Our Snarky Eye-Rolling Might Actually Be Sinful
May 20, 2014My pastor has been preaching thru 1 Corinthians. He’s a terrific expositor, always providing the nuance and thrust of the text at hand. Lately we’ve come upon 1 Corinthians 8, the well-known “meat offered to idols” text that helps inform the way we treat each other when disagreeing over the gray areas of the Christian life. (By gray areas, I mean areas of liberty not clearly outlined in the text of Scripture, not fake gray areas brought about about newer, suspect interpretations of Scripture). Andy took this in three installments, first giving an overview of this and what it is…
Continue ReadingThirsty for Transcendence
May 17, 2014My friend Drew Dyck thinks we’ve domesticated God and we’ve done so at our own spiritual peril. Drew is the managing editor of Leadership Journal (where I am a contributor) and the author of a brand new book, Yawning at Tigers. I finished reading this book a few weeks ago and I highly recommend it. Drew takes aim at our flimsy theologies and delivers a powerful, holistic view of God in a creative way that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. I had a chance to interview Drew this week for my Friday Five feature at . . . you guessed it . .…
Continue ReadingMother’s Day and the Three Women Who Have Shaped Me
May 10, 2014I’m writing this from an airport in NY, waiting for a plane that is delayed back to Nashville. I’m reminded by my iPhone that Sunday is Mother’s Day. It seems these holidays continue to sneak up on me. In a way, its sad we need Hallmark to remind us to think of the contribution of our mothers. We should do this naturally and more than once a year. But the calendar beckons and so I remember fondly the three women in my life whom God has used to shape me. I first think of my own mother. Mom, born into…
Continue ReadingWhat Our Stories Say About Us
May 8, 2014What are the stories embedded in our culture saying and how should Christians react, respond, and discern? This was the topic of discussion I engaged with Mike Cosper, pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community Church. Mike is a gifted voice at the intersection of theology and art in the church, one of the most thoughtful communicators I know. I hope you find this discussion fascinating and helpful:
Continue ReadingThe Life of a Christian Athlete
May 2, 2014What is it like as an athlete living in the spotlight? What’s it like for a Christian athlete? I had the chance to speak to someone who has counseled many athletes, Dr. John Tolson. He’s out with a terrific book, Take the Knee which contains lessons he shared in the Dallas Cowboys locker room. Whether you are a sports fan (like me) or not (in which case you should repent), you’ll enjoy this interview I think. Here’s a snippet: We’ve seen, in the last few years, the rising popularity of Christian athletes such as Tim Tebow, Tony Dungy, Ben Zobrist, and…
Continue ReadingDonald Sterling, Secret Conversations, and the Image of God
April 29, 2014By now you’ve heard reports about the reprehensible and racist comments of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. This is a news story that now transcends sports, with repeated calls for boycotts of Clipper games, demands for punishment for Sterling, and even admonishment from President Obama. Update: The NBA has made the decision to ban Donald Sterling for life and the Board of Governors will vote to force Sterling to sell the Clippers franchise. They also fined him $2.5 million dollars. If you are an NBA fan like me, you’ll know that Donald Sterling is a known curmudgeon, a highly ineffective…
Continue ReadingPreaching about sexuality in a post-Christian context
April 29, 2014A few weeks ago I wrote an op-ed for CNN countering the narrative that to preach a faithful, biblical sexual ethic is turning young people away from the Church. To continue that conversation, I had the opportunity to interview my good friend, Dean Inserra, founder and lead pastor of City Church, Tallahassee, Florida. What I love about Dean is two things: He’s unflinchingly biblical and yet winsome and loving in his approach. He pastors in a cross-section of college students from Florida State, Bible belt Christians, and political types in Florida’s capital. He says, “The Church is one of the…
Continue ReadingA Subtle, but Powerful Way to Love Your Spouse
April 22, 2014There are all sorts of big and small ways to show love to your spouse. One of the easiest, but powerful ways to demonstrate this is to talk about them positively in public. This one reason I am so grateful for Angela. She has to live with my sinful tendencies, my human weaknesses, and my annoying quirks. There is a lot of material from which she could easily draw when talking with her girlfriends or other friends. And yet Angela has always talked well about me in public. It’s a small thing, but it’s a big thing to me. If she…
Continue ReadingPreparing Our Hearts for Easter
April 18, 2014How should Christians prepare their hearts this Easter? I asked this of Andreas Kostenberger, research professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest and author of the new book, The Final Days of Jesus coauthored with Justin Taylor. It’s a terrific resource, harmonizing the gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest, trial, death, and resurrection. What advice would you give Christians in preparing their hearts this Holy Week? Take Easter week as an opportunity to reflect on the essence of your faith, on what the gospel is all about. Make sure you understand the key elements of…
Continue ReadingNo, All Christian Content Shouldn’t Be Free
