Writing
Essays and working ideas from more than fifteen years of writing about faith, leadership, discipleship, the church, family, and life in Austin.
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A few essays that introduce the questions and convictions behind this site.
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Meekness, Humility, and Humiliation
A friend once encouraged me to ask God for meekness, and I would tell you to be careful what you pray for. Meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control, and God seems to produce…
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From Faith, By Faith, and For Faith
Leaving The Austin Stone has raised a question I cannot avoid: how much of what I saw happen had nothing to do with me? I never realized how much I trusted the horses and chariots of…
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Some of My Writing Posted Elsewhere
I am rebooting my discipline of writing in 2025, which means dusting off a blog that has not been used in a decade. I have not been entirely disengaged in the meantime, and these are five…
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2025 Theme: Patience and Presence
My two words for 2025 are patience and presence, and both cut against how I usually operate, because I tend to run with a pretty high motor. Patience is not passivity, it is an active trust…
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The Next Phase of the Journey
In January 2025 I resigned as Executive Pastor of Ministry Strategies at The Austin Stone, and this is the letter that explained why. We stayed in Austin, partnered with Reliant, and began the work that became…
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Group Formation Process Graphic
I’ve written in the past about the different stages of formation and growth that groups tend to go through on their way to becoming missional communities. The chart below summarizes the process and provides a few…
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Strategies I Use to Share the Gospel
I’ve been teaching a Theological Survey course at The Austin Stone this past fall and spring, and it has been a great experience in equipping the saints to think deeply about God, to love Him with…
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My Doctoral Thesis on Missional Communities
This past few years, I have had the joy of participating the Doctor of Educational Ministry program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I participated in a cohort of five executive pastors under the supervision of…
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Building a Disciple-Making Culture
This post was originally published at the SEND Network website here. Building a Disciple-Making Culture Many people much smarter than me have wrestled with the question “what is culture?” At the heart of it though, culture…
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The Essentials of Disciple Making
The following article was originally posted on the SEND Network site here. I am ecstatic that much of the conversation in church planting and church leadership has been moving towards the topic of discipleship. Books are…
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Aren’t Missional Communities Just Small Groups?
Recently I was asked by a reader on this blog and partner in our church: Is the bar so high in missional community that no one can reach it? Or, only a few groups can reach…