by David Tensen | 8 May, 2023 | Church -, leadership, Life, Podcast
This is possibly the most sensitive of topics I have addressed on the podcast so far. This episode is an educational response to the comments, messages and unfollows received from Episode 30 where I talked briefly about being LGBTQ+ affirming. Many well-meaning,...
by David Tensen | 5 Apr, 2023 | Church -, Shame
There was a time, not long ago, that I looked at the cross as a symbol of love. This message was reinforced by shirts, logos, and even skywriting at Easter time. But a message that love looks like a form of excruciating punishment is beginning to melt away for me. For...
by David Tensen | 20 Mar, 2023 | Audio, Church -
YOUTUBE VERSION . /. PODCAST VERSION This is part 2 of 2 on the topic of Foundational Sacrifice. In this episode I talk openly as a guy who sacrificed my well-being and my family’s well-being in the name of church growth. I hit burnout and suffered from...
by David Tensen | 22 Jan, 2023 | All, Church -, leadership, Poetry, Transformation
Anchor made is too simple to upload my Youtube vlog audio into a podcast. So I did. Here it is, unedited, raw, honest. You’ll find links to Spotify and iTunes on that page. Search for Terribly Honest with David Tensen Enjoy… or don’t Here are the...
by David Tensen | 29 Sep, 2022 | All, Church -
On the other side of the global disruption known by many names, many social gatherings – including CHURCH ATTENDANCE – are DOWN. I have no empirical statistics to give you, but I know plenty of Christian church workers in Australia who have told me weekend...
by David Tensen | 20 Aug, 2022 | Australia, business, Church -
I’ve been actively applying jobs since early June. I’ve applied for over 40 jobs, adjusted my resume 19 times, and learnt a whole new recruitment dance. It has left me scratching my head, wondering why the hell, in an age where soft-skills ARE the hard...
by David Tensen | 24 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, leadership, masculinity, parenting, Resource, Transformation
This was the alarming start of a recent conversation.”Is it just me, or are older guys willing to be mentors really hard to find?””Yep.” I replied, “At this age and stage of life, they are harder to find.” Let’s call this...
by David Tensen | 9 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, leadership, Shame, Transformation
It is almost a decade since I went into voluntary bankruptcy. In 2006 Natalie and I had sold up and sold out to do missions work in Japan. We returned in 2008 with our second child due . As it happened, we landed back in Australia on the doorstep of the Global...
by David Tensen | 4 Apr, 2022 | All, Church -, Poetry
I don’t recall sharing this perspective on my thoughts around Ephesians 4:9-16 publicly. Partly because, when I developed it in 2017 I was travelling among several church circles which held a more exclusive view of who might be called an apostle, prophet,...
by David Tensen | 28 Mar, 2022 | All, Church -, Poetry
It was a simple workshop exercise; write down one word or more that describes how a Church Pastor should behave. The 100+ counsellors and pastors attending the webinar hit their keyboards and the chat stream filled up faster than you could say ecclesiastical theology....
by David Tensen | 9 Mar, 2022 | All, business, Church -, leadership, parenting
There is an emerging area of leadership practice and theory called Authentic Leadership. If you’ve studied leadership principles for a while you’ll know they are often relabelled (and repriced) social science theories. After all, leadership is grounded in...
by David Tensen | 15 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
A few years back I heard a story of a family who were serving in a regional church community as Pastors. The husband was doing much of the work but, as we know, expectations always extend to the Pastor’s family, so his wife and two teenage children were...
by David Tensen | 5 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
In 2011, researcher Marlene Winell coined the phrase Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) in an effort to define the set of symptoms found in those who ‘participated in or left behind authoritarian, dogmatic, and controlling religious groups and belief...
by David Tensen | 2 Oct, 2021 | All, Church -
A few months ago, Natalie and I came home from a day at our respective workplaces and we’d each been asked the same question, “Where do you guys go to church?” I’ve asked it of others many times. Depending on their answer, you make assumptions....
by David Tensen | 4 Feb, 2021 | All, Church -
I thought it was normal. But it wasn’t. That afternoon, when the organiser called to thank me for speaking at a breakfast for the 20 local pastors, he confirmed that robust rebuttal and tearful confession after a guest speaks doesn’t usually happen. When the...
by David Tensen | 16 Dec, 2020 | All, Church -
“Confess your sins one to another, pray that no one discloses your concern, and you will keep your title.” James 5:16 MDCV (Modern Dysfunctional Church Version) OK, that is a bit of a stretch from the original scripture in James which encourages us to ‘confess...
by David Tensen | 11 Dec, 2020 | All, Church -
Did you know that a majority of licensed counsellors and psychologists must have regular, mandatory supervision to remain in active practice? In other words, your psych must regularly see a specially trained and experienced psych for their troubles and concerns. More...
by David Tensen | 29 Jul, 2020 | All, Church -, leadership, SHIPS, Transformation
It’s hard to know where to start on a topic like this because it is so complicated and multifaceted. When people move away from prominent positions in a church community and do something outside ‘church ministry’, there is often a storm of emotions and responses that...
by David Tensen | 12 May, 2020 | All, Church -, Resource, Social Media
So, if you’re reading this, there is a chance you’re a Christian. There is also a high probability you are of the Evangelical Christian variety (BTW, that does include most Pentecostals and Charismatics, Baptists and non-denominational). It’s a...
by David Tensen | 13 Mar, 2020 | All, Church -, leadership, Resource
In light of the recent the COVID19 pandemic, a number of pastors, teachers and trainers have been considering streaming online services/training/classes in place of meeting in-person. My wife and I ran gatherings and teachings for Christians for about three years. We...
