Author: Ben Reed (page 17 of 86)

A plea to pastors: be real

October 22, 2012 / / 9 Comments

I recently wrote a post that got some folks pretty fired up.

I wrote my 7 reasons for why nobody really likes cats. Turns out, that’ll get some people pretty angry. And how I think that “the only good cat is a dead cat.”

I made it clear that it was just a joke post, and that I was just having a bit of fun. I don’t really want to kill cats. If I see one in the road, I swerve to miss it. If I’m at your house and you have a cat, I’ll sneeze and scratch my eyes, but I’ll pet your cat. And I’ll talk to it in that little baby voice we talk to when we communicate with small animals.

I was having a bit of fun with my post. Why?

Because not everything that comes out of my mouth is a Scripture reference and a word of wisdom.

Confession: I am a real person.

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It’s okay for you, too, if everything that comes out of your mouth is not be spiritual. You have my permission. Especially if you’re a pastor.

In fact, I believe that’s one of the reasons why Grace, where I was on staff, was successful: our pastors were real people. That’s one of the reasons why I believe Long Hollow is successful, too: our pastors are real people. With real struggles. Real pain. Real shortcomings. Real victories. Real families. Real hobbies.

When pastors talk in King James and end their every sentence with, “thus saith the Lord,” it gives the appearance that they’re perfect, inadvertently preaching that they have nothing wrong, struggle with nothing, and have every answer to every question ever asked.

Pastors: please be a real person.

The danger of detachment

You have a different calling, with higher responsibilities. There are certain expectations placed on you by God Himself, and God will hold you accountable for the way you taught and led. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon everything in life except your Bible. The more you detach yourself from regular life the more you’ll find yourself detached from the people you’re called to lead. If the people you lead are in to football, you need to be in to football. If they’re in to raising pigs, you need to be in to raising pigs. If they’re in to hiking, you need to be in to hiking. Paul says it like this: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)

If you don’t have that thing that you enjoy, you’ll burn out, too. You can’t be a spiritual superhero all of the time. You’ll burn out and break. You need a release, and a chance to unwind. Find a TV show you and your spouse can watch together. Go golfing with the guys. Take your kids to a baseball game. Take off your pastor hat.

The more you share about who you are, even the parts of you that aren’t perfect and polished, the more you’ll be able to show people just how big of a God you serve. If you’re broken, you show people just how much you need Jesus. If you’re a mess, you paint a picture of a King that is full of grace.

It’s easier to relate with a real person that with one who doesn’t encounter regular life issues. It’s easier to connect with a pastor who follows Jesus but admittedly doesn’t have it all figured out. Why?

Because you don’t have it all figured out, either.

There was only one perfect man. And He’s the one I point people towards.

Which doesn’t mean that I don’t like football. Or golf. Or that I’m not going to say something dumb some time.

I’m sorry that I do that. I’m human. I don’t like that I’m still fallen, and still struggle. But offer me some grace.

And laugh at my jokes, even if you don’t think they’re funny. Please? 

 

 

7 reasons why nobody really likes cats

October 12, 2012 / / 34 Comments

Kittens are cute and cuddly and fluffy, aren’t they? They look innocent playing with a ball of yarn, or when they curl up next to you and purr.

You know the only problems with kittens, though? They become cats. If there was a way to keep kittens in the “kitten” stage, every house would be full of them.

The “cat” stage of being a cat dominates a cat’s life, which is why you’ll never find one in my house.

I had a cat growing up. His name was “Punchy.” Don’t ask me why. It was probably because he tried to punch my little brother. We ended up giving him away to my uncle, who lived on a farm. Punchy hunted mice and rodents to his heart’s content…which is the life cat’s should lead.

Cats

Everybody knows…

I’ve heard it said…

Someone wise once said…

 

I made this up, and I like it:

The only good cat is a dead cat.*

I’m convinced that nobody really likes cats. Some people claim that they like cats, but the reality is that they only like their cat. And even that’s a stretch.

I think I’ve figured out why nobody really likes them.

7 Reasons Nobody Really Likes Cats

1. They don’t come when you call.

Not that I need a creature to be at my beckon call, but seriously, if I communicate with something, and it doesn’t respond, I call that thing inanimate.

