Leaving New Mexico

First of all, look at the awful thumbnail Facebook chose for this video. Come on, guys.

My weekend in New Mexico was one of the best trips all year. The only part that sucked was when I had to leave.

There’s this old joke about evangelists that they blow in to town, blow everything up, and leave the pastor to clean up the mess (I’m sure there’s more to the joke than that). When I first started ending my shows with a message on confession, I made that same mistake. I remember a few times (years ago) I didn’t even warn the pastor ahead of time. I just dived right in. I asked all the leaders to come down to the front because we were about to have a response time. All of them had this look like “uhhh, I’m not ready for this!” Kids would find a leader, pour their heart out, and the leader would have to figure out what to do next.

I don’t do that anymore. Now when I speak in churches I’ll either train leaders on a separate night or I’ll at least meet with them before service starts.

But I know there’s still more I can do to equip churches to handle those difficult conversation. Not only that, I want to create resources for those who are opening up for the first time. What’s supposed to happen next? Confession is never the end of the journey. It’s only the first step.

That’s what my Patreon is to help support.

In 2019 I want to start putting out podcasts, books, and video training that can help churches create a culture of confession.