When I served on my church’s elder team, one of our best practices was simple: we always tried to communicate in terms of what we were for, not what we were against. I’ve tried to carry that same posture into my leadership development work and into life in general. Like anyone, I’m probably a little…
A few things you can expect and NOT expect to find here. A Campaign Against the Institutional Church First, you will not find arguments to persuade people to leave their institutional church. Those are already well documented. It would be disingenuous to suggest that I don’t agree with some of those reasons, but this movement…
As I prayed and reflected on the idea of Dark Horses, an image kept coming to mind: the knight on a chessboard. At first it made sense simply because it’s a horse. But the more I thought about it, the more the symbol began to grow on me. I’m not much of a chess player,…
That’s probably what some of you wondered when you saw this website. Fair question. Hi, friend. I’m Jay. Unlike many people who write books about church and faith, I’m not a pastor. I did spend a short season as an executive pastor at a large church, and that chapter matters in my story. But it’s…
In this letter I want to introduce a new label: the Dark Horses. A dark horse is someone who is underestimated or overlooked. Someone people don’t see coming. They carry hidden strength, talent, or potential that others have missed—until suddenly they try something no one expected. Among the Dones—Jesus-followers who have stepped away from the…
Think of this site as a letter to someone. As you read it, you may discover that it feels very much like a letter to you. This is the kind of letter that has been spoken into my life over decades through many different people. God has used some beautiful people in my life to…