You matter When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter. When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter. When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter. When you continue to raise the bar on [...]

I just attended a fundraiser for this orgainzation Imagine LA.  The concept is simple:  8000 homeless kids in greater LA + 8000 faith communities in greater LA =no kids sleeping on the streets. The strategy is hard work, but they are making good success in their pilot projects. This concept is very similar to what [...]

A major part of my just completed PhD dissertation (Fuller Seminary, 2009) deals with the ways traditional denominations need to resist institutionalization in order to remain missionally engaged in culture. The Evangelical Covenant Church is one of a handful of denominations which is taking intentional steps to avoid an unintended, but often predictable, drift towards [...]

My entry for the  Good News for your City series with JR Woodward is now up.  This is a great series, with people from a number of backgrounds speaking. You can read what I wrote, and what others are writing here

I am part of a writing project conceived by JR Woodward.  My post will go up on JR’s website on Tuesday April 21st. The task is as follows: From the streets of LA to the skyscrapers of NYC, from the flats of London to the halls of academia, people are discussing the Good News. In [...]

Professional clergy are in constant danger of being so consumed by their congregational duties that ministry in their local neighborhood is minimized or neglected altogether. The demands of the institution press upon the pastor with a vengeance. This often leaves the pastor, as well as the congregation, un-engaged and isolated from their wider community. This [...]

Tomorrow is Easter. As a preacher turned seminary professor, I am agitated today. Preachers everywhere tomorrow get to proclaim once again the amazing story of the Easter event.  That event not only was unprecidented historically, but continues to impact history, lives, neighborhoods and cultures.  The Easter story, proclaiming that Jesus is risen, offers hope.  It [...]

Hi all! I have been away for sometime. Sorry about that!  I just finished my dissertation and sent it off to the Research Librarian at Fuller Theological Seminary for a final look over. I will be earning my PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller in June.  My dissertation concerns a missional imagining for denominational structures that [...]

Yesterday I took one of my field trips from suburban Simi Valley to downtown Los Angeles. A few times a year I hop on the subway in North Hollywood take the ride to downtown. I never have much of an agenda.  I just walk and see what I will discover. This time, the discovery was not [...]

This short film is amazing.   it is 15 minutes long—and worth taking the time. It is about caring for others, appreciating them, telling them that they are amazing, and watching them smile. Making the world a better place sometimes is as easy as telling someone that they are great. Watch the film….Practice what you see in the [...]