2. Kitty litter is nasty.

You’ve got an animal that you trained to go to the bathroom in your house, not outside? In some strange-smelling rocks that you keep in a plastic box? And you don’t find this odd?

3. Nobody likes “cat naps.”

If people truly liked cats, they’d not name the worst variation of naps after cats. Ever take a “cat nap”? A “cat nap” is what happens when you really wanted a “dog nap.” Nobody really sets out to take a cat nap. When you wake up from one, you’re just mad that one of the following happened:

  • your phone rang
  • someone rang your doorbell
  • your cat jumped on you and woke you up

4. They’ll purr one second and bite you the next.

You never can tell where you really stand with a cat. Are we best friends? Or worst enemies? I’m not convinced that a cat ever really likes a person. They could take you or leave you. So why do you like them?

5. I’m allergic.

I know, that one’s a bit personal and may not apply to you. But it’s a big deal to me. If there’s something that causes me to sneeze, cough and itch, you can guarantee I’m not going to have that thing in my house.

6. 1 word: claws.

Ever been scratched by a cat? Trust me…you’ll want to scratch that cat right back.

7. They’re never mentioned in the Bible.

Which means I can assume they’re a post-Fall product of this fallen world. There you go…I just dropped the God card on you. Come back from that!

Question:

What do you think? Are you a “cat” person?

*this is a joke post. I honestly don’t love cats, but I don’t actually want them all dead. If you’re a cat lover, I don’t think less of you. WE won’t be friends, though. 🙂 (kidding!)

 

 

Creature of the Word…a giveaway

October 10, 2012 / / 19 Comments

Matt Chandler (Explicit Gospel), Josh Patterson and Eric Geiger (Simple Church) just released a new book this month with B&H Publishing called Creature of the Word. Here’s the trailer.

 


The book looks at the scripture-based beauty of a church that makes everything they do about Jesus and outlines practical steps that church leaders can take to help form a gospel-centered ministry.

On Tuesday, Oct. 23rd, Chandler, Geiger and Patterson will host a three-hour interactive simulcast about the book. They will each teach on a different topic from Creature of the Word and then answer viewer questions at the end.

So how about a giveaway?!

I am going to give away three copies of the new book, each that come with an individual simulcast registration to watch the event on the 23rd.

If you do at least 1 of the 3 options below, you’ll be entered:

1. Comment and tell me something that your church is doing to make everything it does about Jesus.

2. RT this post. Make sure to tag me, @benreed.

3. Share this post on Facebook. Make sure to tag me, /benlreed, or /LifeAndTheology.

Deadline to comment, RT, or FB share is Friday, October 12.

And.. go!

 

 

The tiring life of the performance trap

October 9, 2012 / / 1 Comment

This is a guest post from Chris Lautsbaugh, who lives in Muizenberg, South Africa. He and his wife, Lindsey (and their two sons), serve with Youth With a Mission (YWAM), teaching and training missionaries and church leaders, reaching out to under privileged communities, planting churches, and meeting needs associated with the issues South Africa faces. They have been in missions for 35 combined years. Chris blogs HERE, and you can follow him on Twitter or Facebook, and you can pick up his book HERE. 

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image credit: Creation Swap user Cody Jensen

Weariness, fatigue, headaches, and general tiredness are often minor symptoms of a more serious, underlying sickness.

This is true in both medicine and in Christianity.

Consider many of the commands the Bible offers:

  • “Be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16)
  • “As you forgive, so you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
  • “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.”(Ephesians 4:29)
  • “Flee youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22)

“Do not…”

“Avoid…”

“Stop…”

Anyone feeling tired? Do you feel worn out at the thought of living up to these standards?

Perhaps we should check this Christianity at the door and find something with a few less rules and fine print. Maybe something like the IRS instruction manual for taxes!

Matt Chandler, in a recent message on Galatians at The Village Church, says “the Law is a diagnosis of the problem,” showing us our need for a cure. These commands do the same thing. They show us our weakness and shortcomings.

No one is saved by keeping the Law. In the same way, no one can perfectly keep the commands of the New Testament. Living perfectly holy and without sin is impossible.

Yet, somehow we try.

Chandler, in his sermon, goes on to say “Grace is the cure for the diagnosis the Law gives.”

