I thought I was writing an FAQ with the help of AI. Instead, the project became an unexpected opportunity for discipleship - first for me, then for our church.

Our church is in a season of protracted, unpredictable and unprecedented growth. We are nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Blacksburg is home to Virginia Tech. Over our church’s 20+ year history, we've enjoyed a significant ministry with and to young adults.

In 2021 we moved into our first church facility. We’d met in Blacksburg Middle School for 18 years before the pandemic response kicked us out.1 Since moving in, our growth rate has been exciting and challenging. We never thought we’d be in the position of needing to make expansion decisions five years later.

This year, I’ve led our church to consider a “Trinity of Strategy.” We’ve been in a season of prayer as we consider:

1. Church planting

2. Adding additional worship services

3. Building options

At our May Member Meeting, we presented these topics to our members and asked them for questions and concerns. Each table collected their questions, and when we tallied them after the meeting, there were 132 submitted questions! Our pastoral staff had committed to responding to them at our July Member Meeting. Whew!

Responding to 132 questions

My original plan was straightforward: write an FAQ so everyone would have answers. One of our pastors helpfully observed that many questions were duplicates, and as he grouped them according to the trinity above, several main themes in the questions became apparent.

I began writing. After about three pages, I realized the document was becoming pretty lengthy. Although I was answering questions, I began to wonder if I was really responding to members’ concerns. I found myself wanting to shepherd and teach even as I answered. An FAQ began to morph into an opportunity for discipleship.

Curious what I might be missing, I uploaded the questions and my draft responses into AI. I expected help organizing the material. Instead, it challenged how I was thinking about the questions themselves.

Questions like:

• Why are we adding another service?

• Why are we considering a church plant?

• Why would we ever take on debt?

• Will our church still feel like family if we keep growing?

At first, those questions appeared to require practical answers. Some of them even triggered an emotional (and if I’m honest, indignant) response. AI treated them at face value and challenged me to think deeper. As I began thinking and praying through them, I realized we had an opportunity as leaders to approach our responses from a deeper and more strategic level.

The questions themselves weren’t difficult because people were skeptical or distrustful. They reflected the sincere desire of thoughtful church members. We’d asked them to ask questions, after all. They wanted to understand how their leaders were thinking. Their questions revealed that they needed to “see” the hours of prayer, the conversations among our elders, the study of scripture, the discussions with leaders in various fields, and the countless moments when our leaders stopped to ask, “What do we sense God leading us to do? How can we grow forward faithfully?” The FAQ became an opportunity to pull back the curtain and invite our church members into leadership conversations.

Every question had another question beneath it.

Through give and take with AI over hours and days of writing and research, one of the most valuable discoveries was realizing that very few questions were limited to the subject they mentioned. A question about adding another worship service often reflected concern for volunteers. Questions about buildings became conversations about ministry philosophy. Questions about debt led to broader discussions of stewardship, faith, and mission. Questions about church growth reminded me that today’s classroom challenges are evidences of our members “being the church” bearing fruit.

As I worked through the questions, I found myself asking different questions in return. Why are we making this decision? What biblical principles are shaping it? How can this answer do more than provide information? Practical questions often expose theological convictions, and helping people understand those convictions is one of the privileges of pastoral ministry. I’ve been guilty in my ministry of too often answering a question quickly instead of allowing it become a discipleship opportunity.

AI Didn’t Write My Theology

This project was the first major writing project in which I intentionally incorporated AI throughout the editing process. I didn’t ask it to tell me what to believe or to write my theology. In fact, I constantly had to redirect, offer scriptural insight and challenge some conclusions. But I also read its responses and processed them.

I found myself using AI much like a research assistant or editor. It organized 132 submitted questions, identified recurring themes, pointed out repetition, suggested smoother transitions, and surfaced patterns that I might otherwise have overlooked. It was truly helpful in the rabbit trails that certain questions led me down.

The work itself remained deeply pastoral. Prayer, scripture, theological reflection, research, conversations with our pastors and elders, and careful editing all remained at the center of the process. AI simply accelerated the organizational work, giving me more time and mental energy to wrestle with the questions that mattered most and to communicate more clearly.

Each time I returned to the document (the project was several days), I was humbled anew by the engagement and interest that 132 questions from our members revealed. Our church cares about the mission of Jesus. It cares about its leaders and volunteers.

