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
New here? These four pieces offer a way into the writing: what shapes the church, how we lead, and how faith takes form in community. Begin with the recent essays, then explore the earlier work that helped shape those questions.
The church and the Spirit · 2026
The Organizing Principle of the Church
Start with a recent reflection on how spiritual gifts shape the church, and why I’m revisiting an old conviction about mission.
Leadership in practice · 2026
Leadership and Administration
Why leading people and bringing order to the work are gifts to recognize and steward, and what gets lost when we treat them only as skills.
Community and mission · 2013
What is a Missional Community? – Definition
A short introduction to the definition we used at The Austin Stone, and why a community of Christians is essential to a faithful witness.
Leading through change · 2013
Transitioning Your Church to Missional Communities
The opening of a practical series on our transition at The Austin Stone, with lessons about patience, learning, and the time real change takes.
For sustained explorations of a topic, browse the Selected Series.
Browse by subject
Missional community · Leadership · Christianity · Church · Personal · Austin Stone · Discipleship · Theology
Search the archive
All writing
-
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?…
-
Storyframes | Unconventional Baptism
This is why I love what I do. Please watch it!
-
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…
-
The Calm Before the Storm
These last two weeks have been very restful. College ministry has been winding down for the year, and I had a full blown retreat with our staff and a mini-retreat with the Nearly/Newly Wed class Leadership…
-
Inconvenience
Small inconveniences are a good opportunity to slow down and think. I’m waiting for my tire to get fixed, and it’s been a good forty-five minutes of nothing to do. I’m reflecting on my last post…
-
Redeeming Love
At The Austin Stone today, Aaron Ivey led us in worship to song called “Praise for a Fountain Opened” or more commonly, “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood”. The last line of the fourth verse,…
-
The Holy Spirit
I’ve been dwelling on the Holy Spirit as I read Jaeson Ma‘s book The Blueprint. Here is my simple, yet difficult, thought that arose: the degree to which the gospel is central in my life is…
-
Multisite Church
I just finished reading through the new 9 Marks Journal on Multisite church. I thought it was a fantastic and balanced presentation of arguments both for and against the concept. Ed Stetzer dialogued through the basic…
-
The Austin Stone Family Reunion
Join the Austin Stone on Saturday, May 16, for our church-wide Family Reunion + Baptism at First EV Free Church. Family Reunion + Baptism is a chance for us to gather as an entire church family…
-
Google Searching
Apparently, Google performs 400 million queries per day. My question is: “who answered all these questions before Google came around?” For me, I think I just spent most of my time wondering what the answer would…
-
The Reason for God | Chapter 4
I just finished chapter 4 last night, which wrestles with the challenge of the church perpetrating so much injustice in the world. Keller approaches the question in a couple different ways: He addresses the common argument…
-
Retreat!
I’ll be spending the next few days at a retreat with our staff team from The Austin Stone. It should be a great time of refreshment and encouragement as we seek God together for the future…