God never intended us to reach the goal of perfection. We instead put our faith in the one who has. Jesus gave us his righteousness when we trusted in him for our salvation.

He met God’s standard and gave that accomplishment to us.

Neither holiness nor the Law has ever saved anyone. Faith in Christ, not works, is where we receive Christ’s sacrifice and gift of righteousness.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

As you self-diagnose your Christian life, what symptoms do you see?

Weakness, fatigue, guilt, stress, performance, and striving = SICK

Love, gratitude, peace, joy, contentment, and hope = HEALTHY

Sick people need Grace. It is the cure for the disease which ails our society.

These traits of striving and performance are prevalent in all areas of society, even creeping into our churches. While Paul does tell us to “work out our salvation” (Philippians 2:12), a balance with grace is essential.

This working out is not a formula for God’s approval, it is a response to it. Growth comes from a motivation of knowing our God, not an attempt to improve the work of the Cross.

If we are diagnosed with the disease of performance, the good doctor orders a healthy dose of truth.

Prescription for the Performance Trap

1. Growth from a place of rest – Responding to God’s grace rather than attempting to earn it brings an evidence of peace in our lives.

2. Meditate on the truth of our salvation. We need to remind ourselves daily about the good news.

3. Read Ephesians 1:3-14 stating what we have “in Christ”– Go ahead, make a list. Note the good gifts we are given.

4. Believe it – It is one thing to know it mentally, it is a completely different thing to walk in the truth.

5. Reject the lies of the Enemy and of society. The lies of “nothing is free” or is it ” good to be true” must be rejected. Grace is amazingly good.

Repeat as needed daily.

If our stress levels and misguided attempts to please God bring on the same symptoms as sickness, how can we offer a cure to those who are truly in need of healing?

Your mother used to tell you to take your medicine. Now it’s time to take your “grace pill” to cure the Christian disease.

What other symptoms are a part of this disease? If the church walked in grace more, what changes would come?

 

10 Statements Church Visitors Never Want to Hear

October 8, 2012 / / 27 Comments
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image credit: CreationSwap user Beaty Bass, edits mine

You’ve been a church visitor at some point, right?

Ever heard something you wish you didn’t hear, right off the bat?

I’ve got a few that nobody really wants to hear. Some I’ve heard personally. Others I’ve heard as they were told to someone else.

10 Statements Church Visitors Never Want to Hear

1. Our pastor isn’t normally this _____.

Insert whatever you want in this blank: loud, obnoxious, offensive, long-winded. If you have to explain part of your pastor’s style because you know that outsiders won’t like it, you’ve got a problem. Talk with your pastor about that.

2. We’re full. Sorry. 

Always have a backup plan. Always. If someone sees that your service is full once, they’ll deal with it. But they probably won’t come back if they don’t see a plan you have in place.

3. What are YOU doing here?

Never say this. Never. Your shocked, open mouth reveals your judgmental spirit…at least in the eyes of visitors. When you say this, all they can think is, “God couldn’t really love someone like you.”

4. You can’t serve now…you’ve got to be a member first.

Why would someone want to become a member if they’ve never had the chance to serve?

5. We don’t believe in serving coffee on Sunday mornings.

If you say this, I can only assume you are leading a church in the pit of Hell.

6. What’s your address? I didn’t catch it on the first 6 forms I had you fill out.

Try to streamline the “first time visitors check-in process.” Nobody likes to feel like they’re visiting HR on their first church visit.

7. You want to join a small group? You’ll have to wait until next Fall.

If you ask people to wait more than a month to join community, they’ll often look elsewhere.

8. Here we just care about the Truth. If you don’t like it, you can leave.

I get it. You love the Bible. You love preaching the Truth. But don’t love that more than you love people.

9. Here are the 38 things we do each week as a church.

Simplifying is the key, otherwise you’ll give people decision paralysis.

10. Next time, could you make sure to wear _____.

Fill that in with “something nicer,” “something more relaxed,” or “something that’s clean,” and you’ve offended someone unnecessarily. Creating a “come as you are” culture should be our aim, not creating a “come as I am” culture.

Got anything you’d add?

