The courage to be civil
October 21, 2013Today, on the ERLC blog, I continue my series on civility and courage: How do Christians navigate the tension of civility and courage?It’s easy to grow discouraged by the way we often get it wrong, but rather than embracing cynicism, we should do our part to model civility through engagement, humility and prayer. In an interview with Christianity Today, ERLC president Russell Moore said: “I hope to speak with convictional kindness. I hope to speak of a holistic vision of human dignity and human flourishing rooted in the kingdom of God—and to do so in a way that is grounded…
Continue ReadingDon’t Offend One, Don’t Despise One, Don’t Lose One
October 18, 2013Today for Leadership Journal I speak with Larry Fowler, the executive director of global networking for Awana and Kidzmatter. I’m a huge fan of Awana, having grown up in it and now seeing my children through it. It’s a powerful ministry that helps ground the truth of Scripture into the hearts of children. Today I talked with Larry about children’s ministry. Your newest book talks about seven principles of effective children’s ministry, and they are all based on Scripture. So give me an example—what would change if we used Scripture as the designer? If we did children’s ministry according to…
Continue ReadingPeter, Revolutionary, Sellout, Champion of Grace
October 15, 2013Yesterday on the ERLC blog, I continued my series on speaking with grace in the public square: For several hundred years, basic Judeo-Christian values have held a dominant place in Western culture. But things are changing. While the Church is experiencing explosive growth in the Global South, the West is rapidly becoming post-Christian. For many followers of Jesus, this new reality is unsettling. Suddenly, long-accepted views on issues like marriage and sexuality are now viewed as intolerant, even bigoted. Though the post-Christian paradigm is new in America, it’s not new in the history of the Church. There are very few moments…
Continue ReadingThe One Thing Your Team Needs . . . That Only You Can Give
October 9, 2013“Nobody has ever told me that before,” she said to me. Her tired voice and tired posture betrayed years of faithful ministry work that had gone unnoticed and unappreciated. It was my first week on the job as a Senior Pastor and I had much to learn about shepherding God’s people. But one thing I carried with me from childhood, something my mother taught me repeatedly, is the value of a simple “thank you” to those who work with and for you. So I said thank you to this church lady for volunteering every week for one of our key…
Continue ReadingSpeaking with Grace: The gospel and the way we speak
October 7, 2013Over at ERLC.com, I’m in the midst of a series of blog posts on speaking with grace in the culture. Here’s the second in this series: Mark DeMoss is a longtime public relations consultant who has represented some of the most well known evangelical figures such as Jerry Falwell and Chuck Colsen. DeMoss has also served as an adviser for several presidential candidates. In 2009, conservative DeMoss teamed up with liberal Lanny Davis to create the Civility Project. Both men, informed by their Christian faith, were deeply convicted by the caustic rhetoric consistently employed by both sides of our political…
Continue ReadingThe power of your words
October 4, 2013In my first post for the ERLC.com website, I wrote about the power of words: Imagine a resource with endless supply that can be leveraged for unbelievable good or incomprehensible evil and distributed instantly through global networks. What is this resource? It is the simple commodity of words. We were told as children that words could not hurt us, but that is not true. Words have power. The universe was created by the word of God (Heb. 11:3). God used words to instruct the children of Israel, literally writing with His hand on tablets of stone (Exod. 31:18). It is…
Continue ReadingCalled to Stay
October 4, 2013Today for Leadership Journal, I interview my friend, Caleb Breakey, a talented writer and speaker. Caleb has a heart for his fellow millennials. I love his tone, calling them to engage the Church rather than give up on it. This is the theme of his book, Called to Stay. In your book, Called to Stay, you voice some of the generational tensions that Millennials have voiced and yet you don’t counsel them to give up on the church, but to stay, why? There’s a vibe circulating among Millennials that Jesus would turn over tables in most churches. I totally get that.…
Continue ReadingChristianity As a Word-Centered Faith
September 27, 2013Today I interview Karen Swallow Prior for Leadership Journal. Karen is one of my favorite voices in the evangelical world. She’s a fun follow on Twitter. Karen Swallow Prior is Professor of English at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and a contributing writer for Christianity Today. I love Karen’s work, because she urges the Church toward a rich and robust love of literature. One of the questions I asked her was this: Why is it important for followers of Christ to read deeply and read well? Christianity is a Word-centered faith. That…
Continue ReadingGrace Makes the Medicine Go Down
September 25, 2013One of the things that confounds me, as a parent, is the refusal of my kids to take their medicine, even as they are crying out in pain. It’s particularly annoying in the middle of the night (you know, those few nights when it’s actually me getting up instead of my long-suffering and faithful wife, Angela). It’s quite illogical, really, for kids to refuse medicine that not only has the power to relieve their pain, but also can heal them of the sickness or injury that is making their little lives miserable. And yet, there a kid squirms, mouth closed, head shaking…
Continue ReadingRewarding the Generious
September 20, 2013Today I had the chance to interview Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson and one of the most influential bloggers in the blogosphere. Hyatt is a popular speaker on issues of leadership, publishing, and platform. His latest book, Platform is a New York Times bestseller. I asked Hyatt about the idea of platform-building, which has drawn some critics: Critics of the platform approach might say that it leads to a narcissism and self-promotion as opposed to service and substance. How would you respond to that? I think it’s actually just the opposite. Social networks reward those who are generous. With the…
Continue ReadingThe Cadence of Good Preaching
