When I left a career I loved in advertising and marketing over 30 years ago, I thought, “I’m leaving an exciting, unpredictable life for a life in the church—a calm and serene future talking about Jesus!”

My last big project was with a British company I loved. The people and the work were different, creative, and new. There was often a curveball, and I always enjoyed finding solutions—almost daily. But what I found was that those few short years in marketing couldn’t hold a candle to life in ministry. It has been a beautiful rollercoaster ride.

Over the past five years, I’ve interacted with both the best and worst personalities. I’ve learned to love and forgive in some crazy ways. I’ve also met plenty of folks who had no business managing the life of the church—but that was a challenge leaders in the early church faced as well.

For the first time in ministry, I decided to go deeper with people—to build intimate relationships and not be so guarded about my shortcomings. I finally let go of the fear of allowing my staff and parishioners to know who I really am. What I found is that congregations often want limited reality in their pastors. The role is safer that way… at least in the short run. The more real I was, the harder it became to find solutions. And I realized that many on a church staff are not truly themselves in the church office. Unfortunately, masks are an all-too-common part of a church’s day-to-day operations.

I had just about given up on finding a grace-filled community to lead. I was determined to either be extra careful with my newfound freedom as an independent Methodist pastor—or go work at Walmart. So Natalie and I took two months to research, go deeper with one another, and pray. I stayed away from Christian books and church leadership studies, and for the first time in over 30 years, we worshiped as laypeople.

God was so, so good.

During that break, I read Dietrich Dörner’s The Logic of Failure. It’s a secular book, but it helped me tremendously in my spiritual growth. If you’ve read it, you might find that odd since it’s essentially a case study on how corporations handle major mistakes and the processes they use to “clean up the mess.” But as I read, I realized that failure is often the greatest catalyst for true change and redirection.

Dörner argues that failure is not the end but always a possible beginning. He identifies four habits of mind that account for the frequency of our failures:

1. The slowness of our thinking – We streamline problem-solving to save time and energy.
2. Our wish to feel confident and competent in our problem-solving abilities – We try to repeat past successes.
3. Our inability to absorb and retain large amounts of information – We prefer fixed mental models, which cannot capture a dynamic, ever-changing process.
4. Our tendency to focus on immediately pressing problems – We ignore the problems our solutions create.

For a secular book, I found that we as Christians have much to learn from Dörner. As followers of Christ, we don’t check our logic at the door. In giving myself away, I lost myself—not because I was wrong, but because I was inexperienced. Instead of people appreciating my vulnerability, I was taken advantage of.

It has been a very biblical past few years. And I’m a stronger pastor than I’ve ever been.

God never said, Give it all up. He said, Don’t cast your pearls before swine. Be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove.Shake the dust off your feet and move on to the next town. Jesus never told us to check our brains at the door and trust everyone. In fact, He said quite the opposite.

It took a secular author to help me finally understand that.

Almost two months to the day after finishing that book, I found a grace-filled community. It’s a beautiful thing. In fact, I’m becoming more and more convinced that our feelings can lead us astray, making our problems seem larger and longer-lasting than they really are.

Process is healthy. Process honors God because God is a God of order.

I’m almost—I said almost—looking forward to the next problem.

~James

Yet when life hits hard, we often crumble. It’s natural. We live in a world where God’s power makes anything possible, yet we also face real struggles. Still, God is always good. He calls us: Keep coming to Me. My plan is perfect. Even when His ways seem distant, what other hope do we have?

I’ll admit- it’s hard for me, too. I pride myself on being self-sufficient, even though I know my strength alone isn’t enough. Have you ever felt that way? This Lenten season offers a fresh opportunity to release self-reliance and allow God to carry us.

The truth is, God’s path is flawless. His timing, His presence, His care. He invites us to rest and trust in Him. So let go of frustration and fear. Know that God sees you. Trust, believe, worship. Your answer is coming. That’s His Easter promise.

~James

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 (NIV)

A pastor received this letter from a parishioner challenging the pastor’s obsessiveness about sermons:

“Dear Sir, it seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. Over the last 30 years, I have probably heard 3,000 sermons, and I must say I cannot remember a single one of them.”

The pastor wrote this reply:

“Dear Sir, I have been married for 30 years. During that time, I have eaten 32,850 meals. I must say that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. Yet I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death a long time ago.”

Over the years, my ministry has often focused on how to move through fear to new possibilities. The most common command given in all the scriptures is wrapped up in two words: “Fear not.”

Do not be afraid; be strong and courageous.

You can trust me, God says: “Fear not.”

Fear is something universal to humans. All of us wrestle with the issue of fear.

Over and over in the Bible, two different sets of people face the same situation and come up with different responses.

This is not new. When Moses sent 12 scouts to explore the Promised Land, 10 of them came back and said, “Yes, the land is great, but the enemies—those who defy God—are so powerful. We can never overcome them, so we can’t just trust God. We should go home.”

Two of the scouts, Joshua and Caleb, looked at the same land, saw the same enemies—I’m sure they experienced the same fears—and yet they said, “We should go to the Promised Land, for certainly we will be able to possess it with God’s help.”

Those 10 needed the two to help them move forward. I always want to be part of the two!

A young shepherd boy, David, brought supplies to his brothers who were serving in the army.

There, he saw what they saw: the great champion of the enemies of the people of God, named Goliath.

