For those who don’t follow my wife’s blog, you may not know our big news: we’ve decided to homeschool. In typical ‘Jason & Erika style’, we made a snap decision last week. It came after years of conversation about whether the public system was an ideal learning environment for our children. Last week, we knew…
Today marks the end of birthday week at our house. It’s a week of festivities and fun that begins with my daughter’s birthday and ends with my son’s. They were born seven days apart (in different years, of course). On Shawna’s birthday we spent the day hanging out, playing and reading. Today is very similar…
It feels strange watching my wife play our shooting gallery wii game while I edit this blog post. It feels even weirder knowing that she got a bronze medal and I didn’t. In other news, it was our daughter’s 8th birthday today. Erika spent it downstairs slaving away on business related work. I, on the…
I’m becoming more and more convinced that 21st century pastoral leadership doesn’t require titles, offices, positions, buildings or pay cheques. It does demand personal investment in people, authenticity, and a willingness to boldly and humbly challenge the religious status quo.
I wrote this for our church website a few months ago: “The church is not a building. It is the community of God on mission.” How would church leadership change if pastors were asked to mobilize people rather than attracted them to Sunday morning services? What if a church community decided to flatten its leadership…
Sometimes I wonder what the church would be like without politics. As I read the definitions for the term (below), I was struck by the references to power. Isn’t it funny that the very community where power should be shared and given away to others tends to be the context where power is used to…
I’ve taken this week off of church ministry to accomplish two things: 1. Have fun with my family. 2. Come as close as I can to finishing the New Testament Distance Education course I’ve been writing. Here’s an update: Yesterday we spent the day at Canada’s Wonderland. Since Elijah is only 4 years old we…
I got back from Leadership Summit 2009 on Friday night. It was a 2 day simulcast that our staff team attended in St. Catharines. Here are some highlights from the presenters: In regards to hiring staff… -Don’t hire in a great state of need since candidates can get idealized -First impressions are frequently wrong -Look…
I love it when people live life on mission. It characterizes the lifestyle of the exceptional folks that lead our regional coffeehouse gatherings. Once a month a group of 10 to 15 people gather to plan and pray for something we call Conversation Peace. We work hard–coming up with ideas for interesting conversations; administering the…
My wife thinks I’m a freak. Not in a “I don’t want to be around you” kind of way. But in a “you’re special” kind of way. It’s because I’m not afraid of rejection. I actually believe that crashing and burning is not something to fear; that failure is a necessary prelude to success; that…