Welcome!

Hi, I’m Tanner.

For the past 25 years I have been caught up in the Kingdom of God’s grand narrative and the Church’s role in that story. While my sense of calling has been steady for all these years, it has been expressed in a variety of ways. I’ve been a student, a pastor, a logistics manager, and even a motorcycle safety instructor. Recently my calling has led me and my family to return home.

During my time as a lead pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, I developed a heavy burden for pastors and ministry leaders who are working harder than ever to care for their churches. And now that I’m in a different role, I feel called to create resources and conversations to support pastors and local churches to be faithful to their mission. What you find on this page will end up being as diverse as my background, but I hope you find it thought provoking and encouraging.

In the works is a project called “Emmaus Road Ministries“. There is this great story of two Jesus followers who are heading home from Jerusalem after Jesus had been crucified. He had already been resurrected, but they didn’t know it. They had gone to Jerusalem with expectation that the hope of their faith would become a reality. But as they walked home on the road to Emmaus, they were confused, disappointed, and maybe even angry.

Jesus was walking with them as they talked about everything that had gone wrong, but they didn’t recognize him until they sat at a table and shared a meal together. The purpose of ERM is to encourage and equip churches to reach their community by gathering around the table and having Jesus conversations.

Another new project that I am extremely passionate and excited about. It is called, “Wind From the West”. Having pastored for several years in churches wrestling with decline and a changing cultural context, I share lessons I learned and have conversations with other pastors about their experiences in ministry. The goal is to provide encouragement, conversation, and hopefully support for pastors and church leaders working to bring new life to their church.

If you know of a pastor who has excelled at leading a church through a season of renewal and think their experience could help others, I’d love to connect with them.

For years I’ve been writing a blog called, Seeing Their Faith.” I’ve recently clarified that project and moved many of the old posts to an area on this page called “Reflections“. “Seeing Their Faith” is a project I’m working on because I love the Church and want to help local churches to be faithful to the mission God has given them.

I believe that a community of Jesus followers who seek to live how Jesus call them to live can shape a community and bring peace to those present. I also know that it is challenging to live faithfully today. Not only are there temptations that seek to lead us away from faith, but there are so many ways to be distracted to the point where we miss God in our presence. But if the church can live as faithful witnesses who love God and love their neighbors, the world will see their faith.

I recently began a new writing series called “Speaking of the Kingdom” in which I explore words and concepts that I just assumed were religious, but after learning that they had a broader context in the realm of ancient kingdom culture, they challenged and deepened my faith. This series begins with an exploration of Kingdom words in the gospels, but the plan is to explore the book of Acts and the book of Revelation from the same perspective. While it sounds obvious, my faith has grown deeper and more alive by the statement that the Kingdom of God is a kingdom.

In addition to everything else that is happening on this page, I simply love to write. I think that is because I process my thoughts while writing. Writing is a learning process for me. You’ll find writings on a variety of topics that include personal reflection, cultural critique, or any other topic that I need to write about to get out of my head.


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