September 13, 2013Today for Leadership Journal, I interview my friend, Glenn Packiam, a pastor and songwriter in Colorado Springs. Glenn is a fellow Leadership Journal contributor and the lead pastor of new life DOWNTOWN, an extension of New Life Church. He is the author of several books, including LUCKY: How the Kingdom Comes to Unlikely People and Secondhand Jesus. His latest is Discover the Mystery of Faith.Glenn also recently released an accompanying worship album. I asked Glenn about the nexus of pastoring and songwriting: You’re both a songwriter and a pastor. How does your creative side affect your preaching and leading? A good sermon is, in many ways, like a…
Continue ReadingSaying Goodbye
September 12, 2013Five years ago, I was honored to be chosen as the Senior Pastor for Gages Lake Bible Church. I was 29 years old and had little leadership experience. I had served on staff at a large church and had experience writing and editing, but had never been a pastor. Yet GLBC not only affirmed my call to the ministry, they opened up their arms and allowed me to grow as a father, a husband, and a Christian leader. In these five years I learned much about church ministry, theology, and life. Three of our four children were born during our…
Continue ReadingFrom Chicago To Nashville
September 11, 2013So today I’m announcing a big new change my life and in the life of our family. I’ve stepped down as Senior Pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church and have accepted a position with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention as Vice President of Communications. To make your life easier, let’s just call it ERLC. This is a decision I did not take lightly. For one thing, I dearly love the good people at Gages Lake Bible Church. I’ve been privileged to serve there for five years and have formed deep and lasting friendships. We…
Continue ReadingFinding God in the Mundane
September 6, 2013I interviewed Michael Kelley this week for Leadership Journal. Michael is one of my favorite writers and teachers. His book, as I’ve said numerous times, Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is a fantastic, raw, journey of faith. Well, Michael is out with a new and interesting book, Boring. I like this idea, because it’s the kind of counter-cultural message Christians need to hear. His premise is that consistent, ordinary faithfulness in service of God can, in it’s own way, be radical. One of the questions I asked him was this: Do you think many faithful Christians feel a twinge of guilt because they are…
Continue ReadingGuest Post: Finding Grace in the Ordinary by Michael Kelley
September 4, 2013Michael Kelley is one of my favorite writers and speakers. He’s the Director of Discipleship for Lifeway Christian Resources. He wrote one of the most raw and poignant books on faith and suffering I have ever read: Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal, about this journey through his son’s rare form of cancer. Now he’s back with another fantastic book, Boring, Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life. You can follow Michael at @_MichaelKelley . I’ve asked Michael to share a guest post with us about this new book. At the end, find out how you can win one of two copies he’s…
Continue Reading5 Important Attitudes About Work
September 2, 2013Today is Labor Day and good opportunity to think about our views of work. I wrote this article for Homelife Magazine on five important attitudes about work. Here is an excerpt: American Christians have a rather uneasy relationship with work. On Sunday, the lay person hears an impassioned message about sacrifice, self-denial, and the mission of God. He might be treated to a stirring testimony of a wealthy CEO who gave up a promising career to enter “full-time” ministry. Then, Monday morning happens. He takes his place on the factory line, at a desk, in a garage, or behind the wheel. The…
Continue ReadingEvery Member Has a Role
August 30, 2013Today, for Leadership Journal, I talk to Thom Rainer, CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. I always enjoy Thom’s insights on leadership and church life. His podcast Rainer on Leadership is a great listen and his blog is a go-to source for leadership content. I asked Thom about this latest book, I Am a Church Member where he challenges Christians to take their local church involvement seriously: In your latest book, I Am A Church Member, you give guidelines for what “faithful church membership” looks like. Does the average Christian understand his or her responsibility as a church member? No. We have failed…
Continue ReadingThe God (little “g”) in Your Pocket
August 27, 2013I was talking to my mother last week about the readily available technology we have in our smart phones. She was telling me, half-joking, “I can always Google something. So if I’m in a conversation and I don’t know what they are talking about, I can quietly Google it and sound smart.” We laughed, because we have all been there. And perhaps with Google glasses we won’t even have to figure out ways to inconspicuously look down and type it in our phones. It’s sure nice to have Google with us. In the middle of the night when my kid…
Continue ReadingTeaching Civility
August 23, 2013Today I interview the fascinating Mark DeMoss, president and founder of The DeMoss Group, the leading public relations firm for Christian organizations. DeMoss has represented organizations such as The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Prison Fellowship, and The American Bible Society. A few years ago, Mark launched The Civility Project, aimed at shaping a more civil public discourse. The idea was to get public leaders to at least agree to be civil with each other, even as they disagree. But after two years, hardly any signed up for the pledge. I asked Mark if he thought Christian leaders should teach civility.…
Continue ReadingThe Lord’s Prayer and the Self-Made Man
August 21, 2013In America, we pride ourselves on our rugged independence. We’re a self-made people. There is much good in this kind of pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps way of life. Hard work and ingenuity are hard-wired into the Creation mandate by a God who gave man the gift of work in the garden and who commanded him to “subdue” the earth. When man works hard with his hands and his mind, when he takes the raw materials God has given him and makes something, he images God. God creates. And God created special creatures to create. But man is not self-made in any way. Man…
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