This practice was birthed out of the Ignatian movement started by St. Ignatius of Loyola, which saw monks travel the world to share the power and purpose of the gospel. These missionaries traveled in community and embedded themselves in cultures…
I love when my kids tell me about their day. They are 4 and 8 years old, so they’re eager and excited to invite me into their little worlds. When I’m able to be undistracted and present with them, I…
One of my favorite rhythms in our marriage is our annual conversation and reflection on the year that was and the year that is coming. It was in these moments we prayed about starting a new missional community, moving…
Every good journey begins with a fresh awareness. An awakening perhaps. This article is written for those in ministry whose enjoyment of Jesus is missing in the current season. It is for those who deeply desire to ENJOY JESUS and…
Craving a “Date” with Jesus Pastoral ministry comes with some of the greatest joys and deepest sorrows. I remember a particularly draining season, filled with all kinds of discouragements. I was doubting my own effectiveness at discipling others, feeling the…
When we think about the magnitude of seeing every life saturated with the gospel of Jesus Christ and how many people live in our cities, it can become overwhelming. For some, that overwhelming feeling can immobilize us. Moving from big…
The following is Day 1 of 5 in a new devotional called Spirit Lead. This devotional helps create a moment of pause and reflection with God while you consider your life within the church, listen to the Spirit, and ask:…
God has been at work in and through all of us this past year. It would take volumes to describe all that He has done. Our team is so encouraged by the way we see God at work in and…
READ PSALM 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you…
Being faithful isn’t a daily grind we have to strategize. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.” John 5:20 This text is one of the most compelling parts of scripture. It’s…
MONDAY Who is God? God is generous. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or…
MONDAY Who is God? God is King. Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued…
MONDAY Who is God? God is a Good Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads…
MONDAY Who is God? God is gracious. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God…
MONDAY Who is God? God is light. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12 …
MONDAY Who is God? God is our perfect Father. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we…
MONDAY Who is God? Jesus is the way, truth, and life. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have…
MONDAY Who is God? God is holy. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the…
MONDAY Who is God? God is love. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God,…
We want to grow in gospel fluency and have it deeply planted into our thoughts, words, and actions. Where do we start? God Himself; growing in our intimacy with Him, letting the roots of His love grow deeper and deeper…
Sabbath ceasing means to cease not only from work itself but also from the need to accomplish and be productive, from the worry and the tension that accompany our modern criterion of efficiency, from our efforts to be in…
We pray for his resurrection hope in every moment of death. We pray for his great reconciliation in the face of every sin. We pray for his advancement and victory over every kind of evil. You don’t have to…
The Apostle Paul directs the church in Rome to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). Then, while instructing the church in Corinth on how to engage in the…
It's Labor Day, which means summer officially comes to a close, and we all gear up for the "normal" life that fall brings. The summer has been really busy for us, too, and we want to highlight a few of…
In 2012 I chose to plant a church in a part of the world where every corner hosts a church building and every person has prayed the “sinners prayer.” I chose to plant in the religious south because though…
I often plead with leaders, coaches, and communities to depend on the Holy Spirit. I plead with Christians to rely on the Spirit, whom Jesus promised would be our helper. But what does that mean? With so much confusion…
Restlessness is an indicator that something’s gotten out of whack. (Part three in the Everyday Sabbath Rest series from David Achata.) About 1,600 years ago, Augustine of Hippo prayed to God, saying, “You have made us for yourself, and our…
About a year ago I picked up a book from Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola called Jesus Speaks – Learning to Recognize & Respond to the Lord’s Voice. It was ten dollars well spent. I enjoyed the first half of…
Part 6 in the 6 Questions We Answer Again and Again series. If you fail to pray, you will have missed the most important element of transitioning from Sunday to everyday. When we first began training leaders to start and…
If I'm perfectly honest, I've always been somewhat mystified by Easter. While I understand the Scriptural truths behind it, I haven't been able to put a finger easily on why it is such a big deal for my own life…
(Part two in the Everyday Sabbath Rest series from David Achata.) The Holy Spirit grows people so they can work from a rested place. We’re prone to unbelief. Doubting God is in charge and that He’ll care for the needs of…
A non-rested person has little capacity to live in Christ’s way. Like the first disciples, what many of us need is for Jesus to stand and still the storm (Mark 4:35–41). And like those first disciples, standing in awe of who…
(Part six in Tim Parlier's series on Raising Financial Support. Read part seven here.) My wife and I spent this past week at our all-church family retreat with some amazing people from all over the U.S. and world. At…
Prayerful Planning for the Extrovert (and Introvert)
In the world of missional communities and church-planting, there’s a real misconception that to be effective you’ve got to be blowing the doors off your house every week. I wasn’t born a planner, but out of necessity I’ve gotten…
It’s one thing to teach people what to do and how, but it’s an entirely different experience to give them the equipment to do it on their own. When I was 16 my grandfather invited me spend the summer working…
We need people who have access to our lives, ask us hard questions, probe our motivations, and remind us of the freedom we’ve been given in Jesus. In a post I wrote a few years ago, I discussed how the…
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