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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We Didn’t Love Consumers
Recently I had the honor of speaking at the Verge conference in Chicago and I though I would share it as a series on the blog here. Over the last 7 years, we have been in…
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Casting Vision Without Practice
Recently I had the honor of speaking at the Verge conference in Chicago and I though I would share it as a series on the blog here. Over the last 7 years, we have been in…
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Assuming the Gospel
Recently I had the honor of speaking at the Verge conference in Chicago and I though I would share it as a series on the blog here. Over the last 7 years, we have been in…
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3 Ways to Kill a Missional Culture
Recently I had the honor of speaking at the Verge conference in Chicago and I though I would share it as a series on the blog here. Over the last 7 years, we have been in…
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New Ebook from Ben Reed
Recently my friend Ben Reed released a short book on small groups called “The Ultimate Small Group Blueprint”. Ben is the small groups pastor at Long Hollow, a multi-site church in the Nashville, TN area. He’s…
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Where Do We Do Third Place?
Recently I was asked: As I am trying to lead our small groups toward missional communities, my people are starting to get the concept of third place. One thing that would be really helpful is if…
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The Triperspectival Content of Biblical Leadership
A leader instructs the head, shepherds the heart, and coaches the hands, which means teaching doctrine, forming character, and giving practical steps toward obedience. Every leader has a bent toward one of the three. The biblical…
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Meeting People Where They Are
Understanding how to speak God’s word into a particular person’s circumstances is what distinguishes a visionary from a biblical leader. Jesus does it with the Samaritan woman in John 4, and doing it in American culture…
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Multiple Third Place Environments
Recently I received the following question on Third Place: We planted our church in ’07. Currently, our Gospel Communities meet for a meal together and Bible discussion twice a month (every other week), and people meet…
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Where Jesus Wants Us To Go
The second half of the definition comes first, because where Jesus wants people to go is what grounds everything else. That destination is the Great Commission, the model is the way Jesus invested in the first…
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What is Biblical Leadership?
Biblical leadership is meeting someone where they are, and taking them where Jesus wants them to go. That definition came out of a seminary assignment and has held up across discipleship, leadership development, and organizational leadership…
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Gender Specific Missional Communities?
I recently received this question from a partner at The Austin Stone, and I thought it would be beneficial to address here: Hey Todd, thanks for your faithfulness to getting this information to us. It’s proven…