The lesson I’ll carry forward

I finished the project with 18 pages of material. Yeesh. I knew that many of our members wouldn’t read such a long of a document, so I had AI help me produce an attractive one-page document that summarized the questions. Each group of responses to the Trinity of Strategy referenced the page numbers on the larger document. When I sent the email to members with responses, I urged members to “find their question” and read its longer response in the full FAQ.

Looking back, I am still amazed at the helpfulness of AI. The greatest lesson wasn’t about AI, however. My main takeaway was the importance of not simply answering questions. Leadership doesn’t provide quick answers. Good leadership invites us to ask better questions. Jesus modeled that throughout His ministry. He consistently responded to questions or conflicts with a question of His own. Jesus’ questions invited people to examine their hearts, challenge their assumptions, and think more deeply about the truth.

I’m grateful our members engaged with us. Their curiosity, concerns and questions led me down a personal growth path. The process reminded me that nearly every practical issue in the life of the church presents an opportunity to help God’s people think more biblically and to point them back to Christ. I still believe church members deserve clear answers. But this experience reminded me that the best answers often begin with better questions. Every question about budgets, buildings, worship services, or strategy ultimately becomes an opportunity to point people toward Christ. Looking back, that may have been the greatest gift hidden inside those 132 questions.

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A Final Thought

As I reflected on this project, I found myself wondering what others might take away from the experience.

Pastors

Invite your church to ask questions.

You’ll quickly discover where your communication could be clearer. More importantly, if you’ll prayerfully consider not only the questions themselves but also what lies beneath them, you’ll likely find every question becoming:

• A discipleship opportunity

• A leadership growth opportunity

Some of the greatest lessons in pastoral ministry don’t come from answering questions. They come from wrestling with them.

Church Members

Think about the questions you would ask your pastors. Then ask yourself another question: Why am I asking this? What assumptions, hopes, fears, or expectations lie beneath it?

Sometimes discovering the motivation behind a question is just as valuable as finding its answer. That kind of reflection doesn’t simply lead to greater understanding of your church’s leadership. It often leads to greater understanding of your own heart.

What’s next?

I’d love to hear any comments below, and as always, please hit those subscribe or share buttons in this post!

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It’s a hot one out there for us here in southwest Virginia, but thank the Lord for AC! Let’s keep our European friends in our prayers as they struggle through this hot beginning to this summer.

As festivities have already begun in D.C. for America’s 250th birthday, I listened to the new song United Saints of America by Jon Kahn and Michael Farren.

These verse lyrics struck me:

We’ve got our share of scoundrels, outlaws and clowns
Cowboys and preachers, little one-horse towns
Big city, white collar, bright lights and big shiny cars
We’ve got farmers on tractors that keep us all fed
The north and the south, the blue and the red
They make something beautiful
Man, those colors are beautiful

Chorus:

You can say what you want, you can throw stones
But on your worst day, it’s still home sweet home
You can’t kill the idea that put its roots deep down in dust and blood
Done a whole lot of bending, but you can’t make or break it
Hell or high water, that flag’s gonna wave
If you wanna know who keeps this crazy thing standing up
It’s the United Saints of America

Verse:

From the Bible Belt to the streets with no church
It’s hard to explain it, but somehow, it works
And I dare you to find me a soldier more brave than the ones
Who salute the Stars and Stripes every day

I chuckled about the line “We’ve got our share of scoundrels, outlaws and clowns, Cowboys and preachers…” I don’t think they meant preachers were scoundrels, outlaws or clowns (or cowboys), but it still delighted me that my vocation (at least one of them) was included in that list. And I’ve always wanted to be a cowboy.

I’ve never owned a horse. But I do have a Honda Elite 80 scooter.1 It’s black, and I’ve named it the Batmoped. Thanks to AI, I was able to jump through a ring of fire on it in celebration of America’s 250th.

Why is this post titled “Ode to my kids?”

Immediately after "United Saints of America” played, Luke Bryan’s song Jesus Bout my Kids played. As I listened to that song, I got teary-eyed, especially with these lyrics:

Chorus:

I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
The same way that my mom and daddy did
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
Now I talk to Jesus ‘bout my kids

This verse prompted a lot of thankfulness:

You lose your grip the more they grow
They won’t listen ‘cause they think they know
And you watch ‘em going down a dead-end road, and you can’t stop ‘em
Lord, please watch ‘em

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We’ve been blessed with two kids - Sam and Adelyn. Sam was born in 1997, and Adelyn in 1999. Yep, they’re last-century chilluns.

