In our asset-based approach to Christian community development, we use a lot of tools to help us capture information that will help us discern the movement of the Spirit.  Things like asset-mapping, listening meetings, interest and passion surveys are helpful tools.  However, the...

This is my third and final post containing insights from Alan Roxburgh’s book, Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood.  This book is a must read book for anyone doing community based ministry.  Roxburgh makes a powerful argument that way too many of our conversations as Christians...

“After this the Lord  appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest...

Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood  by Alan J. Roxburgh, is probably one of the best books I have read this year.  I will be sharing several posts containing some of the most insightful segments.  This post contains the basic premise of the book.  Roxburgh writes, “At this...

Recently I heard a local pastor say something along the lines of, “We need to focus more on building on-ramps to the kingdom and less on parking lots for the church.” Many would agree that the church universal spends way too much time focusing on its own needs – building campaigns,...

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.        Howard Thurman Pastor Sammy Williams recently asked his congregation, “What makes you come alive?” After...

This week we launched our north side Dream Team with the following stated purpose: The goal of this group is to discern how God might be calling Embrace Richmond, Northminster Church and each of us individually to be agents of blessing to the north side. We will be using an asset based...

I recently heard a pastor say that the most important question a church can ask itself is, “What would it look like if God’s kingdom were to become fully manifest in our neighborhood, our city, our nation and our world?” I would add that the second most important question a church can...

After publicly outing myself as a pastor in hiding, I have received an outpouring of support as well as concern.  What would it look like for me to take off the Executive Director hat and put on a Pastor hat?  What in my work would change? The truth is absolutely nothing would change in my...

This post is a personal confession.  I have been in hiding.  I know God called me to minister boldly as a part of the church universal but I have been hiding behind my non-profit and under my “Executive Director” title.  I have been hanging out in the margins with people who let me be...

Over the past six months I have traveled to conferences in Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, Alexandria and southern California.  I have had visitors from Washington State and southern California come to Richmond and share their stories.  What is obvious to me after talking with dozens of these...

It’s “Hatmaker” week.  When I realized that Jen Hatmaker, author of ” “7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess” is the wife of Brandon Hatmaker, founder of Austin New Church and author of “Barefoot Church”, I downloaded Barefoot Church and found I love his thoughts as...