This article was recently published in the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership. In it, I muse on the interesting relationship between serving and leadership...
Is Unity Really the Solution?
In the wake of recent tragedies in Tulsa, Charlotte, Baton Rouge, Dallas, St. Paul and more, there has been much debate as to how we should move forward as a society. Understandably, there is a growing fear that the violence and civil unrest will not only continue, but escalate. Fear begets anger, anger begets violence, violence begets fear… wash, rinse and repeat. However, these events have also given rise to this recurring sentiment that has been voiced by media pundits and echoed during recent community gatherings – the need for unity....
Cracking the Millennial Code
We’ve all heard the statistics warning of an exodus en-masse of younger people from our Christian communities. The revenue generated from the number of books, articles, research papers, and other documentation that has been completed around Millennials and their perceptions of the Church – and WHY – could probably fund a small nation. Sadly, I’m only half kidding…
Christian Leadership for a Post-Christian America
To be clear, I reject the idea that we’re living in a post-Christian America. I think the premise of this idea is fundamentally false as it requires one to subscribe to the notion that America was once a Christian nation. While I do believe that the beliefs of our founding fathers (Christian and non-Christian, theist and atheist) were woven into the fabric of our great nation – and yes, for much of its history a majority of its citizens have self-identified as Christian – history books have shown that America was expressly founded with the intent of being a democracy and not a theocracy. However, this does not discredit the fact that one of the strongest threads that ties this “more perfect union” together is its promise of religious liberty for all...
Meet Me in the Field: Leading to Overcome Racial Issues
Recent Feature in the Philadelphia Inquirer (4/4/16)
Recently, I was invited to write an Op-Ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer exploring issues of race and the church here in the Philadelphia community. More specifically, there was an interest in following up to explore the significance of the Under My Skin: Courageous Conversations About Race and the Church event that American Bible Society hosted back on Feb. 8th, 2016. While there are many great events and gatherings popping up across the country that are actively exploring the rising racial tensions within our communities, this event sought to separate itself by empowering attendees to find a greater personal agency and become the solutions to the problems that they're seeing...
How Wolves Change Rivers
As Christians, we often struggle with the battle of living “in but not of.” In more modern times, research – and personal experience – has found the church to more often then not err on the side of caution, choosing to pursue more of an “us vs. them” strategy that has lead congregants to isolate themselves for fear of falling prey to the temptations of secular society. We justify our isolation with cliché phrases like “I was saved from that,” and we frequent church based activities while forgoing more cultural or secular ones. We listen to Christian sub-genres of music and watch Christian-centric movies… I wonder though… is this actually Biblical?...