Before the Conflict Comes
Almost every church that mishandled a conflict improvised it. The remedy is boring, and biblical, and has to be built while nothing is wrong.
Read Article →From the Substack
From the Substack
Weekly reflections on biblical leadership, eldership, and walking faithfully through the wounds of ministry — published on Substack and gathered here.
Subscribe on Substack →When Scripture Becomes a Shield
The texts given to protect the flock get turned around and pointed at it. This is how that happens, and how to tell which one you are looking at.
Read Article →A Different Standard
Paul hands Timothy a separate procedure for a charge against an elder, and the clause almost nobody preaches is the one holding it up.
Read Article →Gaining Your Brother
Everyone quotes it as procedure. Jesus set it between a lost sheep and an unforgiving servant, and the setting is the whole argument.
Read Article →The Church Was Never Given to the Shepherd
Ephesians says Christ gave shepherds to the Church. Somewhere along the way we started reading it backwards.
Read Article →From Beside You
unBiblical Eldership arrived yesterday. Before you read a word of it, I want you to know where it was written from.
Read Article →Something Was Amiss
Where the book begins — chapter one of unBiblical Eldership, adapted for this space.
Read Article →Why I Wrote a Book I Didn't Want to Write
The comfort I was given in affliction was never mine to keep.
Read Article →That You May Be Healed
Scripture's path for restoring a sinner has a destination, and it is not the end of a process. It is a brother made well.
Read Article →The Wounds He Kept
Thomas needed to see before he could trust again. The risen Christ did not scold the need. He kept His scars to answer it.
Read Article →The Only Skill on the List
God's qualifications for shepherds are almost entirely character. Somewhere along the way, ours became a résumé.
Read Article →Learning to Trust the Body Again
You were wounded in the one place that was meant to be safe, and now a room full of pews can feel impossible to walk back into. Two travelers on a road out of Jerusalem show where the road home begins
Read Article →Who Was Feeding the Sheep?
Ezekiel watched the shepherds of Israel feed themselves while the flock scattered. Then God said He would come looking Himself.
Read Article →You Were Not the Problem
The shame you were handed in that church was never yours to carry. Scripture says it belongs somewhere else.
Read Article →Watch Yourself First
Paul's last charge to the Ephesian elders began with the one soul a shepherd is most likely to stop guarding: his own.
Read Article →The Reed He Will Not Break
There is a verse for everyone a church decided was too damaged to keep. Most of us were never shown it.
Read Article →Into Arabia
Before Paul preached, he withdrew. The leadership work that matters most often begins in the wilderness, where nothing seems to be happening at all.
Read Article →Long Enough to Lead
Philip's question is the one every shepherd has to answer before he answers any other.
Read Article →The Jesus We Were Given
I still have the kraft paper.
Read Article →The Face They Never Forgot
The Shepherd you met is still the Shepherd over you.
Read Article →When the Doctor Is Sick
The Great Physician is still healing His own. But the doctors in the room can grow sick, and most local churches have no way to say so.
Read Article →Beware the Wolf in Shepherd's Clothing
Scripture tells us they come from among us. It also tells us how to recognize them.
Read Article →What Does a Healthy Elder Board Actually Look Like?
Biblical eldership has a shape. Most churches have never seen it.
Read Article →Leaving Wasn't the Betrayal. Staying Would Have Been.
Faithfulness to The Church is more important than loyalty to a local church.
Read Article →The Church That Easter Built
Acts 2 Built a Community. We Built a Brand.
Read Article →When the Church Confuses the Kingdom of God with the Kingdom of Man
What the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate Have to Say to the Church Today
Read Article →The Board That Wouldn't Look in the Mirror
Why Elder Boards Avoid the Questions That Matter Most
Read Article →Your Church Needs More Than a Good Preacher
Why Plural Leadership Matters for Every Congregation
Read Article →What Happens When the shepherd Stops Listening to The Shepherd
There’s a verse in Ezekiel that I’m ashamed to say I never really knew.
Read Article →Explore Our In-Depth Articles
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