Children are a miracle and a gift from God. When Carolyn and I got married, we wanted kids, but we also didn’t presume we’d have kids. In fact, for us, children would need to be a gift from God. Before we were married, Carolyn had already been treated aggressively for cancer with radiation and chemotherapy.2 Her oncologist prepared us emotionally for the reality that she may not be able to conceive as a result.

By God’s abundant grace, we were blessed with Sam and Adelyn. It turns out that in spite of cancer therapies, Carolyn was Fertile Myrtle (my nickname for her… not her favorite).

Back to the song…

As I listened to Luke Bryan croon out the words to the song, I was grateful for how the lyrics both did and didn’t apply to us.

I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
The same way that my mom and daddy did
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
Now I talk to Jesus ‘bout my kids

We definitely talked to our kids about Jesus. He was a constant source of conversation in our home. We wanted our kids to know that Jesus loved them deeply. We also wanted to show our kids that we loved Jesus deeply (and knew that we, as parents, were deeply loved by Jesus). It was our happy conviction that when children see parents pursuing Jesus with all their hearts, they themselves will be oriented to do the same.

Because they were PKs (preacher’s kids), we were intentional about not shoving “church” down their little throats. We simply modeled a love for God and a love for His people. We enjoyed “going to” church - not as a source of religious obligation, but as a destination of encouragement, worship, equipping and joy with other lovers of Jesus.

By God’s grace, Sam and Adelyn are today two young-ish adults (they will love that 😉) who love and pursue Jesus on their own, and now with their own families.

Jeffrey Samuel Noble

Sam was a play-with-me child. He loved our presence. Or maybe it was simply that we delighted in playing with him? I spent many an hour on the floor of his room with Hot Wheels or Toy Story characters or Rescue Heroes. Sam as a baby could watch tractor and truck videos for hours. But most of all, he loved playing. He was a typical first-born, and still today, he declares things into existence by a firm statement. “Montana has the highest population of beavers.” That may or may not be true, but statements like that were relatively normal, and we’d have to correct him on a random false statement that he’d made with earnest confidence. Adelyn eventually nicknamed him “Superlative Sam.”

Fast forward

Sam is 29 years old this year. He’s the area director of Young Life in Central Virginia. He and Sidney got married in April 2020, in a backyard in North Carolina due to pandemic requirements in that state. Shepherd was born in 2023, and Porter was just born last month!

Sam and Sidney have an ease about them as they live and lead that is joyful to watch. They model a love for Jesus, and their faith has not only impacted middle and high school students through Young Life, but Shepherd already sings and talks about Jesus.

Sam is still superlative at times, but he’s superlative about the Savior more than anything. Whether he’s playing golf or playing with his now “play-with-me” oldest son, he models intentional relationships. He’s fun, grateful and loud. It’s a joy to see him talking with kids bout Jesus, as we did with him.

Adelyn Kay Wallace

Adelyn has always been a teacher. From birth, she had a stuffed “pink baby” that as soon as she was aware of, she began to cart everywhere. She and pink baby were never far apart. Then there was the chihuahua phase (which I eternally regret). Where Sam had a bird and a lizard, Adelyn accumulated furry things. We once found her teaching her hamster to swim in her bathroom sink.

I would sometimes try to sneak by her room when she was playing in it. If she saw me, I was inevitably lured in and was either invited to a tea party (which I was forbidden to leave), or she would “teach” me things on her dry erase easel board. I can’t tell you how long I sat in a tiny chair in her room, listening to her lecture as she pretended to be a teacher. She could (and sometimes still does) make your ears bleed.

She was musical early. She learned guitar, and for a very brief season, thank the Lord, the tuba. It was a joy to later experience her helping lead worship in our church when she was in high school. She was always our perfectionist child. Where Sam would declare things into existence, Adelyn would organize things into existence.

Fast Forward

Adelyn is 27 this year. She got her masters and began teaching high school math. When she got married in 2022, we welcomed Braeden into our family. We were humbled to welcome Braeden onto our church staff in 2025 as our Young Adult Minister, and that December, we celebrated the birth of Ryla with them! Adelyn works in the schools as a data analysis resource teacher (IT/DART). I have no idea what she does, except that she’s smart as a whip about numbers and computers.

Adelyn has always had a tender heart toward Jesus. She’s also asked deep faith questions. Her knowledge of scripture informs not only her own faith but prompts her joyful confidence as she talks to others about Jesus. Seeing her and Braeden also engaged in intentional relationships and vocational ministry together is deeply humbling.

