Before They Are Opponents, They Are Family
One of our greatest challenges isn’t theological. It’s relational. And the path forward begins not with them changing first but with me.
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When A Friend Dies
I got a call this morning and I’m still not quite sure how to process it. A longtime member of our congregation died today. And I know that’s part of this. I know that’s the job, I know I’ve done this more times than I can count, but today just hit different, and I’ve been…
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Five Pairs of Shoes
This Father’s Day, there were five pairs of shoes by the door. Nothing remarkable about them, really. Just shoes. Worn. Scuffed. Kicked off without much thought. But when I walked past them, I stopped. Because for the first time in a while, all five pairs were home. As parents, we spend years tripping over shoes….
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Half and Half
We just finished the second round of voting for LCMS Synodical President, and the synod still doesn’t have an answer. According to the results posted at lcms.org, Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison received 46.3 percent. Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann received 46.0 percent. Three-tenths of one point apart. Merely 14 votes separating the two. We are now…
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The Front Door Nobody Is Using
The mission infrastructure your congregation needs already exists. Most of it just isn’t pointed at anything yet.
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The Assumption That’s Killing Us
There’s an accusation quietly circulating in Lutheran circles right now, and it usually sounds something like this: “If your church is growing, you must be watering something down.” It gets dressed up in more refined language with concerns about “faithful catechesis,” questions about “theological integrity,” whispers about whether a congregation is “truly confessional.” But strip…
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You Don’t Have a Truth Problem. You Have an Abiding Problem.
Why knowing about the truth and actually being free are two completely different things Imagine. You go to the doctor and the scan shows something serious. The doctor sits down and tells you what she found. Do you look at her and say: well, that’s your version of the truth. I have my own version,…
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The Flag Was Never a Promise We’d Agree
There’s a moment that happens at every parade, every ballgame, every graveside service with a flag-draped casket where Americans who agree on almost nothing stand in the same posture, hand over heart, facing the same piece of cloth.
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Merge, Multiply, or Die: The Conversation Nobody Wants to Have and Everybody Needs
Faithfulness sometimes looks like letting go of what you’ve built so that something greater can be born. The case for merger, consolidation, and multisite as mission strategy — not institutional survival.
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You’re Not Afraid of the Dark. You’re Afraid of What the Light Will Show.
What happens when the light shows up in the places you’ve been hiding things You have a junk drawer. Don’t try to deny it. It’s the one in the kitchen. The one you close quickly when someone asks where the spoons are. It has a bottle opener, a lighter, some keys you can’t throw away…
