This year at the Praxis Gathering we’re submerging into a theology and practice of Loving our Neighborhood. We’ll explore the unique possibilities in the urban, suburban and rural contexts. Meet Don Coleman In addition to his pastorship of a local church, Don Coleman is a community leader who passionately cares for the city of Richmond. He has a reputation of …
Overwhelmed? Two Key Practices to Reinvigorate Your Life and Mission
The greatest joy in my life is my wife and 4 kids. I love being a dad and husband. I am always trying to be aware of how our involvement in planting churches and pastoring is affecting our family. I have seen and heard and know too many stories of the loss of family at the alter of church leadership. …
Praxis Gathering 2017: Michael Frost
This year at the Praxis Gathering we’re submerging into a theology and practice of Loving our Neighborhood. We’ll explore the unique possibilities in the urban, suburban and rural contexts. Meet Mike Frost Mike is a 20-year veteran of the academy, but doesn’t consider himself an academic, but rather a teacher. He taught at Morling College in Sydney during those years and …
3 Steps to Cultivate Rest for the Soul through Prayer
So many of us are so busy and tired that we’ve entirely forgotten what peace and rest feel like. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak at a church in Texas called Austin Mustard Seed, and I spoke on rest and Sabbath. It was a great opportunity to refresh my own understanding of what it means …
How to Create Your Best Life in Turbulent Times
As I speak to friends of all ages they tell me they tell me they are slammed by the growing pressure on their daily lives. Are you experiencing a time crunch trying to keep up with work pressure, time for relationships, working out, screen time plus a little time for being present to God and Neighbor? You are not …
What Mark Zuckerberg Can (Accidentally) Teach Us About Church
Mark Zuckerberg recently suggested that Facebook could (and maybe should) become your church. A lot of pastors and Christian leaders are freaking out about this, but Zuckerberg is merely following to its natural extreme an ecclesiology most evangelical pastors and church planters have bought into for decades. (Skye Jethani has a fantastic collection of tweets about this, by the way.) The …
Practicing Cinematographeum Divina (Theology at the Theater, Part 4)
If you have followed this blog series from the beginning, you know we’ve been discussing how our experience of film can augment our relationship with God through a process I call cinematographeum divina. To read more about that, please read Theology at the Theater, Part 2, here. Let’s see how this 6-step process can be applied to another Sundance film, …
How to Unbuild a Church Planter
From my first days in ministry as a pastor I remember those around me telling me consistently to enjoy the journey, that I need to slow down and enjoy the process. I have always been a high energy, determined, hard-driven, goal-oriented individual. The Disenfranchised Planter Therefore, when I entered church planting, I had all kinds of dreams, aspirations, and goals …
4 Pro Tips for Church Planters Looking For a Place To Meet
For church planters, Where do we meet? is a top-of-mind question. You can start in homes, but eventually most church planters realize they need a public place to gather for worship. When I first started dreaming about planting my first church, I suddenly looked at every place I went with new eyes. I’d evaluate very bookstore, restaurant, brewery, office building, coworking space, …
How Sacred Spaces Help Us Feel Loved
I have just recently started working a new church in December 2016. It is lovely congregation, small, older, traditional and kind. I am the age of most of the congregants grandchildren. So far, everything is going great. Yet, when starting at a new church it can get very overwhelming and isolating. Overwhelming because you are constantly learning a new system, sub-culture, …