Writing
Essays and working ideas from more than fifteen years of writing about faith, leadership, discipleship, the church, family, and life in Austin.
Start here
A few essays that introduce the questions and convictions behind this site.
- The Organizing Principle of the Church
- Leadership and Administration
- What Is a Missional Community? — Definition
- Transitioning Your Church to Missional Communities
For sustained explorations of a topic, browse the Selected Series.
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Missional community · Leadership · Christianity · Church · Personal · Austin Stone · Discipleship · Theology
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All writing
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Pastoring a Wedding
I’ve really grown to enjoy the role of officiating weddings as a pastor. I’ve had the opportunity to perform a half-dozen weddings over the last year–some for old friends, some for new friends–and I am consistently…
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Spontaneous Emergence and Connectivity | Alan Hirsch meets Seth Godin
I came across this quote today from Alan Hirsch, and thought it dove-tailed nicely into my thoughts on assimilation as connectivity. Most change in complex systems is emergent; that is to say it comes about as…
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Tribes Thoughts | Leadership is Influence
One good insight from Tribes has been thinking through how leadership is influence, which is practically exercised through commonality of an idea and communication. Godin’s most basic argument is that marketing has changed the rules for…
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Refreshing Perspective | The Blueprint
I’ve really enjoyed reading Jaeson Ma’s book The Blueprint: A Revolutionary Plan to Plant Missional Communities on Campus. Jaeson is certainly cut from a different theological tree than I am, but I have been challenged and…
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Passivity | Between Two Worlds
The following is a quip from Kevin DeYoung’s Just Do Something (via Between Two Worlds). Passivity is a plague among Christians. It’s not just that we don’t do anything; it’s that we feel spiritual for not…
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Biblical/Theological Preaching
Halim Suh’s sermon from Sunday at The Austin Stone is an excellent example of applying biblical theology to understanding a difficult text of scripture. Halim did a fantastic job of grappling with 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 by…
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Tribes Thoughts | Assimilation is Connectivity
In Tribes, Seth Godin talks about Senator Bill Bradley’s elements of movement: A narrative that tells the story of who the tribe is and the alternate future they are building Connection between the movement leader and…
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One Reason I Love the iPhone
Mobile note taking. I’ve never been one for writing thoughts down because I never wanted to carry a journal or notepad. Now I have an easy way to joy notes as I go, and sync them…
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Tribes
I just started reading this book (which is really more just a collection of thoughts), and it has been sparking some good thoughts in me. It naturally makes you re-examine your leadership and the people you…
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Ministry Idolatry from Tim Keller
The following is from 3 questions with Tim Keller at Towers Online. Q: What safeguards should 20-something pastors have in place to avoid the idolatry of ministry fame and the attitude of big numbers equals success?…
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Storyframes | Unconventional Baptism
This is why I love what I do. Please watch it!
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Reading the Bible – A Simple Truth
I guess I’ve been in a reflective mood over the past few weeks, and have been dwelling on some of the things I have learned over the past few years. Since college, my view of the…