What is a disciple?
How can we be disciples of Jesus in the 21st Century?
Summer 2026
I am dedicating much of my energy during the summer of 2026 to focus on discipleship. This is the core of Ordinary Time. I am writing a new course for Faith+Lead Academy called Leading Discipleship in Your Context. It will be a simpler version of the course I teach at Luther Seminary called Discipleship in the Missional Church. All of this flows from my ongoing scholarship.
Real Art. Real Time. Real Connection.
An 8-Week Summer Series of Contemplative Art & Scripture
In an age of Artificial Intelligence generating endless content, let this be a refreshing connection to a real person, creating real art, in real time, and contemplating a real God.
Every Thursday at 4:00pm Central Time
Choose Your Platform to Watch Live
Grab your supplies! If you are with me live, you can leave comments on either platform to interact and chat during the session. (Can’t make it live? No worries. Each session will be archived here to view in your own time and space.)
What to Expect Each Week:
Every Thursday at 4:00 PM (Central Time), we’re slowing down to connect with scripture through creativity:
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The Deep Dive: We’ll start with a live visual study of a scripture passage.
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The Creation: Watch (and create!) in real-time as I craft a piece of contemplative art based on the text.
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The Community: Chat with me and other viewers live in the comments.
Want Personal Feedback & Community?
If you would like to share your art with me, get personal interaction, and dive deeper, I invite you to join The Art Pastor’s Network.
Members of the network get:
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Personal interaction and feedback on your artwork.
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Connection with a vibrant community of like-minded creatives.
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Participation in our weekly Zoom Text Studies.
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FREE access to download all Art Pastor resources!
In A New Focus: Membership to Discipleship you’ll explore the key characteristics that distinguish membership-focused churches from discipleship-focused churches. When churches focus primarily on membership, they often become centered on attendance, buildings, and budgets—measurable metrics that provide a sense of control in an uncertain world. The identity of the church becomes tied to a place, a worship service, and clear boundaries about who belongs and who doesn’t. But what if the church reclaimed its original calling as a movement of disciples—apprentices learning to follow the way of Jesus in their everyday lives?
The Art Pastor’s Guide to Discipleship
This is a work in progress. Keep coming back to see new pages. Click the page to explore.
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Take the Four-Week Course. learn more…
Posts for the Journey
Drawing the Why Jesus Images in Photoshop
In this episode of The Art Pastor Live you are invited to watch me create the images in Photoshop for the Why Jesus presentation. We geek out about the theology of discipleship and the process of creating digital paintings
Why Jesus? A Visual Guide to Why We Think God Showed Up in Human Form
Why do we make such a big deal about Jesus? Can’t we just talk about God, or be spiritual. What does a 1st century Jewish Rabbi have to do with life today?
Join Me on A Journey of Discipleship
We begin our journey in the Art of Discipleship on August 1. In this post I lay out some big opportunities for you to grow deeper in the love of God as a disciple of Jesus.


