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.
Browse by subject
Missional community · Leadership · Christianity · Church · Personal · Austin Stone · Discipleship · Theology
Search the archive
All writing
-
unChristian 5
Chapter 5 is title “Anti-homosexual”, and the thesis of the chapter is that Christians must become known more for there love of individuals regardless of sexual brokenness, rather that against the sin itself. I understand the…
-
Old Stuff – Disciplined Spirit
Number 4 ———————— 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline” Most people love parts one and two of the Spirit God gives…
-
Mission as organizing principle from The Forgotten Ways
This blog articulates well the idea of mission as central to small group and church sustainability. I consistently wrestle with the concept of assimilation into mission rather than ministry, and the most effective means to accomplish…
-
Old Stuff – Ecclesiological Implications of Reformed Doctrine
Number 3 —————————- Here’s another post along the lines of some of my theological musings over the past few months. This is excerpted from some other writing I did, so I apologize if it doesn’t entirely make sense…hopefully…
-
He’s On Vacation
I am in the great state of Washington right now, chilling with my family. We’ll be heading up to the family cabin at Schweitzer mountain this weekend for some epic skiing and relaxation. If anyone is…
-
Old Stuff – Confessing Corporate Sin
Here’s number two in the Old Stuff: Here is Round #2 with respect to some theological/church wanderings of my mind… Recently, Nehemiah 1 has been the source of some intense thought for me, and although I haven’t developed the…
-
Old Stuff – Subjecting Logic to Scripture
I found some old posts from the family blog that I thought I would re-run here, so here’s the first from April of 2007. —————– As I have continued to engage Systematic Theology, I have realized how…
-
pine cove fun
we spent new years at pine cove’s woods camp, and it has been an excellent way to ring in 2009. i’ve been able to make some headway on j i packer’s knowing god (thought provoking), reflect…
-
unChristian 4
Chapter 4 in unChristian–titled “Get Saved”–processes through the outsiders’ perception that Christians are far more preoccupied with saving souls than caring for people. “Only one-third of young outsiders believe that Christians genuinely care about them (34…
-
Cultural Mandate and Renewal
I enjoyed these challenging thoughts from the 9Marks blog on the Cultural Mandate specifically as they pertain to the Christian’s and the Church’s engagement in culture making/redemption. As a result of The Austin Stone’s Fall 2008…
-
Great Vision Creates Liminality
I enjoyed reading these thoughts from Alan Hirsch on the power of future vision to shape the present. Using his language, a bold future vision contributes to liminality, or an out of balance state, which in…
-
unChristian 3
Working on Chapter Three right now, which is titled “Hypocritical”. The basic premise is that the common perception of Christians is that we are two-faced and have double standards. Simply put, we do not practice what…