are only the decisions we make right now. I’m always interested in the promises that people make to God because they often involve things that we have little to no control over. Behavior is not entirely under our jurisdiction it’s more a matter of self-release than self-control.

Allow God to be God and have jurisdiction over the past where he works, the future he has prepared and the right now where he draws you into relationship with his Spirit.

6 Things I Want to Give Away

Had an interesting meeting with the transit “Family/Student Ministries” team this week. (Lots of really innovative plans coming through, btw.) A question was asked on a specific level that I want to ask on a broad level. Namely: “What are 5 or 6 things you want to pour into others that will be meaningful for the rest of their lives?” On a student level this makes sense because you have a few years of consistent teaching, so it naturally follows that we should focus on a few specific things. In the young adult world this also makes sense. But the thing that got my brain fixated on this idea was the application on those we “do life” with. I asked myself a similar question in theSHIFT, but I think I may have asked too little too late. These things should probably be considered before we are preparing to leave.

My list formed pretty quickly, and now I know to start implementing these insights into the conversation a lot earlier and with more purpose.

1. God isn't about church, God is about us as individuals.
2. There is no substitution for fellowship and accountability
3. Personal devotion trumps collective devotion (every time)
4. CS Lewis knows what he's talkin about
5. We are all called to "go" and "make disciples" (refusal to do so is a blatant disobedience)
6. Relationships are God’s way of training you to be more like Jesus. 

Some things we "DO".

In our sad and clenching attempts to follow God, we so often destroy the very vibrant life and people he came to save.

You see it in churches where guilt and obligation continue to be the driving force of ministry – from smiling but utterly broken group leaders, to sweat drenched parking attendants. From tenured Sunday school teachers to empty offering plates. We must get out of this “made up” mess of “doing church”.

This isn’t my soap box, my concerns lie somewhere else entirely, but this is simple application. The Gospel is a deep exciting life of adventure and actualization. There is nothing stale or empty about it. I’m not questioning whether people are saved I’m questioning whether or not they realize what that means. . .

Simply put: much of the modern church is ill equipped to serve the world and make disciples because we have become full of programs and agendas and empty of life giving power.

Activity cannot substitute incimacy. #DrawClose everything else will take care of itself.