Now that I have been out of Seminary for about four months, I am beginning to get some perspective on what I learned and how useful it is for life and ministry. I am sure this perspective will continue to mature and develop, but below is something my wife and I were talking about the other day… Most seminary programs place a high emphasis on learning the Biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew. The theory is that knowing Greek and Hebrew will aid the student in understanding the text better... Read Full Story

Here is the timeline for my music-listening preferences: Birth-Jr. High: Only Christian music Jr. High-High School: Mostly “Secular” music College-Pastoral Ministry: Mostly Christian music, Some country music 2005-2008: No music at all June 2008-Present: Mostly Secular music Generally, when I made the switch from Christian to secular music, it was because the Christian music sounded so fake and empty. Most Christian music seemed to be about happy feelings and happy lives and how great God... Read Full Story

As I drive around Dallas with my job, I get to see a lot of churches. Dallas, in case you didn’t know, is the mega-church capital of the world. There are more mega-churches here than in any other place in the world. One street I drove down the other day had four mega-churches within half a mile, two on each side of the road. Of course, in a town with lots of mega-churches, there are also a lot of non-mega-churches. So there are a lot of churches. But whether a church is mega or not, I love to... Read Full Story

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I worked 75 hours last week. Whew! Thankfully, I got off early today, so I have time to write a blog post, and (more importantly) spend time with my wife and three girls! In a previous post, Randy Siever made the following comment: St. Patrick seemed to accomplish this by allowing outsiders to be part of his community life. This was not the usual way the church did evangelism, but he allowed people to belong before they believed. He just went into an area... Read Full Story

I attended a House Church Conference this past weekend. It didn’t take me long to realize that “house churches” are not the answer to the current problems with Christianity in Western culture. But before my house church friends jump on me, let me say that mega churches are not the answer either. Nor are emerging churches, traditional churches, contemporary churches, family churches, bible churches, denominational churches, independent churches, or any other kind of label you might want to put... Read Full Story

As many of you know, I am interested in church planting. I am currently attending a relatively new church plant in Arlington, TX, and hope to be involved in more church planting efforts in the future. Some of my favorite conferences and favorite books are related to church planting. Many of you who read my blog are also interested in church planting, and so I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Nathan Laughlin (and his wife Amy), who is heading to Vancouver, BC next year to plant a... Read Full Story

On my drive home from work tonight, I realized that I am watching my life with great interest. I feel like I am on some sort of great adventure, and I have no idea where things will end up. Earlier today, I saw a bumper sticker that read, “I have no idea where I am going.” I laughed, because that is how I feel. Some days I feel a bit like God has “benched me.” Other days, I feel like only now, am I finally “in the game.” If you had told me one year ago that after graduation from seminary, I... Read Full Story

My family and I spent the day at the lake recently (It’s been about 100 degrees for over a month now!), and as part of the day’s events, we built a sand castle. Allow me to brag about my construction skills. The sand castle was amazing, complete with walls, turrets, gates, flags, a moat, and even a cannon with little cannon balls. When we were nearly done, Selah asked “Can we come back and play with this castle next week?” “No,” I replied. “Someone will probably come along and knock it down... Read Full Story

As mentioned previously, I just obtained a copy of Frank Viola’s new book, Reimagning Church. It is the sequel to Pagan Christianity, in which Viola strips away nearly everything we think of as “church.” The book leaves you thinking, “Well, if none of these trappings are necessary for church, what exactly is necessary?” Though I have some preliminary answers of my own, I look forward to reading Viola’s new book to see what he says. Anyway, after flipping through the book the day it came in... Read Full Story

I want to make another post about some of the things my pastor, Stephen Hammond, said in his message on Sunday. If you want to listen to all of it, you can do so through his podcast here. The section I am quoting below begins at 13:00 from the July 20 message. What would our community look like if we began to really understand where God was wanting to take us? Could you imagine a community where everyone was accepted? Could you imagine a community where everyone got a chance to participate in... Read Full Story