 

 

3 Questions to Discern God’s Will

October 2, 2012 / / 2 Comments

Don’t you just wish God would write His plan for you in the sky so that you’d know what He want? Don’t you just wish God would send you a Twitter message that said, “If you want to know my will, click this link: http://____. #NowGetOffTwitterAndGoDoSomething”

Knowing

image credit: CreationSwap

If we’re honest with ourselves, there’s a bit of us always looking for the easy way out. Especially when it comes to the most important decisions. If we could shorten the process, we would. It’s not a matter of trying to be disobedient or experiencing decision paralysis. It’s all about wanting to know God’s will and move forward.

But if that were how God operated, there would be no reason to have faith. We’d just know. There would be no need for trust in the midst of uncertainty, because there’d be only certainty.

God doesn’t always give us 100% clarity before a decision so that we’ll learn to trust Him. So that we’ll seek Him. So that we’ll not simply rely on our own wisdom, but we’d learn to lean in to others.

Have you ever have a decision in front of you and you’re not sure what to do?

Any life-altering, future-shaping decision has to be run through a grid. If you don’t have a framework to use when making decisions, you can find yourself way off in left field.

That’s why I have 3 questions I ask myself that have helped shape decisions I make and directions I go.

I recently had a huge life decision in front of me. Before I ever made the decision to move forward, I spent lots of time praying through these 3 questions. I worked through them with my wife. With people who knew me, knew the details of the potential move, and who understand my strengths and weaknesses.

The 3 Questions

1. Is this from Satan?

I figured out the answer to this one pretty quickly. The potential opportunity wasn’t leading me towards sin. It wasn’t leading me away from my ultimate calling in life. It wasn’t leading me to disobey clear commands in Scripture. Wasn’t leading me away from my wife and son or away from God.

This is the only question with a clear black-and-white answer.

2. Is this from my flesh?

Through this opportunity, are you only looking to make more money or serve your own interests? Are you looking to be more lazy? Are you looking for an easy way out, avoiding something you know you need to do by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this opportunity? If you stepped in to this, would you be going against what you know God has called you to do in your current situation? If you say no, would you be staying in your position when you know God is prompting you to leave?

This is the point where you have to be painfully introspective and honest with yourself.

3. Is this from God?

If it’s not from Satan and not from your flesh, it may just be from God. Before you make the move, though, ask yourself if this is even something you want to do. Is this a God-given desire? Could it serve others better? Could God use you in a new and fresh way? Could God have been preparing you for this move? Could God be leading you on a new, different, fresh journey?

This is the point where you must bring others’ wisdom in. Don’t try to figure out this answer alone.

With every life decision, work the grid. Don’t work through it by yourself, though! Grab a trusted friend (or two) and ask them to help you out. It’s hard to see your own blind spots.

Question:

Got any big life decisions in front of you?

 

 

Holes in the gym floor

September 27, 2012 / / 1 Comment

I played city-league basketball growing up. I wasn’t that great…just like now, I was a skinny white kid. But I was quick, and a decent shooter.

We played games on Saturday mornings at a local elementary school gymnasium. Overall, it wasn’t a bad place to play. Plenty of seating. It was heated and cooled. And generally, it was clean. Generally.

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image credit: Flickr user atlanticcape

Taking a look at the gym floor, you’d assume everything was fine. You could tell it had been used by decades of kids playing ball, but it looked acceptable. Not new, but on the freshly veneered surface all looked well.

But there was a spot.

And if you were to take me to that gym today, I could close my eyes and walk to the spot.

It was about 6 feet out from the basket on the side closest to the door. It was dead.

Everybody playing knew the spot was there, but in the heat of a game, usually once or twice, the guy with the ball would forget about the spot, and go up for a layup with nothing in their hands. Running down the court at full speed, the ball that was once bouncing right back to their hand would bound no more, falling like a bowling ball to the gym floor and making the player look like a fool.

If only the maintenance crew had peeled back the hardwood and exposed the subfloor, it would’ve been a problem easily remedied. It wouldn’t have cost a ton of money to fix the problem. But instead of fixing the underlying issue, maintenance decided to paint right over the spot and pretend it wasn’t there. Just below the surface hid this ugly hole, hidden by a freshly painted, freshly lacquered surface.

Spiritual Lacquer

We do the same things spiritually, don’t we? We put on beautiful masks to cover over a dark part of our story. We put a fresh coat of paint over the pain to tell the world we’re perfectly fine. We slather on fresh lacquer and cover up something that we’d rather others not know is there.

