ABOUT DENNIS

DENNIS’ STORY

I explain “me” this way – a bondservant. My belief, purpose and identity are defined by being a doulos – a Greek term for a servant – a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, God incarnate, who was crucified, died and was buried, then physically resurrected.

I’m married to Karen and have two grown children. My commitment to Christ began during my elementary school days. But once I became a believer in Christ, I lived a pretty “inert” life spiritually, not really sure what was supposed to be next.

In high school I was mentored by friends about Christ and what he expects of his “disciples”. (Not works – but obedience) Expectations like unconditional surrender, learning and teaming up – what all that meant and what it looked like in real life. Things began to change rapidly in my faith then. At university, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship’s strong emphasis in discipleship, along with being coached by believers during my military service were all deeply formative spiritually.

My professional work is in business turnarounds – literally the idea of “repentance” – for underperforming firms owned by Wall Street private equity firms. My resume reads something like an attention-deficit disorder fantasy, having worked in electronics, software, building materials, oil and gas and conglomerates.

Karen and I have moved around the country a good bit in this kind of role, so I’ve had the chance to serve in leadership with mega, mid-sized, startups and military chapels as an elder, deacon, teacher, and speaker around the U.S., Europe, and Asia. And I began to notice something….

My work with business organizations helped me realize there are pitfalls common to both business and the Christian arena. Many of the common practices we see today in business began in ancient Church history, working no better back then than they do now in modern church or corporate life.  And these same pitfalls, which were once ancient Church routines have been recycled in modern times, the churches hoping the business folks have it figured out, the business folks thinking the churches must be right. It’s circular reasoning, and it’s affecting discipleship in our Christian communities overtly, covertly and negatively.  Getting out of this disciple-eroding do-loop is how the idea for The Disciple Dilemma began.