Helping God's People to Flourish
Two vampire tales—Dracula and Nosferatu—reveal twin faces of evil. One seduces; the other infects. Together, they expose the anatomy of sin and the sickness of the world. Stoker and Murnau’s visions mirror humanity’s moral unraveling and point us toward Christ, the Great Physician, who restores what evil consumes.
Today on my 45th birthday I’m sharing some reflections on life, faith, parenting, and some areas in which I’m still trying to grow. I’m grateful for the journey so far!
Want to get better at writing prompts for AI—instantly? Here’s a simple trick: before running your prompt, ask the AI to suggest a better version first. Just one sentence of extra effort can sharpen your prompt, clarify your goals, and dramatically improve your results. I’ll even give you three ready-to-use templates (from beginner to expert) to help you try it out. This one habit can accelerate your learning and unlock the full potential of tools like ChatGPT.
Tired of trying to explain complex documents to AI? What if you could just show it instead? In this post, explore how uploading files—like spreadsheets, PDFs, and photos—lets AI analyze, summarize, and generate insights with accuracy and creativity. This is one of the most powerful tools you can use for ministry and life!
A collection of brief thoughts about love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Many conflicts escalate due to a lack of feeling heard. Learn how active listening can defuse tension and foster understanding.
Learn how to give AI a target goal, and flip the script so it can glean from you what it needs to help you accomplish your objective.
Encouragement to deepen our relationship with God through prayer, endurance, and transformation in trials.
There are at least five ways you might go about fighting a good fight. Identify your typical conflict style and learn more about what style might best fit your situation.
If you enjoy the practice of making posts about your life, but realize you are probably prone to oversharing, have you considered a digital journal app?
Use the Persona Approach with Generative AI models to have a useful thinking partner, a sounding board, or even a panel of experts.
Examining what it means to be made in God’s image and how we cultivate Christian character, integrity, and humility.
For church settings, it is helpful to know about Speed Leas’ five levels of church conflict. Here is an overview of what they are and how to respond to them.
AI is no replacement for people, but it can serve as a helpful assistant. Here are some basics of how it works and some tips for getting started.
A collection of aphorisms exploring how God’s eternal nature, His presence, and His mystery shape our faith and trust through His unseen work.
Conflict is unavoidable, but it’s not always negative. Learn how to embrace conflict as an opportunity for growth, deeper relationships, and healthier leadership.
This is a small collection of significant quotes by Carl Jung, accompanied by some imagery they inspired.
Artificial Intelligence is providing a fresh opportunity to reconsider an old dilemma: What is the role of a person’s faith in the validity of sacramental acts?
If you haven’t considered getting a Scripture journal, it’s a great way to help you go deeper in your study and transformation. Here is a current assortment of options to get an individual book of the Bible, set up for your note-taking, study, and artistic engagements.
Here is a collection of devotional Haikus based on various passages from Ephesians.
Effective leadership involves not only providing guidance and direction but also fostering a supportive and encouraging environment. Through our method of leadership, we want to motivate volunteers, boost their morale, and create a sustainable and fulfilling volunteer experience. How do you “pay” your volunteers?
September 3, 1967 was Dagen H, or “H-Day” in Sweden. On this day, the entire nation made a huge change. We can learn a lot about good leadership and communication practices from their accomplishment.
One of the most important ways we are formed is through the Christian community. The church gives us examples of faith in all stages of life, and friends who encourage us and support us through our struggles. Be intentional about how you connect with people who can help you grow, and in whom you can invest.
As of January 2024, I have been working in full-time ministry for twenty years. I wanted to celebrate this milestone, and to share some things I’ve learned along the way.
Here are some common thinking traps and ways you can avoid them, as well as some specific ways to cultivate and magnify positive emotions.
Scripture is foundational to Christian spirituality. Here are some different ways to engage with Scripture. If you want some kinds of insights you haven’t had before, it is worth trying to engage with Scripture in ways you haven’t before.
Prayer is one of the fundamental building blocks of spiritual growth. Here are some things to consider as you put together your practice of prayer, as well as four different ways to pray.
When we see a person hurting, we often want to say something. Rather than some of the old clichés which are not always helpful, here are some other ways you might respond more helpfully.
This post will guide you through the process of creating a personal Rule of Life; a strategy for how to become the person you are trying to be.
You could describe much of who a person is by summarizing their habits. Here are some ideas about how habits work, how to form good ones, and how to break bad ones. We honor God best when we love the right things in the right order of priorities.
While attending a Nativity play, it occurred to me that there are a lot of helpful concepts we can apply from the story of Jesus’ birth to how we welcome and integrate newcomers into the story of God, lived out by the church.
An explanation and guided experience in an old practice called Lectio Divina. Try it and see what you think!
Even though your life is unique, it is helpful to consider what has helped other people to grow closer to God. Here are some basic frameworks for thinking about God, pathways to God, and typical moves that faith can involve as you engage with these practices.
Here are five foundational ideas for how Spiritual Growth works, and a challenge for you to try.
This post is a collection of links to the various posts in the series: Designing Your Life For Growth as well as an annotated bibliography of books to consider on the topic of Spiritual Formation.
It isn’t my opinion that AI-generated content is yet capable of replacing the deep thinking and creativity of humans, but it can provide terrific starting points and initial brainstorming.
Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence are here to stay. How might we harness their potential for the Kingdom of God?
Reflections about times of transition and the interactions between church leaders.
To make slides more impactful, pay attention to the basic principles of photography.
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In many settings, identifying groups can lead to negative things. But to encourage positive change, it can benefit a person to know how and with whom they identify themselves.
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To help people stay with you, when you have a variety of content, the order matters in which you give it.
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One of the most helpful books I’ve read in a while is Bowdle’s Rethink Communication. It’s all specifically about churches and how we communicate. I
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People’s lives are constantly stimulated and distracted. To keep them with you, you must vary your content style frequently.
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If it’s all on your slides, why do they need you? Let visuals be an aid, not a replacement.
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Speak to the intersection of theology and life. If your theology doesn’t “become flesh” it won’t provide anything useful.
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People are distracted enough as it is. Don’t contribute to your listeners’ struggle to focus on your message.
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If you are wanting to grow spiritually, here are some foundational ideas upon which to build your routines and expectations.
In this episode, we talk with Rachel Howell about Biblical interpretation. A scholar and missionary herself, Rachel has taken a deep dive into Alexander Campbell’s influence on Churches of Christ in the way we view and interpret Scripture. She will critique some areas of imbalance and suggest what it might look like to build an even healthier hermeneutic as we move forward.
As you prepare to speak, how do you go about researching what you will share? It might help to balance out the commentaries with which you’re interacting.
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For your sermons to be of consistent in their quality, you need to give them room to grow. Here’s one way to do it.
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