We forget that God can repair and restore what’s broken. We forget that God’s in the business of reconciling all things to Himself. (Colossians 1:19-20) And though that reconciliation might not look like we hope it will look, in time we’ll grow to see the beauty. We’ll experience God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. We’ll become new.

It’s in this process of restoring you and giving you hope that God will breath hope into someone else, too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7) But not if you paint over your issues. Instead of healing, you’ll cover over rotting wood that’s waiting to explode in the heat of the battle. When you need the foundation of your life to hold the strongest, you’ll find it crumbling as you live life in hiding.

You’ve got plenty of mess and pain and disappointments and frustrations. Plenty of unmet expectations, unmet desires, and unreached potentials. So do I.

Quit acting like you don’t have problems. We’re born without a mask. So let’s quit putting a mask on.

Be real and honest with someone.

I’ll start:

I deal with insecurity. Not every day, but I have to battle against my flesh and remind myself that I’m loved by the King of Kings. I care too much what people think and what they say. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me” doesn’t really ring true with me. Names hurt. Words injure. And I do battle with caring too much how others respond to my leadership.

Your turn.

 

 

Guilty feelings about missionaries

September 25, 2012 / / 8 Comments
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image credit: Rob Gros, CreationSwap

Growing up, my local church would bring in a missionary couple once/quarter on a Sunday evening to present to our congregation about the work that they’re doing. Some were working overseas, others domestically. Either way, though, the format was the same.

My pastor would come on stage with his tie a little looser, and I could just sense it was coming. Nap time.

He’d give a brief intro, then have the congregation welcome the missionary couple to stage. They’d give a few words in another language, thank us for having them, hit the lights and queue the slide show. For the next 45 minutes, they’d scroll through slide after slide of pictures of huts, out-of-focus large-group pictures, and lots of “um…what is that, honey? Did you take that picture?”

And then I’m sure they said something after that, but I never caught it. I was enjoying my nap. 🙂

Part of me felt guilty, though. The most boring services of the year were the ones where someone who had given their life to serve others, and taken the Gospel to the most difficult areas of the world, were presenting.

But it wasn’t my fault. I had no reason to feel guilty.

It was the missionaries’ faults for being dull.

Dark rooms and pictures of people nobody know rarely inspire a room. Especially when you’ve got a 7 year old in the room.

Your story

If you’ve got a story to tell (and, presuming that you’re reading this, you’re alive, which means you do), tell it with gusto. Tell it like your life depends on it.

More accurately, tell it like someone else’s life depends on it. Because it does.

God uses other people to call us out of our normal existence and sweep us into the fuller picture of who He’s calling us to be and what He’s calling us to do. Rarely do moral platitudes do it. Ever more rarely do condemning opinions and judgments. Stories change the world. Stories shape ministries.

It was a story that helped shape my ministry. Over the course of 2 years, I listened to the story of a guy a few years older than me share his story of being called to ministry. I was 15, and it was his story that shaped the community I was a part of. Out of that community, 4 men are serving in full-time vocational ministry.

You’ve got a story to tell, so tell it. Share your pain, your frustrations, your disappointments, and your victories with those whom God’s given you the gift of building a relationship. Share it often and share it well.

 

 

Disruption: the king of community

September 19, 2012 / / 2 Comments

I met the king of community last night. He was in my small group, just waiting to reveal himself at the right time.

I’ve seen him before. He’s popped his head in a few times to small group or to random conversations with friends. I’ve seen him at the gym, in the coffee shop, and waiting in line at Wal Mart.

It’s hard to plan for him, because he comes and goes as he pleases. The best thing you can do is to be ready for him, because when he shows up he could destroy a relationship. He could so distract you that you think he’s an annoyance, something you need to move past to get to something else that’s more important. In the moment, nobody really likes him.

The king of community’s name is not “food,” though that helps. His name is not “coffee,” though in my small group coffee is vital. His name is not “funny joke” or “comfortable couch” or “a great Bible study” or “common interests.”

His name is disruption.

image credit: CreationSwap user Jeremy Binns, edits mine

He shows up in a number of different ways. He shows up often in small groups, but if you’re not ready for him, he’ll come and go unnoticed as the king. He’ll frustrate, distract, and derail. In fact, when he shows up, he’ll make people want to leave.

