Sitemap - 2025 - The Church Nerd
Books That Shaped My Thinking This Year
If Jesus Were Born Today, He’d Be in a Detention Center
Ten Conversations That Shaped the Year on the Future Christian Podcast
Top 5 reasons to join Substack Seminary
Reading Faithful Futures: What I Appreciated, Where I Hesitated, and Why I’m Still Thinking About It
Are There Any Signs of a Tipping Point? (Some Wonderings…)
Can American Religion Reach a Tipping Point?
Why "Why Religion Went Obsolete" Hit Me So Hard
Covenant: the foundations of Substack Seminary
The Sunday Surprise (and the Soccer Practice Misfire)
The Misunderstood Secret to Evangelism (Part 2)
The Misunderstood Secret to Evangelism (Part 1)
Q1 Substack Seminary: navigate a collapsing institutional church
How the Anglican Tradition Forms a Moral Ecology
What Wyoming’s Frontier Churches Can Teach Us About Planting Today
The Night the Revival Never Came
Flipping the Box: Why Church Still Matters
Jonathan Haidt and the Myth of Doing Better
Substack Seminary: how to be ‘Cage free’ if you serve a denominational church (or if you don’t)
The Real Problem with Phones (Isn’t Phones)
Show, Don’t Tell: What Hollywood, Politics, and the Church All Get Wrong
Sometimes You Have to Do Less to Do More
The Story That Holds Us: What Andrew Root Taught Me About Faith and Narrative
Intellectual Laziness and the Algorithmic Age
Hopelessness Isn’t Holy: Responding to Miguel De La Torre’s Theology of Hope and Privilege
The End of Search and Call as We Know It
No One Is Coming to Save Your Church
Circle of Hope: How a Pandemic and a Power Struggle Undid a Thriving Church
The Coming Dark Times: When We Can’t Save Ourselves
Jesus, Not Politics: Re-Centering Christianity in a Polarized Age
Good Manners, Deep Connection, and the Art of Listening
Word, Sacrament, and the Limits of Social Entrepreneurship
Before It’s Too Late: Saving Churches from Financial Collapse
The Seminary Myth and the Leadership Truth
What Columbine Taught Me About Grief, Prayer, and Change
Stop Platforming Charisma, Start Trusting Pastors
White-Collar Work Was Supposed to Be Safe. AI Disagrees.
When a Denomination Forgets Its Own Renewal
TACO’d Again: Trump and the Myth of the Strongman
If a Church Is Going to Be a Voice for Justice, It Must First Exist
Strength in Service: A Better Way to Be a Man
7 Fresh Ideas to Spark Your Ministry’s Imagination
Why I Didn’t Interview Brian McLaren About His New Book
When Good Work Fails—and How I’m Helping Others Avoid It
What Is the Legacy of Robert Schuller?
What Happens When Both Sides Think They’re Protecting the Innocent?
Why the Future Needs More Than One Voice
Wrestling with Legacies: When Christian Leaders Leave Both Healing and Harm
Why Pastors, Not Academics, Should Be Our Primary Theological Voices
Obsessed with Implications: A Review of Becoming the Pastor’s Wife
Are Seminaries Still Serving the Church?
Knock at the Sky by Liz Charlotte Grant: A Review
The Problem with 'You Are Enough'
Reimagining Church Real Estate: A Podcast Playlist
Reject the Evidence of Your Eyes and Ears
What the Southern Baptists Got Right (Sort Of)
I've Got Questions Asks a Lot — Here’s What I’m Still Wondering
Enneagram Baseball Team Lineup
What If Your Church Gave Loans Instead of Handouts?
Why the Mainline Church Still Matters
What Churches Can Learn from the Newsroom: Communication Tips from Suzanne Nadell
When the Dance Loses Its Direction: Wrestling with Progressive Theology
Discipleship in Reverse: Why Belonging Comes First and Belief Last
Helping the Church Thrive—One Worship Leader at a Time
Previewing My Conversation with Mulder & Martí on Schuller’s Legacy
Rethinking Church Rentals: Why "Just Let Them Use the Space" Isn’t Sustainable—or Faithful
Why Don’t We Sing About the Blood Anymore?
What the Mainline Church Can Learn from a Government Rollout Gone Wrong
When the Title Fades: Rethinking Calling
Faith Beyond Feelings: How Our Bodies Can carry our Faith
What Will the Church of the Future Look Like?
No, They’re Not All Closeted Christian Nationalists
What You Can—and Cannot—Control to Grow Your Church
Is TikTok Melting Our Brains—or Saving the Church?
Why the Mainline Church Is Doomed Without Re-Enchantment—and Resurrection Hope
Why Progressive Christianity Still Needs Church, Worship, and Leadership
(Sin) The One Word Progressive Theology Forgot—And Why It Matters
Why Activism Without Faith Roots Won’t Last
Evangelism, Sorrow, and The Good Place
Considering Bi-Vocational Church Planting: A Reflection on Trends and Tensions
Buddy Christ or Burning Furnace? Rethinking Our Relationship with God
The Fatal Flaws in Progressive Christianity
When Guilt Is Good and Grace Is Costly: A Christian Political Reflection
Evaluating Ministry Failures: Autopsies without blame:
Brian McLaren on Leading, Living, and Loving in Uncertain Times
Thor, theodicy, and the presence of God
A Legacy of Growth and the Possibility of Revival
Rethinking Evangelism: Invitation, Not Imperialism
The Church Doesn’t Need More Influencers—It Needs Faithful Leaders
The Church Is Trying Too Hard—Here’s What It Really Needs
Evangelism as an Invitation to an Epic Story
How Experts and Elites Undermined Their Own Authority
The Illusion of Stability: Why the Future of the Mainline Church Is Worse Than You Think
Why Mainline Churches Might Be Poised for a Comeback—If They Don’t Make This Mistake
What is the church, and what is it for?
The DEI Guilt Treadmill and the importance of Confession and Assurance in Christianity
The Tyranny of the Minority: What Happens When Institutions Crumble
Good People, Social Activists, or True Disciples? What's the Point of the Church?
Starting a Church in Denver: Misunderstandings, Challenges, and Misplaced Blame
I Don’t Want DEI to Fail: A Grace-Centered Alternative to Identity Politics
Holding the Tension: Avoiding the Extremes of Christian Nationalism and Secular Humanism
Boundaries in Progressive Christianity: Process vs. Content
Building a Church for Everyone: Embracing Vertical and Horizontal Faith
Lessons from a Whiteboard: A church planter's story
Invite your friends to read The Church Nerd
Beyond Left and Right: Rethinking the Theological Spectrum
Rethinking Authority in the Church: From Titles to Trust
Reclaiming My Story: Things Can Be Scary and Okay at the Same Time
How Evil Undoes Itself: Eucatastrophe and the Power of Grace
The Death Spiral of Progressive Christianity: Why the Mainline Church is in Crisis
Progressive Values vs. Progressive Ideology: A Crucial Distinction
What Becomes of a Seminary Without Students?
The Good Place: A vision a of World Without the need for God
Why Does There Always Have to Be a Fall Guy?
The Love of Christ Compels Us: A Reflection on Reconciliation and Justice
Prayer, Politics, and the Witness of the Church in Divided Times: A Roundtable Discussion
Beyond the Quick Fix: Why Patience and Foundations Matter in Sports and Life
Why Young Adults Still Care About Church: Lessons from Podcasts and Faith Leaders