“Now I talk to Jesus bout my kids…”

Yep. I find that prayer is one of the most joyful ways that I support my adult children in these days. They are both busy, with full schedules, and growing families. Yet prayer is a beautifully active way that I can support, encourage and love them. I’m confident that as I talk to Jesus about my kids, that He hears and listens.

Luke Bryan’s experience in song, though, is different from mine. He sings, “You lose your grip the more they grow. They won’t listen ‘cause they think they know..” I’ve found the opposite true. My kids listen to me and Carolyn. They seek us for counsel. They welcome our input and presence. How blessed we are! How grateful we are! (Granted, we don’t always see eye to eye. In those cases, I’m always right. 😉)

It occurred to me the other day that Sam and Adelyn grew up in the shadow of cancer. Words like chemo and radiation and biopsy are not normal words in most kids’ vocabularies. While we protected them from some of the details of Carolyn’s crazy cancer journeys, we told them enough during each episode to invite them into prayer and to increase their confidence that God was in control.

They (and we) may never know just how profound growing up in such an uncertain health environment was. We really don’t know how it impacted their faith and depth. All we can see today is who they are.

They and their spouses love Jesus, love their families (and us) and do life well. They are involved in ministry and in their churches. I’m so proud of them as people. Humbled to be their dad. I know Carolyn feels the same about being their mom. I can’t wait to see how they talk to their kids ‘bout Jesus in the days ahead.

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The next generation

Last week, we took Shepherd, our two year-old grandson (from Sam) to Toy Story 5. There was one moment in the theater when I looked over at Shepherd as he giggled at Buzz’s antics and consistently asked, “Where’s Jessie?” and saw Sam at his age in the theater for Toy Story 2 (which came out in 1999). It was a surreal experience and reminded me how some stories continue through generations.

These days, I get to talk to my grandkids ‘bout Jesus, the same way that we did with our kids. Now we know more (and have experienced more) about Jesus than we did. This time around, it will be even more of a joyful adventure! To infinity and beyond!

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Hello dear readers! Hope you’re having a most excellent June.

Here’s the first post in a series. Every month I’ll dig through the archives and dust off a few posts from years gone by. Consider it a “time capsule.” All posts are historical, but some are occasionally hysterical, and all offer a glimpse into the ideas, lessons, and adventures that have shaped the journey.

Now, here are posts from Junes-gone-by on my blog that I think are fun and worth reading! I hope you’ll peruse a few! If you’re not a subscriber yet, please hit the subscribe button!

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In Notes from the Trail history:

• Best Headlines from Apple’s WWDC - 2008! (June 9, 2008) With this week’s Apple WWDC and its promise of a better AI-powered Siri (It’s only been 11 years of “Siri what’s the weather today…?” with a response of “I found this on the web check it out.”) But it’s fun to look back at what was being announced in 2008.

• Adios Twitter, for now… (June 9, 2008) Yes. I’ve been on Twitter/X a long time! “Back in the day,” Twitter would occasionally go down, and the site would give you the image of what was called the “fail whale.” I was on Twitter then as “journeyguy.” Read my story here of losing that account and my subsequent frustration with the total lack of X support in recovery. I love this old post, because we were calling Twitter “microblogging” back in 2008.

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• Welcome new readers... (June 8, 2006) Yes, I’ve also been blogging a long time! Here’s an earlier introduction to me. It’s surreal/fun/sad to see who I gave shout outs to (other bloggers) who are no longer blogging. Did social media kill blogging? Has there been a revival on good, long-form blogging in the last few years?

• The Work Behind the Word (June 2, 2004) This was a faith post. Are you bad at waiting? Perhaps you’re in the “way.” In golf terms, we need to let God “play through.” We are delaying His progress by our slow and pitiful play.

• On invalid signatures, rejection, reflection, and relief (June 13, 2014) Yep, I was almost a politician once. Here’s my story of running for city council.

• Why I am not responding to your texts (June 3, 2013) I tried a DLAE (Digital Lifestyle Adjustment Experiment). I exchanged my iPhone 5 for a 10 year old dumb phone.

• Mowing to country music (June 22, 2017) Mowing is therapeutic for me. It’s one of the few things that I do in life that I get to see instant results. And I still listen to country music when I mow. And daydream. This was a great post about a Luke Bryan song.

• Is it good for you to burn with anger? (June 6, 2022) This is another faith post. What if underlying anger was THE issue of our culture today? What if it was the kindling for all of our cancel culture, outrage machine? Do we have a right be angry? This post examines the results of an angry prophet and may implode our protestations of “righteousness indignation.”

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