Send us Fan Mail What does it look like to actually live the mission you preach — not just talk about it from a stage? In part two of our conversation with Matt Bowen, lead pastor of Emmaus Church in Beaverton, we get into the real work of building something healthy from the ground up — the elder formation process, the search for a building, and the moment Matt realized he didn't have a single consistent friendship with someone outside the faith on his calendar. Not aspirationally. Actually. ...
May 30
57 min
Send us Fan Mail Matt Bowen didn't set out to plant a church. He didn't think he had the gifts for it. He wasn't the big personality. He just felt God say it was time to go — and said yes. What followed was one of the more remarkable stories you'll hear from a pastor in the Pacific Northwest. In This Episode You'll Discover: - Why Matt resisted church planting for years — and what finally changed - How fear and comfort can quietly become the biggest barriers to obedience - What it looks lik...
May 22
56 min
Send us Fan Mail What actually causes pastors and churches to fall apart? After 20 years of denominational leadership and more interventions than she wants to count, Tammy Dunahue has a clear answer — and it's probably not what you'd expect. In this conversation, Tim and Gabe sit down with Tammy Dunahue, Executive Dean of Portland Seminary at George Fox University and a 40-year veteran of church planting, revitalization, and movement leadership. Tammy and her husband Gary co-planted and multi...
May 16
53 min
Send us Fan Mail What does it look like to follow a founder — especially one who built something that shaped an entire city? Chris Nye is the lead pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon. In this conversation, he shares the unlikely story of how a kid born less than a mile from the church he now leads came to faith in the suburbs, felt the pull of the city for decades, and eventually received a casual text from Rick McKinley that changed everything. Tim Osborn and Ahshuwah Haw...
May 1
47 min
Send us Fan Mail Pastor Clifford Jones shares an unforgettable testimony of meeting Jesus while serving a 50-year sentence in Louisiana State Penitentiary, one of the most violent prisons in America. What followed was a radical transformation, seminary training behind bars, pastoral ministry in prison, and eventually a calling that brought him all the way to the Pacific Northwest. In this episode of Jesus in the Upper Left, Clifford tells the story of how God changed his life, opened prison d...
Apr 11
42 min
Send us Fan Mail Cameron Heger moved from Arkansas to Portland with no ministry plan — just a seminary enrollment and a love for the city. After years embedded at Door of Hope, he felt called to plant a new church. Door of Hope sent him with a core team of 100 adults, a building, and a spirit of generosity. Door of Hope Northeast held its first gathering on March 1, 2020. Its second on March 8. There was no third — the world shut down. In this conversation, Cameron shares what it was like to...
Mar 28
45 min
Send us Fan Mail New research on Portland reveals something most church leaders wouldn't guess — the city is far more spiritually open than its reputation suggests. Missiologist Ed Stetzer joins Tim Osborne and Gabe Colstatt to unpack major findings from a mixed-method study of the Portland-Vancouver metro area conducted in partnership with Come Near and 7 Cents. The data shows striking curiosity about meaning, the supernatural, and even Jesus himself — alongside deep distrust of institutions...
Mar 12
43 min
Send us Fan Mail What happens when men stop sitting on the bench and start showing up for each other? In this episode of Jesus in the Upper Left, Tim sits down with three Men’s Alliance leaders from Westside Community Church (Aloha, Oregon): Steve Barker (“Scout”), Brady Cook (“Blueprint”), and Devin Masak (“Mr. Ratchet”). They talk about why so many men drift into isolation, how brotherhood builds real spiritual leadership, and why the “tribal, rugged, real” environment of Men’s Alliance is ...
Feb 21
51 min
Send us Fan Mail Why do so many men hesitate to step into spiritual leadership, even when they want to? In Part 3 of our Men & the Gospel in the PNW series, we sit down with psychologist and coach Nancy Castile to talk about the internal barriers men face, including unworthiness, emotional shutdown, shame, performance pressure, and isolation. We also unpack practical “unlocks” like building real community, creating space for awareness, and learning to name what’s actually happening unde...
Feb 16
45 min
Send us Fan Mail What does it actually mean to be a man who follows Jesus in the Pacific Northwest? In this episode of Jesus in the Upper Left, we continue a multi-part conversation on men, masculinity, and the gospel. Drawing from Scripture, cultural observation, and decades of pastoral experience, we explore why confusion around masculinity matters for discipleship, families, and gospel multiplication in our region. This conversation introduces four biblical guardrails for manhood and why...
Feb 7
46 min
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