A Little Update

Long overdue and, yet, exactly on time

So it has been a while since I posted an update at this little ol' 'stack. I promise the time between posts was not because I've been twiddling my thumbs on the back porch, enjoying the spring growth in my part of the Old Dominion. I've been working a little harder than usual at various and sundry projects that I pray will bear modest fruit. In the hopes of reviving my writing routine over in this part of the Internet, I thought I would provide some updates on some of my work.

We Started a Podcast

A good part of the work I've been doing is hosting a new-ish podcast we've put out at Grimke. The aptly named "Grimke Podcast" has been rip-roaring fun, on camera, no less. The fact of the matter is that Bryan Laughlin, Doug Ponder, and Doug Logan are some of my longest-standing friends. We've been talking about ministry, life, and everything in between for years and years. Then we had this idea to turn a camera on during those very same conversations. And the result has been encouraging. We could always turn the camera off and still have the same conversation among friends. But for as long as people benefit from listening in on our banter, we're going to keep doing this podcast thing.

You can listen to our podcast here. This episode on “words” may be the nerdiest I have ever been on camera (which is actually most of my waking life).

Coaching

I still coach a handful of some of the greatest clients an executive coach could hope for. I'm still not all that much a fan of the term "coach." All too often, I get called a "life coach," which is a dagger to my soul, though I rarely correct people. If you've seen The Godfather, what I do could be more of what that movie calls a "wartime consigliere." I have the privilege of talking to Christian men who are in the trenches, doing hard work in ministry and business. I get to take everything I know about people, business, ministry, the heroes of Wester Christian civilization, the Bible, and my own mistakes and ask some really aggresive questions that get leaders thinking about the way out of the challenges they are currently facing. It really is great fun.

Dean

I'm also leading up Grimke College as its dean. I have students scattered all over the continental US and beyond. These are Christians investing in their local churches, looking for education and training to pursue God's calling on their lives. I grade their papers, structure their courses, and answer whatever questions they lob my way. It is a privilege to teach them.

Doctoral Work

I'm also starting on doctoral work that will culminate in a dissertation presented (hopefully) at the end of 2026. If you take everything I've said so far in this brief post and warp it up into doctoral work, that is what my dissertation will be. I hope to show that Christian leaders have deprived themselves of an older, better tradition for Christian leadership formation in favor of saccharine substitutes that are steeped in therapuetic, sociological, branded gobbly gook. I believe that Christian leaders took the wrong exit between 1860 and 1970. It's time to find the way back to the highway.

The Future of This Site

I still plan to post updates like this regularly. I've found that some of the friendships I treasure the most are on this site. I'd love to update you on my work. I also plan to start posting more popular presentations of my academic work. The hope would be that my dissertation would spawn one or more popular-level works on Christian leadership. I don't want to wait to start writing that material. And Substack seems to be the best place to start publishing it. I'll likely put those posts behind a paywall to keep the AI bots away (or make them pay), to narrow my commenting audience, and to give the opportunity to several of my readers to support my work (I've had a few requests).

So, as always, I'm grateful to you, my readers and friends. Godspeed, give a read, and leave a comment.