Goliath was a character straight out of the WWF.

Every day, he would go out and mock God. All the soldiers saw him and were terrified to challenge him.

David saw him and went after him with a slingshot—the same enemy.

Jesus and his disciples were in a boat when a storm came.

The disciples were so scared they were screaming in panic. Jesus, in the same boat, was so filled with peace that he was asleep at the bottom of the boat.

Again and again in Scripture, two sets of people face exactly the same situation.

So, what’s the difference? It’s not the situation. It’s not the circumstances. It’s the mindset—or, a better word, perspective.

Some see possibilities—some help others to see those possibilities.

My prayer each day is to see the possibilities first. Facts are important and must be considered. But often, even the facts can be turned inside out by God.

I can imagine when someone said to David, “Goliath is too big to conquer!” David’s retort must have been, “Well, that just means he is too big to miss!”

So, these days, I’m asking God to help me consider the facts but to lean on the character of God.

Our perspective matters.

What’s yours?

~James

I’m enjoying these beautiful days and trust you are as well. If you’ve missed the past few Sundays at Grace Resurrection, you’ve missed an absolute blessing—folks joining and making this their official church home, tremendous music, and marvelous fellowship that lifts and prepares us to live out the Christian life daily.

It happens with or without you, but I sure miss you when you’re not here. There is an excitement and energy among us that’s hard to explain. God is so very good!

Be thinking about whom you’ll invite to worship on Easter weekend. It’s not too early. Wouldn’t you like to share this place with others? When something is good in your life, you tell people, right? I hope you feel like this church is one of those things for you.

I’ve come across some interesting statistics:

• 67% of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be very or somewhat effective in getting them to visit a church.

• 63% of Americans say a personal invitation from a friend or neighbor would be very or somewhat effective in getting them to visit a church.

These numbers tend to increase around Easter when many are looking for a church. According to Thom Rainer, 8 out of 10 people will say “yes” to a personal invitation to church.

Think about it—don’t you know at least one person who would be lifted up by this community? Your invitation could change or improve someone’s life. I’m praying with you about that one person.

Christ is risen—tell somebody!

~James

My passion is people—especially hurting people. I don’t know why; it has just always been with me. And I believe, of course, that the greatest prescription for pain in this world is the Christian faith. I do not apologize for that in any way.

But we Christians often tend to mess up Christianity.

A few years ago, I read an article in Christianity Today titled “The Church: Why Bother?” It really challenged my “If you unlock the door, they will come” mentality. I am more convinced than ever that the world—the “unchurched”—feels condemned by the “people in the pew” to the point of being pushed farther away from the truth of the Gospel. And it is destroying the Church. People are hurting more than ever, I’d say.

Consider these statistics from the Barna Group (the Gallup Poll of the Christian world):

• There has been a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans in the last thirteen years.

• In 1991, there were 39 million unchurched Americans compared to 75 million today.

• One out of three adults (33%) is unchurched, a proportion that represents over 70 million adults in America.

• 10 million born-again Christian adults are currently unchurched.

• Men constitute 55% of the unchurched.

As you can see, something is wrong.

I know that some reading this may be thinking, “Nothing is wrong; I just don’t want to go to church.” Well, my question is: “Why not?” What is it about the Church that is not drawing you?

I believe the world sees an institution full of people who say one thing but do another—who condemn others for certain things yet live the same way behind closed doors. They value their “church membership” in the same way they value their country or civic club. So I can understand the “Why Bother?” attitude.

Now, I am an odd sort of preacher. I don’t blame the “hellacious, hell-bound world” for the fact that more people are not beating down our doors. I blame The Churched.

My strong belief is that the Church has failed this world by presenting a Christianity of rules—do’s and don’ts—that no one can fully live up to. We skim over grace and go right to punishment, and people are not attracted by negativity.

Study the New Testament.

Who did Jesus rebuke? The tax collectors? The prostitutes? The doubters? The adulterers?

No.

He spent His time confronting the Pharisees—the church people, the keepers of the rule book. They knew the law. They were the Deacons, the Administrative Council, the Session, the Leadership Team of that day. They were good, upstanding churchgoers. Every time the Temple doors were open, they were there.

And Jesus said, “You’re liars.”

So we, the Church, have forced people to keep their secrets, delay life changes, and keep up the front.

Sounds more like the mafia to me.

What would happen if we really followed the message of Christ and became real with one another?

What if we could share ourselves—with repentant hearts, of course—admitting our faults and walking alongside people instead of condemning them?

I’m talking to myself, too.

Preachers are not perfect. We are held to a higher standard by the Bible, but we struggle with these same issues. I just wonder what the statistics would look like if we put aside our assessments of people and saw them with the eyes of Christ.

What if we could love people of other beliefs (without compromising our own) and share honestly why we believe what we believe—rather than just joining categories and interest groups?

What if we could just admit that we can’t keep all the rules? That no one can keep all the rules? But in spite of that, we can still love and hold hands.

I’m just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

If that were not just a message—a dogma—but the lifestyle the world saw in The Church, the fire marshal would have to shut us down so we could build larger facilities.

I know that churches today are drawing folks and seeing changed lives, but the numbers don’t lie.

We are behind the eight ball.

We need to condemn less, tell the truth more, and love in spite of everything.

That’s the true message of Jesus.

Drop the rock.

Let’s start throwing love at people.

Are you in?

~James