Why I'm Writing Again - Because One Still Matters

Alright — here we go again.

It’s been since April of 2024, and it seems like it’s time to dust off the blog.

I’m not sure if blogs are even valuable offerings anymore, but this is the medium we’re going to try for a while. I just sense something significant in these days—something that aligns with what we’ve always been about: the people God has placed right in front of me.

Why the Break?

So why wait a year and a half to write again?

Honestly, there was zero intention behind that break. The truth is that much has changed since April 2024, and consistent writing was something I just didn’t have margin for.

A lesson I’ve learned in this season is that sometimes you have to make margin by making different choices. Often that means saying no so you can say better yeses. (I’ve written about time before.)

The past year and a half has been filled with a lot of pastoring here at the local level. I’m sure some of those stories—both blessings and challenges—will surface here. But my primary responsibility has been the people right in front of me: my family, my church, and my community. That’s where my attention has been.

Why the Restart?

My church, Hope Missionary Church, has entered a season of serious intentionality and focus. It’s a season that carries massive potential—to change lives, to grow the Kingdom of God, and to seek vision together in a way we haven’t in some time.

Seasons of collective focus often cause us to refine our own individual focus.

As I’ve reflected on who I am and what my role is in the world, I feel a longing to be a contributor to the greater things God is doing, not just a consumer of them. My hope is to give more than I take.

The Lord has convinced me that this season is a time to add to the world through writing—to offer something that strengthens the fabric of those who might read.

Too often I see things or sense things but never take the time to articulate them, to cultivate them into something practical that could move others forward. Maybe it’s time to offer a voice into the chaos in hopes it’s helpful.

The 99 and Your One

The effort we’re entering here at Hope Church is called the One Matters Initiative. You can read about it here.

It has a few different facets, but the passage in Luke 15 captures its heartbeat.

If you’re unfamiliar, Jesus tells a parable about a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. For whatever reason (and there are probably many), he loses one. Jesus asks,

“Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”

It’s a powerful question—especially because He’s saying it to a group of hardened Pharisees who wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving the 99.

Of course a good shepherd would run after the one—to bring it back to the fold, back to its rightful place, back home.

When you read this story slowly, so many things catch your heart. I hope to unpack some of those in the coming weeks.

The question the passage presses on us is clear: Who is your One?

Why have a one? Because if you’re in Christ, you once were someone’s one. Someone prayed, invited, or encouraged you in a way that helped move you from where you were to where you are now.

And beyond that— We run after a one because at one time we were the one that Christ left heaven to rescue. Jesus literally moved out of Heaven to convince us that nothing can stop the Father from bringing His people back home.

This initiative has reinvigorated something in me and given fresh vision to add something meaningful to the world.

Because here’s what I know: “The one still matters — and maybe that one is you.”

The Invitation

Over the next few weeks, I hope to offer perspective—something different, something helpful.

• Mondays: personal reflections that help you seek the one in your life.

• Wednesdays: insights from sixteen years of ministry leadership to equip leaders (vocational and volunteer) to run after the one.

If you’re interested in that conversation, follow along. We’ll get started Monday. I’ve got a plan for the rest of the year. Maybe that’s mostly for me—but I hope you benefit from it too.

See you Monday.