From the Outside In

I have been active in church for all of my adult life (and I was pretty active as a teenager too!). I have been an active member, Associate Pastor, Assistant Pastor, Youth Pastor, Senior Pastor, and almost everything else in between. For the past few months I have found myself in a the very unfamiliar position of being on the outside of the church looking in. In August of 2010 I resigned from the church I had pastored for over 9 years as the Lord took my life and ministry in a different direction.

In the time since then I have been attending church but have not really been involved in anything more that just attending a Sunday service. This time away from active involvement in church has given me a whole new perspective - a chance to see the church from the outside in. My eyes have been opened to many things that I either did not see or chose not to see in the church at large.

So this little blog is going to be about some of the lessons I have learned during this time of changed perspective, and a chance to confess that in many cases I was a part of the problems that I can now see.

Let me be clear, I love the church! I am committed to the idea of the local church and I so much look forward to being active in church again very soon. The things I post here may be critical of how things work in churches sometimes, but I write not from a place of criticism or cynicism, but rather out of the love I have for the Body of Christ and the desire to see us become the Bride that Christ is waiting for.

I would love your feedback on anything I write, even if you don't agree, just post your comments and let's have an honest discussion about how we can do church better.