Hi Reader,

On Tuesday, I gathered with Uncommon Pursuit's Community Partners to discern how we would respond to God's love this year.

To my delight, we felt prompted to focus on how God transforms us into Christlikeness

This is particularly gratifying because I decided not to suggest any agenda items. Yet, what the group wanted to do is 100% aligned with the focus of my Major Project that I am working on for my Doctor of Ministry degree!

So here's what it looks like... Drumroll, please... 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

🎇 New Course: Paradoxes of the Christian Life 🎇

After listing out fifty or so elements of spiritual formation, I faced a massive challenge: There are so many tensions!

Are we already righteous, or are we becoming righteous? Do we live by faith or focus on faithfulness? Is it an individual or a communal process? Does it lead to thriving - but what about the dark night of the soul?

Over and over again, the answer was, “Yes, it’s both-and, sometimes either-or, and also there’s another angle.”

The other reason? I get frustrated when “becoming like Christ” is presented as an Easy Bake Recipe. Follow this five-step plan, and “Boom! You’ll be totally on fire for the Lord!”

We need something more honest, raw, and challenging—like our lives.

“Paradoxes of the Christian Life” will give us space to wrestle with our Triune, Incomprehensible, Incarnate God as a globally diverse community that yearns for Christlikeness in an already-not-yet world.

Your Journey in 2025

Stage 1: Dynamic Paradoxes: The energizing foundations of a new life in Christ

Stage 2: Disruptive Paradoxes: The troubling disruptions as we engage with the world, flesh, and devil - and even God

Stage 3: Deeper Paradoxes: The lifelong tensions of faithfulness, wisdom, and maturity

Two Ways To Participate

To build a strong community, I ask everyone who signs up to participate in 80% of the experience throughout 2025.

You can join in one of two ways:

• I’m in, and you can count on me being there on Mondays via Zoom
• I’m in, but I can’t make Mondays. You can count on me to participate in the community discussions.

(I know some people would prefer to take the course with their small group - that’s good, too!)

The Weekly Experience

We will meet each Monday from 11:15-12:15. Our focus will be prayer, friendship, discussion, and exploration.

After each meeting, at 1 pm Eastern on Mondays, I will add a new lesson in the Uncommon Pursuit Academy. This lesson will provide:

• The Paradox
• A concise Biblical theology of the paradox
• A Scripture passage to study with reflection questions
• A few prayer prompts to connect with God
• An introduction to related, Spirit-empowered practices

If you decide to participate, then each week, you will be on two tracks:

• Integrating the lessons of the prior week into the depths of your heart and the fabric of your life
• Preparing to discuss the lessons of the coming week’s discussion as you engage with God and his word

Your Tools For Growth:

The Triune God of Love - we’ll be relying on God to work in, among, through, and around us

The Scriptures - we’ll seek to develop a whole Bible understanding of spiritual formation punctuated by a deep-dive into one illustrative passage each week

Church history - we’ll listen to voices of ancient and modern wisdom who have gone before us

Personal Journal - we’ll process what we’re experiencing with God along the way

Life Plan - we’ll iteratively revise and update a “core” document with our key learnings and personal integrations. This is where the ‘best of’ the series becomes personalized to your life

The Uncommon Pursuit community– We’ll go through this experience together as brothers and sisters in Christ– We’ll utilize the community functionality to share additional resources, ask questions, and continue the discussion in the online forum

The Academy - a record of each lesson will be available to review or to enable a new member to ‘catch up’

Time Commitment

A minimum of 1-2 hours a week, but community engagement offers the opportunity for more discussion as desired.

Getting Started

1. Login to the Academy with your account.

2. Visit the course page: https://academy.uncommonpursuit.net/products/the-uncommon-pursuit-academy/categories/2156828601​

3. Start the first lesson

Not signed up yet? It takes about a minute to register (link).​

One more thing…

If you’re already signed up or preparing to join, would you invite a friend to take the course with you? Just forward this email to them with a personal note.

Though I want to make space for people to join midway through, there is a little bit of urgency, as next Monday will be an important meeting as we get oriented to the journey ahead.

To provide this course will require me to engage in a massive amount of research, writing, and preparation. So, it's only available to our Community Partners. If you want to join, sign up for the Uncommon Pursuit Academy today.

I hope you'll join us!

​

gratefully,

Carson

P.S. Not only is the first lesson already available, but after signing up, you'll also get immediate access to eleven other courses.... Don't miss out!