i spent years doing “church” how i was taught—programs, calendars, committees, budgets.

calling corporations “churches” because the sign out front did. calling paid staff “pastors” because everyone else did, even when they didn’t pastor me. calling nonprofit organizations “church family” because i thought they were.

for years, i didn't see it.

i pastored for over a decade & didn’t know i was selling the gospel to whatever “church” hired me. i’d confused loving my denomination’s corporation with loving Jesus.

somewhere along the way, i survived the hardest season of my life—excommunication. the kind that makes you hate church. but once a lot of assumptions were stripped away, i found Jesus.

i wrote a book about it called PRECAMPBELL CHRISTIANITY. (i also wrote TRISOMY & a sci-fi book called POE, but that’s for another time.)

leaving a church that was more a cult/corporation left me completely lost. i tried joining social media groups, hoping to find people who understood. but so many of them had thrown the baby out with the bathwater—in escaping bad religion, they had thrown out Jesus too. and i understood why.

i didn’t even know what the gospel was anymore.

i could tell you what the gospel was about, but i couldn’t tell you who the gospel was about.

i knew the book, but i didn’t know the man.

i knew scripture, but i didn’t know Jesus. that’s when the Lord started sending me dreams. because of these dreams, i asked Him this summer if He was calling me to prophet.

that night i had a dream.

i’m running from demons in a dungeon with saints. but we’re surrounded. suddenly, i’ve the visage of a radiant, holy cleric. raising my rod before me, i cry, “i’m a prophet of the Most High God!” & shadows flee as darkness wisps away like smoke, terrified.

from 2024 to 2026, i had many dreams like this one. sometimes, i met angels. sometimes, God.

i had this dream some weeks ago.

i was in a church preaching from a scroll. black ink scribbled Luke 23:46 then Luke 4:18-19 on it. my eyes fell on 23:46, but a thick slash struck through it, leaving me staring at 4:18-19. i woke up & read.

Luke 23:46 are Jesus’s last words to conclude his earthly ministry, when on the cross he’d finished his mission & cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” then he breathed his last.

Luke 4:18-19 are Jesus’s first words to introduce his earthly ministry, often called his “Nazareth Manifesto” because it’s his mission statement—he promised the poor he’ll care for them. because God wanted me to get a good look at Luke 4:18-19, leaving this passage unmarked & the last thing seen in the dream before waking me, let’s read the whole passage:

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

i had another dream many months ago. a white basket came down from heaven & sat in my lap. inside the basket’s left half, lay treasure glowing with immeasurable worth—pearl of great price, lost coin, hidden treasure in a field, all-in-one. inside the right half, sheaves of wheat standing up, densely packed & ready for harvest.

in two more dreams, a man led an immeasurable host of poor people to a sea, where he breathed on the waters. with each breath, waters receded until they could all cross parted seas. again, a man was raised up to the skies on a tower of poor folk like himself, where he was told to jump. he landed safely, walking with prophets of old.

i’m following dreams, & God has put on my heart to plant a church for poor neighbors like myself.

now, i’m calling all church dropouts. folk who've stepped away from church but who love Jesus.

no, leaving church didn’t mean you left Jesus.

i know the feeling because i've been there.

when you escape the matrix, you ask yourself if you'd ever followed Jesus—or just religion? if you had faith in Christ or “Christianity”? if church is supposed to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit?

look, Jesus was there. in the people. not in the nonprofit. you never lost faith. you just lost confidence in religious systems—businesses & employees calling themselves “church.”

think nonprofit “churches” & Jesus’s church are the same? spoiler. they’re not. and you’re not alone.

millions are leaving “church” & finding Jesus.

most aren’t leaving God. they’re leaving a corporation that calls itself “church.”

you're not looking for less church.

you're looking for more Jesus.

find Jesus, not a “church.”

follow Jesus. He’s your best bet.

He adds you to his church (Acts 2:47), where people love one another & live out the gospel together, one & many relationships at a time.

people say, “if you want a small group, start one.” invite a couple of friends over, open your Bibles, pray, eat together, & keep showing up regularly.

that's me & Kia. but instead of a small group, we’re planting a church in Tucson.

finding a church doesn’t have to be hard. just pray & be a fruit inspector. look where hands & hearts become lounges & living rooms for Holy Spirit.