Dear Mr. Pastor

People are messy and so church is, and should be. Life is hard especially for you. We are called to sacrifice for his cause, and if we lie to people and act like we are perfect we are doing a complete disservice to everyone including Jesus.

The moment anything becomes more important than living and sharing an authentic faith, is where any church can count me out.

Stop trying to tell people how to live their life, like you can understand the difficulties they are going through. It does more harm than good.

We need to realize that God can and does share and speak to other people other than just us.

Our job is to lead people to that place, where they can make the decision, where they can live out the faith they are building with their God.

I believe that only through a true and authentic INDIVIDUAL faith, can the church and community of God grow together, wider, stronger, and deeper.


We are a needed part of God's ministry, but it's not about us. 


It is not a ladder to climb.

Hybrid Church

Last year I had an opportunity to take a class lead by Dr. Alan Ehler about church planting, and half of the class time we would have a local Church leader come in to discuss some of their ideology, what works and doesn't and what not.


One of the most memorable Pastors that shared with us was Pastor Dave Browning with Christ the King. We got into a very deep discussion about the importance of different sized churches and what the landscape of church looked like. With most of the discussion revolving around what Mega/Micro churches do well and what areas they lack in.


A few months ago Professor Ehler shared with me that Pastor Dave decided to write a book to discuss the topics that we discussed during our class time. I have begun reading this book, and it has started to effect the way that I view my own ministry and the direction my future ministry will head.


I would suggest this book to anyone that not only wants to be involved in church planting, but any minister to help guide their current ministry.


You can find it on Amazon here: Hybrid Church by Dave Browning

Tithing Sucks

I have to admit I have a very hard time tithing, I don’t make much money, and I like to be able to have money to do things with my friends.

I am sure everyone has their excuses

But what I am realizing is that my selfishness is limiting God’s provisions for my life, as well as his provisions for his church

I do not believe that we are meant to simply tithe 10% of our income to the church

This is a over simplification of a complex concept found in the biblical texts

In fact In the New Testament, Jesus mentions tithing only three times, and each time it is a form of reprimand to the attitude of the Pharisees about tithing. 

He did not instruct his followers to tithe.

Tithing was essentially part of the law, that held precedence prior to the arrival of Jesus

A much better scripture regarding our giving should be: 

Luke 20:24-25 (New International Version)

24"Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"

25"Caesar's," they replied.

     He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Our money is not our own, the correct way to give following the example Jesus laid out is to lift everything we have up and allow God to take and use all of what we have

The widow gave all that she had, it was only 2 small copper coins, but it was a sacrifice of everything, and Jesus praised her. (Mark 12:43-44)

When Jesus encountered the rich young ruler he asked him to sacrifice everything (Matthew 19:21)

This must be the heart that we give with, one that is willing to give everything we hold onto in order to support those in need, and to "honor God as the owner of the land and the giver of its produce."

If God tells you to give 10% then give it with a happy heart, but don’t give 10% because you believe that is all you are “supposed to give.” This is the danger of our Christian understanding of tithing. Simply doing what you think is right instead of seeking an honest understanding of what God actually is asking of you. It will be different for every person.

"Faith is Custom fit, not Mass produced." -Kyle Reynolds

I have to admit that I struggle with the faith to lay it all out there, but if we don’t as a church, as believers, how will God use us?

"The Purpose of Stewardship" by Richard B. Cunningham in Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration

The Observant Minister

A single value can either lead to infirmity or vibrancy within the scope of church life, the point of decision is invariably crucial and just as important is the foundation upon which that decision is made. A common mistake is to pragmatically reduce the vast networks of relationships a minister must keep track of into simple, task-oriented associations. Alternatively, a minister may decide to navigate the bevy of churchgoers by tracking relationship connection points and fields of interest. Thus, to take the fundamental value of noticing people and extrude its possibilities from each of these two modes may result in extreme disparateness.

The task-oriented mode will build upon the fundamental value of noticing people by defining the action of noticing within a quantified scope of tasks, hence the evaluative inquiry will manifest as Did Jane do this? or possibly Will Jane do this? within the task-oriented mode. It follows logically that Jane’s perceived value depends upon her presence and participation, and possibly even the quality of her performance and reputation of consistent accomplishment within the given range of tasks.

However, the relationally-observant mode will augment the value of noticing people by defining the action of noticing within an abstraction of related people and possibly the conditions which relate them. Hence, the resultant inquiry would manifest as something like What does Jane prefer? or Who does Jane prefer? This would result in layers of networks that place Jane in groups such as skiers, writers, wine connoisseurs, and fans of Dylan Thomas. Knowing this, the minister would resolve any issues related to Jane’s spirituality by studying the influences upon her as well as her peers, and the success of helping Jane to resolve difficulties would be satisfied by returning her to a normal state of interaction and emotional satisfaction.

Yet with the task-oriented mode, it is inevitable that the state of Jane’s spirituality is measured by the activities in which she participates. Problems are identified by her poor performance, decreased participation, and even absences. Consequently, Jane may not reconfigure her schedule to reduce her time serving as a sound grip for the church to take Pilates classes without suffering the stigma of “walking away from God.”

In terms of relative value, the minister may evaluate Jane’s value to him through either method. In a task-oriented mode, Jane’s relationship to the minister is as valuable as her ability to perform a task or accomplish a goal. In a socially-oriented mode, they are as valuable to each other as they are willing to interest themselves in the other person, regardless of common activities or even other related interests. Obviously, Christ’s commission to the church is best fulfilled by the socially-oriented ministers who develop disciples, not laborers.

So how are you discipling?

Carlos Whittaker

I was at this Calibrate conference and had the opportunity to hear Carlos speak. 


He is a very good speaker and definitely had something on his heart to say.


If you have about an hour to kill, check it out.


Carlos Whittaker-Calibrate 2010 from Calibrate NW on Vimeo.

You can also follow his blog Ragamuffin Soul