Grace is dangerous

In my recent post on church discipline I said “We’ve got to stop living in fear and allow ourselves to take the risk of being a people of grace.” In related news, our Preaching Team at The Well is reading Paul Zaul’s book, Grace in Practice: A Theology for Everyday Life, “Or maybe the grace…

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John Howard Yoder on the Church Discipline Process

Over the years at we have had our fair share of conflict at The Well. I cannot say that we have always handled this conflict perfectly. At the same time I would like to think that we are getting better at it. It is probably safe to say that when churches do conflict and confrontation…

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John Howard Yoder on Women in “Ministry”

Yesterday we ordained two great men at The Well. It was a pretty awesome day. More on that later maybe. Now, it just so happens that each of our pastors is now a man. Hopefully it doesn’t stay that way for too long. I strongly affirm and believe that men and women are equally gifted…

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The Permanent Revolution & Measuring Impact

A thought came to me today while reading The Permanent Revolution and it was too long for a tweet. So I offer you my first blog post in a long, long time.  As churches, we have to stop asking the question of “What do we get out of it” and begin asking “How is what…

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Edwin Friedman – Failure of Nerve – in Five Minutes

I prepared this for a leadership call I did with some close friends in the Ecclesia Network. Many of us have found Edwin Friedman’s book, The Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Soft Cover / Kindle)  exceptionally helpful.  I’d say its one of the most influential books I’ve ever read on…

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Preaching the Gospel?

Fascinating quote from a book we’re using in a group at The Well: “My concern about evangelism is that sometimes there is a greater emphasis on the need for some kind of response than on the clear exposition of the gospel. Telling people they need to come to Jesus, that they must be born again,…

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Junia is Not Alone

I’m a friend of many women who have had to wrestle through trying to discern their calling into pastoral ministry. Discerning this isn’t easy no matter your sex, but when you are a women its infinitely more difficult. I’m one who advocates for women being able to serve in any capacity in the local church.…

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The Necessity of Community for Witness

In light of my post yesterday on the problem of isolation and individualism in our culture I offer you this short expert from Darrel Guder’s excellent book, The Continuing Conversion of the Church.  This is an older book (published in 2000), but I read this in 2001 and it single-handedly recalibrated my understanding of the…

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Submission in Leadership

One of the major early themes in The Imitation of Christ is that of humility. I will be honest. I am not a big fan of humility. Humility is one of those things that constantly seems desperately out of grasp. Just when I feel like I am getting close to understanding it and getting it,…

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