This morning I gave my last lecture at DTS. Normally my last session for this course is simply a summary & review of the semester. But today I asked my students to indulge me for a summary & review of the past 15 years. I offered them 7 admonitions:

#1. Don’t try to lead the church of the future without the guidance of the church of the past.

#2. Read your Bible as the missional story of the missional God forming a missional people to live missional lives.

#3. Jesus trusted women, respected women, empowered women, and commissioned women. Be like Jesus.

#4. Refuse shallow calls for racial reconciliation that ignore deeper calls for racial justice.

#5. People will misunderstand you, mischaracterize you, and malign you. Show up anyway.

#6. Be a wounded healer.

#7. Never give up on the dream of shalom.