Advancing the Church
Reflections on Five Years at The Gathering
This past weekend was the fifth anniversary of The Gathering Nashville. It’s hard to believe that five years have already gone by. Without overstating the fact, they’ve certainly been five of the greatest years of my life in ministry. Not only has my family flourished, but my faith and my… More
Why There are So Many Mean Christians
When I was first converted to Christ, I was naive in the best sense of that word. I was trusting. I believed that everyone who said they were a Christian understood that Christ is the center of Christian; that Christian is about what God has done for us, not what… More
How to Break Out of Lazy-Boy Land
All too often we find ourselves bearing up under responsibilities for which we have long lost our passion.
The resolution is often just to walk away and start all over again. But is there a way to regain your passion for the responsibilities that you have allowed to become routine… More
God Doesn’t Scream
In addition to being a professional Christian, that is my calling has been to be a pastor, I’ve also attended church all my life. My mama told me she took me to church in a banana box and put me in the nursery when I was just a baby. And… More
The American Church’s Dirtiest Little Secret
It has been my privilege to lead churches since I was 18 years old. I have watched both movements and movers move on and off the scene. The American church landscape has been painted, erased and painted over many times, yet in all these years and in the passing of… More
What’s Your Ministry?
I have to tell you that I am really thrilled about our new Friday Morning Bible Study. Not the least of which is to try to help people have a full, mature understanding of their faith; a first-hand faith that allows you to live your life on your own terms,… More
I Fear God, but I’m Not Afraid of Him
Without question, the number one thing you should do before you do anything else, is to get the God question settled in your life. That is, to make true peace with God.
Nothing in life works the way it was meant to when the God question in your life is… More
Momentum: Building the Kingdom of God, Debt-Free
Last week, Paula and I attended a Momentum conference in Nashville. If you don’t know what that is, I’ll be glad to explain and tell you why you ought to go too.
First of all, I love the word momentum. It just creates a lot of good energy and feelings. … More
How to Live Christianly
We live in a day where religion is suspect at best and feared and opposed at worst.
I think we have to accept, in America, that we Christians are in part to blame, or at least we’ve hastened the demise of the goodwill and the generic word “religion.”
Even the… More
Your Good Must be True
One of my life missions is to advance the good. The difficulty oftentimes is not understanding what the good is, but the advancing part.
Here is the bottom line. Just because your good is true, doesn’t mean that you can use any means available to advance your good. The… More
Pastor. Author . Speaker. The man behind the vision has proven in the process to be as multi-faceted and culturally timely as the churches he’s founded. 