April 16, 2014A few years ago, when I was a pastor, I had a hard time explaining to a rather cranky member why we, as a church, had to pay for a license to use Christian music in our worship services. “They should give it away freely. Why do I have to pay for it? I thought this was ministry. Why they are out to make money?” What made this man’s beef all the more interesting is that I had just concluded, a day earlier, a long conversation with him about what he considered unfair pay at his work. The irony was…
Continue ReadingToday I’ve got a post up at the CNN Belief Blog, debunking the narrative that holding fast to the truth is causing evangelicals to leave the Church: Yes, it is true that Christians should be known more for what they are for than what they are against. But if you move past the rhetoric, you’ll find that it is often not aggrieved ex-evangelicals who are founding and leading charitable organizations, but the stubbornly orthodox. Faithful Christians are not the only ones in the trenches, relieving human need – but they make up a large percentage.All over the world, you will…
Continue ReadingThree Things to Consider Before You Hit “Send”
April 1, 2014Today communication has never been easier. Most of the time this is good, allowing us to communicate good news quicker, to socialize with family and friends, and, in emergencies, get in touch with people faster. It also allows us to publish our thoughts at lightening speed. Most of the time, this is good. But not always. The ease of pressing “send” has not always brought out the best in people–even God’s people. I’ve often said that James 1:19 has never been more relevant and never more ignored: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”…
Continue ReadingFaith at Work: More than Evangelism
March 28, 2014A recovery of the doctrine of vocation is one of the most encouraging things I see in the evangelical church. In the last few years, there have been some really good books written on the intersection of faith and work. Work Matters by Tom Nelson and Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller are two notable ones. Recently, pastor Greg Gilbert and businessman Sebastian Traeger coauthored a book, The Gospel at Work that promises to further equip the church to think holistically about the workplace. I had a chance to interview Greg Gilbert for today’s edition of The Friday Five for Leadership Journal. Here is…
Continue ReadingPray for Hobby Lobby
March 24, 2014Tomorrow is a consequential day in the history of religious liberty. The United States Supreme Court is taking up a case involving two Christian-owned businesses: Hobby Lobby Stores and Conastoga Woods. Hobby Lobby, of course, is the most prominent of these two companies. The conflict is this: can the government compel a business to endorse things against conscience? Hobby Lobby is being compelled by the government to pay for abortion-causing drugs that violate the deeply held beliefs of its owners. The the center of this argument is a long-cherished virtue: that the government should not trample on the conscience. We…
Continue ReadingHow to Pastor Single Adults
March 22, 2014Lisa Anderson is the editor of Boundless, one of the finest resources for young adults in the evangelical world. She’s also host of the Boundless Podcast, where she interviews leading thinkers on issues of singleness, sexuality, marriage, and culture. I had the chance to interview Lisa this week for Leadership Journal. I asked her questions on singleness, sexuality, and ministry. This is one of the questions: Some pastors and church leaders face a tension between encouraging marriage and yet not diminishing the gift–and even calling–of singleness. How would you advise them?Pastors need to invite singles into the life and leadership of…
Continue ReadingPreaching and Baseball
March 18, 2014In an article for Leadership Journal, I compare ministry to baseball. Pastors have a tendency to “swing for the fences” with every sermon, but we’re better off working hard on the little things of preaching in order to give our people a lifetime of good spiritual food: Ministry is very much like baseball in this way. There will be the home run hitters—exceptionally gifted preachers. But most who lead God’s people will be the grinders. The Belhorns, Glanvilles, and Bakos who show up every week and feed God’s people truth in faithful, but unspectacular fashion. This is not an excuse for…
Continue ReadingChristians Around the Digital Water Cooler
March 17, 2014When I got my first job in ministry right out of high-school, the internet was just starting to be a thing. I remember how excited I was when we installed our first broadband access at this growing church. Broadband back then meant “anything faster dial-up.” It was a major accomplishment to simply have a website, with pictures, even! Social media wasn’t a concept, much less a job description. Most of the online conversations we had with colleagues and friends happened over email. A few of us rebels used instant messaging. It is quite different now. The web has matured and is now at…
Continue ReadingRelief for Parents of Special Needs Children
March 7, 2014Cameron Doolittle is CEO of an inovative and needed ministry called “Jill’s House.” This unique ministry was birthed out of McLean Bible Church in the Washington DC area. Jill’s House offers respite for parents of special needs children. I had the chance to interview Cameron this week for my Friday Five feature on Leadership Journal‘s Parse blog. Here’s an excerpt: There are so many misconceptions about children with special needs. But what, in your view, is the biggest? When we think of people with special needs, our minds dance with pictures of happy children with Down syndrome. That’s a misleading picture…
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