It snowed in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 1, 2011. It was the only snow we have seen since we moved here from Oklahoma that same day seven years ago. That first year in Phoenix was completely devoted to identifying and building a core team that would help me launch Valley Life Church 53 weeks after that Phoenix snow day. Here are four things that I learned about shepherding core team members. Shepherding Begins Before You Develop a Core Team After moving to Phoenix, it was tempting to think, “Once I get a core team together and all of the roles and responsibilities are all assigned, then I’ll ..read more

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” — John Maxwell Everything. Especially church planting. Leadership is knowing the difference between a good idea and a great idea and the difference between staying busy and being productive. As a church planter, you should have a supervisor, a coach, and a band of brothers to help you think these through. You should not trust yourself enough to lead alone. Trust Your Leaders Your supervisor should be the pastor of your sending church. Until you raise up elders, you should trust the care and governance of your sending church. But your supervisor may ..read more

Six years ago my wife Reagan and I were living in North Carolina while I attended seminary. We were in a great church. We had good jobs (for struggling newly-weds) and loved living out on our own for the first time in our lives. But, in a matter of twenty-four hours, our joy became sorrow. Reagan suffered a miscarriage and her uncle, who was a semi-father figure, died tragically. As a new husband, I had no real concept of how to love my wife through these horrific events. In that moment, our community group, led by a couple twenty years our senior, rallied around us. They prayed with us, broug ..read more

I’ve been a part of the Church for as long as I have memories. I’ve been a Christian for nearly 30 years. And I’ve been a pastor for 14 years. A common thread through all of my experiences with churches is the importance of emphasis. When it comes to discipleship, I’ve noticed three types of “disciples.” And what you emphasize when you gather people together has a large role in what type of disciple you’re going to make. Usually, churches emphasize one of three things: information, conformity, or transformation. The Informed Disciple The informed disciple is made when Bibles are opened, but li ..read more

At one time or another, God has said to most of his leaders, “Fear not.” God called them, inspired them, gave them a vision, filled them with his Spirit, performed untold miracles, and fought untold battles for them. We have good reasons to believe. But, often we don’t. Why? Why does a seasoned pastor fear sharing the gospel with an unbeliever? Why does a grown man fear a hard conversation with his child? Why are we afraid to ask others for help? We are fallen. We are not totally secure in who we are or who he is. Therefore, we give others more say than God would have us give them. It is calle ..read more

I grew up in the land of Woody Guthrie. The folk singer grew up about thirty miles from my hometown, and his legacy is well known in the area. Guthrie is best known as the folk singer who wrote the famous protest song, “This Land is Your Land,” and inspired a number of musicians in the folk movement to engage injustice. The main idea behind a protest song is the notion that things are not currently the way they are supposed to be. An injustice or oppression needs correction. The same should be true for most of the music we sing in church. The world is unjust. Things do not operate according to ..read more

As I write this I’m listening to U2’s seminal album, The Joshua Tree, and I hear Bono singing about how he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. After that album was released, the band did a documentary called Rattle and Hum, in which they traveled to Harlem and sang the song with a gospel choir. After the second verse, Bono stops singing, the Edge stops playing, and you just hear the force of dozens of voices crying out, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Anytime I see that video or hear that song, my heart swells. Every sense is tuned in, and my emotions are fully engaged. Thi ..read more

In Exodus 18, right before God summons Moses and gives him the 10 Commandments, Moses gets a visit from his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro observes Moses dealing with everyone’s problems “from morning until evening” (v.13). Being a good father-in-law, he peppers Moses with questions and cuts to the heart of the issue when he asks, “Why do you sit alone?” Jethro sees the bottleneck and calls foul. He asks “Why?” After listening to Moses’s reply, Jethro lays out a leadership structure that widely distributes the leadership burden. Moses follows the advice and doesn’t die an early death of stress ..read more

I love investing in leaders. It’s one reason I was drawn to the Valley Life Network and what God is doing through Valley Life churches. One of our churches, Valley Life Camelback, is on campus at Grand Canyon University. That school has a fantastic Worship Arts program, and several of the leaders at Camelback are plugged into that program. I meet with the worship leader on a regular basis and last week, he asked a great question. Students are becoming more and more interested in what Camelback is doing, so they are lining up to join the worship team every week. This includes many students who ..read more

I recently lead worship for an event at a different church. I gave them the set I planned to sing ahead of time to prepare their tech team and band. Everything looked good until about a week before the event was scheduled. At that point, I got a call from the young lady organizing everything. “Hey Jared, we’re really excited to lead with you. We’ve got one issue. In one of the songs you’ve listed, it has the word ‘damned’. That might be a little too strong for some of our people. Do you think we could change it to ‘down’?” Words Have Real Meaning I had honestly not given this song much thought ..read more