But if you’re ready for him, he’ll build a stronger sense of community than you could ever imagine. Small group leader: be ready.

Unplanned disruption

Pain.

Sometimes this pain is caused outside of your group (losing a loved one, losing a job, etc.). Other times it’s a pain that’s shared together by the group. Either way, pain and difficulty disrupt the “normal” and build community. Neither of these painful experiences can you plan, and neither of these painful experiences would you long for. But either can cause your relationship with that person to go really deep really quickly, knitting your stories together.

The prayer request.

Look out for this one, because it’ll sucker-punch you in a small group. You’re ready to shut the group down for the night when someone brings up the request, “Dave’s not here tonight because we decided to separate.” Or, “Every week I just sit here and listen, but I need to tell you that I’m addicted to _____.” In these moments, slow down and let community happen.

The random question.

You’ll be tempted to dismiss this one as a distraction. And though it may be distracting you from the topic at hand, it can be a great community builder. These questions disarm people, giving them a chance to rally around their doubts, confusions, and curiosities. Chances are good that one person’s curiosities will reveal another’s.

Planned disruption

Meeting to serve.

Try putting your Bible study aside for the night and serving at a local soup kitchen. Or going shopping for your neighbor with 3 kids whose husband just left. Or going on a full-fledged mission trip together.

Game night.

Nothing reveals the depravity of the human heart quite like game night. Gloves come off, ribbing begins, and friends turn on each other. All is fair in love and war…but not in a game of “Cranium.”

The tough saying/hard question.

“What’s God calling you to do with this?” “How are you going to obey Jesus with this today?” “Why does God ask us to ____?” Wrestling through difficult questions and hard sayings builds community. Plan these question-bombs wisely.

Watch for disruptions. They’ll either rip the fabric of your group apart…or weave it together into beautiful community.

Question: 

Have you experienced authentic community? What helped build that?

 

 

It’s not you, it’s me

September 17, 2012 / / 8 Comments

I had just finished my freshman year in college and made my way home for the summer. It had been a good first year, and countless opportunities were to soon dot the landscape of the next 2 months. But dread and fear and ache loomed in my heart as I stood outside the door. On the other side of the door stood a conversation I knew I needed to have.

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image credit: Flickr user dolfi

I reached my hand up to knock, but jerked it back down, the internal battle manifesting itself as my sweaty palms looked for anything to do besides sweat. This was absolutely what I needed to do, but in the moment I wanted to do anything but.

Have you ever broken up with someone? You knew it was the right decision, but it was hard and there was a part of you still very much resistant to the whole notion.

That’s where I was the week after my freshman year in college.

And yesterday.

But yesterday took the cake.

Have you ever had to go through that whole heart-wrenching break-up routine 4 times in one day?

Yes?

Then you’re crazy. But I’ve got still got you beat.

Ever broken up with 2500 people on the same day?

I have. Yesterday.

As I stood on stage yesterday at Grace, I “broke up” with my church. I explained how God’s leading us somewhere else, to a new adventure and a new people. It was the hardest announcement I’ve ever had to make. As excited as I am for what’s next, I’m equally being ripped apart because I love the people at Grace, whom I’ve served for the past 5 years.

It’s not you, it’s me.

This has been the most difficult decision of my life. Fleeing a burning building is one thing. If a building is on fire, everybody would tell you, “Get out of there! It’s time to run!” But fleeing one you love, one that’s growing, and one that’s full of people you love and care for is something else entirely.

But it’s when we grow comfortable that God often calls us to take a big step of faith. A step of faith that gives us the chance to trust God in a new way that we couldn’t if we stayed planted in the same spot.

Comfort and faith rarely go hand-in-hand.

I will be starting at Long Hollow in Hendersonville, TN, on October 1, as their small groups pastor, working to create a healthy small group structure, investing my life in small group leaders.

I hate walking away from Grace, but am thrilled to be joining the team at Long Hollow. Thrilled for this next season in our lives. Thrilled to pour out blood, sweat, and tears (well…likely I won’t pour out blood…but you get it) to create healthy, authentic, God-honoring communities all throughout the Hendersonville/Nashville area. Absolutely stoked.

Big changes for the Reed family.

 

 
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