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This is my favorite song as of late. It’s called Oyster Shell by Porter’s Gate Worship. Honestly, instead of reading my article this week, I’d recommend just listening to this song on repeat. But I’ll say a few words, if you’ll take a moment to read them. God’s Kingdom is like a grain of sand in an oyster shell, a plant growing in the crack of a sidewalk, and yeast in a batch of bread. These images help us see that God’s Kingdom often begins in the smallest places. In a worl

A lot of people start the year by setting goals. One friend of mine set a goal of reading 300 books. Another decided to run 700 miles. One chose to make 1,000 sweet treats. I’ll read and run and eat, but I’ll let them accomplish their own goals. Goals are good. They help us focus and find motivation. A good goal is one we can actually accomplish—and one that still stretches us beyond where we are right now. Meeting a goal like that serves us in two ways. First, there’s the ob

This weekend in Raleigh, something quietly powerful is happening. A walk! A group of Buddhist monks from Texas are passing through our city as part of a 120-day journey to Washington, DC. Step by step, they’re walking over 2,300 miles across 10 states, carrying a simple message: peace, loving-kindness, and compassion. They describe their walk this way: “We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us. The Walk for Peace is a simple yet mea

As much as I don’t like answering “why?” for the 100th time from one of my kids, I actually do really enjoy asking why questions. Because I’m curious and sometimes nosey, and when I ask I learn things like the history of clock towers and the reason purple is considered royal. And when I’ve bee confident enough to dig a little deeper I’ve discovered my calling into ministry. (Trust me. When I was a shy introverted kid feeling a call to preach I asked God WHY?!) Asking why help

This past week we gathered for a charge conference. The kind of meeting that sounds like it belongs in a corporate boardroom - forms to sign, structures to ratify, a board of leadership to officially approve. But our new District Superintendent, Alan Felton, did something simple. He asked us to tell stories. What's happening in the life of the church these days? One person lit up talking about new faces on Sunday mornings. Another mentioned the videos we've been sharing. Seve

Image by Scott Erickson - check it out on Insta The acorn has dropped! Or if you're in some other part of the country maybe it was an apple, or disco ball, or moon pie. What's something your home town used to celebrate the new year? Whatever your local celebration was, it's official. The sprint is over. You made it! Monday morning is coming - the 9-5, the grandkids, the textbooks. But first, this.   There's a moment in Mark 2 that stops me every time. Jesus and his disciples

Image by Salt and Gold - an Australian based Ministry Years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the idea of a "Word of the Year." He and his wife spent some time thinking about a word for each other, and before the start of the new year they gave the other a single word they thought would help the other one grow in the coming year. For example, if one of them spent the last year focusing really hard on work, the word their spouse wanted to give them was "rest." I love the

In small and unexpected ways, I am seeing the Christmas story with new eyes. Six months ago, Sierra and I learned that God was calling our family to serve a new church. With deep prayers—and tears that came easily—we stepped toward what God was calling us to, even as we said goodbye to what we had known. For months, we traveled toward a new place without knowing where we would stay, where our girls would go to school, or how all the pieces would come together. It was a long j

As we listen for God’s call together, one question keeps coming back to me: What relationships will define us as a church? Who will we share life with? Who will we learn from? Whose joys and needs will shape our prayers and our purpose? Because I’ve learned this much about God: God never creates in isolation. Maybe that’s why the creation story has always been my favorite part of the Bible. And yes — I know that makes me sound like the guy in book club who only read chapter

Every now and then one of my girls gets a hold of my phone, and inevitably I am gifted with a string of new pictures in my photos app. There is no annoyance here, this is why I pay extra for storage on my phone - because I love these photos. Each one is a chance for me to actually see through the eyes of these small, amazing humans!  And what has surprised me most is how many photos they like to take of me, and their mom, and other people they love. I’m pretty sure 80% of the

Thanksgiving can be a complicated holiday, especially when we pay attention to the way its history has been told. The first people who came to America from overseas did not have an overwhelmingly positive—nor peaceful—relationship with the people who were here first. I won’t ignore that reality just to see the hopeful side of this holiday. But that doesn’t mean we should throw the day out entirely. There is still something meaningful to glean from it, and certainly for Christ

We’re right at three months of church life together now. And it’s been wonderful in so many ways! It is easy to pause in this season to say thank you to all of the many people who have been part of this journey so far. I’M GRATEFUL FOR YOU! And that gratitude is what propels us to move forward with big hopes for the future! Over the last few weeks we’ve shared some insights with you about what we’re working on with our relationship with NFC and more. I want to lay out a littl

There was energetic christian music, awesome/inspiring speakers, games that brought people together, and even a rain storm inside the conference center last weekend for Pilgrimage 2025! It was a joy to join the youth for one of their nights of worship and to see our own Maddie performing an amazing dance of her own choreography (we’ll get a copy of the dance to share with you)! I’m looking forward to tomorrow, November 16, where a couple of the youth will get to share their e

My wife can’t park in the garage right now. And thankfully it’s not because we turned that space into storage. The problem is a whole kingdom has take my garage by siege! We’ve been slowly ordering a some new things for the house and now there’s a collection of large boxes, ripe for play. My daughters’ imagination have created gates and towers and gardens all throughout the area and most days I’m not privy to the password to get in my own house! It’s a wonderland if you know

If I had just told you this story, you’d say to me, “show me pictures or it didn’t happen.” So I brought a picture (shared with permission). His names Jennings - Jeff Jennings . And in this picture you can clearly see this wonderful man using a scanner at the fair to play laser tag! Yes. Hiding behind a box, at one point a folding chair, and running around this big tent. He went all in! On the other side of the tent is his opponent, Susan (check FB for a video of these two!).

Build a longer table  - the task given to those who have more fortune than others. The image above is a sister church in Pittsboro ( TLC ) hosting a community meal, and I think it captures this phrase well. The full phrase is attributed to an unknown author, which is unfortunate because I would love to read more about what this person had to say. Our world could really use motives like this today. But I’ll move on from the complaining quickly to acknowledge: just because we d

Scott Erickson is one of my favorite artists. If you come by the house you’ll see half a dozen pieces of art that Scott has done. Check his work out! But he’s also a great public speaker, and he tells this story about a butterfly (butterfly cosplay from my daughters above). He asks the crowd, “ do you know what happens in a chrysalis for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly? ” Well do you? I sure didn’t! And what was more surprising was why I had never wondered about it. I

Last weekend I was in Charlotte for the Beyond Conference gathering. A group of New Faith Community pastors like myself travelled to hear inspiring words about the future of the church and find practical advice on how to answer the question, “where is God working today?” (more on this in a moment). Above is two of my favorite speakers from this conference, Gail Song Bantum and Lisa Yebuah - CPO and Pastor respectively of SERT in Raleigh. One thing that inspired me from thes