Some recent interviews

I had the privilege of interviewing a few church leaders on a variety of issues:

• Here I interview pastor David Platt of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama and author of Radical and Multiply on the need for Christians in the West to speak up about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere: 

• Here I interviewed Dr. David Uth of First Baptist Church Orlando on ethnic diversity in the local church:

• Here is a print interview with Jen Pollack Michel on her new book, Teach Me to Want about the reorienting of our desires. It’s a fascinating book. One the questions I asked was this: 

I remember growing up hearing a lot of messages bashing desire–they implied that what we love and like should not be important. Obedience is better. But you are saying this is an unbiblical dichotomy.

Yes, I’m absolutely pushing back on this idea that obedience has to be difficult and undesirable. The New Covenant actually reconciles desire and obedience. God’s Law, written on our hearts, affects a new unity between our beliefs and behaviors and desires. What we get as a result isn’t just obedience—but obedient desire.

One example of this in the New Testament is the “cheerful giver” in 2 Corinthians 9. Why does God love the cheerful giver? Shouldn’t he just celebrate our financial gifts, no matter our attitude in giving them? Isn’t the point our obedience? Not entirely! God wants us to want to give.

Read the rest of the interview here: