Let’s Not Trade Unity for Clicks
January 30, 2013I’m writing this post even as I’m supposed to be writing my sermon for Sunday. But there is just something God has put on my heart and so deeply convicted me about that I have to share it. A few days ago I had a conversation with a wonderful, well-known pastor in my area. He’s a pastor in every sense of the calling. Kind, loving, shepherding, caring, gracious, studious, biblical, evangelical, evangelistic. All those things. We had a wide-ranging conversation out of which I gleaned so many good things for my life and ministry. But one that I cannot let…
Continue ReadingHow God Uses Relationships to Make You Better
January 29, 2013Everyone wants to be better. Self-improvement gurus call it, well, self-improvement. Wise people and many in the church call it growth. The Bible calls this process sanctification. And for the Christian, sanctification is not merely the process by which you become a nice, better person. Pretty much all religions and even quasi-non religions do that. Even Richard Dawkins, I’m thinking, is okay with growth. Sanctification is something deeper, better, richer. The Bible asserts a bold idea that Christians–those who believe, know and follow Jesus Christ–have something deeper going onside them. They have God in them through the presence of the…
Continue ReadingWhy You Need Your Church Every Week
January 23, 2013We live in an age when, increasingly, people are asking the question, “Do we need to gather on Sunday mornings for worship anymore?” It’s a valid question. After all, isn’t there a plethora of good sermon content online? Aren’t there churches that actually offer online services? And isn’t it possible to read your Bible, pray, and perhaps listen/watch/read a sermon at home? The truth is that you can experience some of what you get at church at home. You’ll likely find a better message by listening to one of the popular preachers. You’ll might carve out more time to pray by staying…
Continue ReadingWriting, like anything worth doing, takes work . . . and love
January 22, 2013I’m often asked by beginning writers how to “get started” in writing. How to get published. How to get that book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. They assume I’m an expert, which I’m most assuredly not. Nonetheless, I have been writing for a while and here is my advice: Writing takes talent, yes, but is mostly the combination of a lot of work and a little love. I remember when I first got out of college and dreamt of being a writer. I had dreamy notions of a cabin in the mountains or a house by the beach.…
Continue ReadingDo Truck Drivers Matter to God?
January 18, 2013Paul Rude asks a great question, “Do Truck Drivers Matter to God?” His answer: The truth is stunning. The truth is that the regular, everyday, earthly work of a Christian’s life possesses breathtaking significance bestowed by the touch of God’s magnificent glory. God pulls the white-hot ingot of eternity from the forging fire of his sovereignty. Then, like master to apprentice, he entrusts the hammer to our hands (Eccl. 9:10; Col. 3:17, 23; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Thess. 3:6-12). He says, “Strike it. Strike it right here. This is your place. This is where I want you to influence eternity. Live…
Continue ReadingWhat We Don’t Want to Hear: Leadership Is Hard
January 16, 2013We live in an age when distrust of leaders is, perhaps, at an all-time high. I don’t have any statistics to verify that. However, if my Facebook and Twitter feeds are a reasonable sample, if the blogs and columns and books I read are an indication, people today just don’t like the people who lead them. For instance, Congress approval rating is at an all-time low. The latest negotiations over the Fiscal Cliff exposed the dysfunction in Washington between Republicans and Democrats. And so everybody, everywhere teed off on the politicians. I think we’ve arrived here for two reasons. First,…
Continue Reading5 Reflections for the Pro-Life Movement
January 15, 201340 years ago, the Supreme Court issued its infamous Roe-v-Wade decision, making legal abortion the law of the land. Since then, there has been a pitched battle between those who (like me) consider abortion to be the savage ending of innocent and helpless life and those who consider it a tragic, yet viable option for pregnant women in distress. This issue has shaped our public discourse, influenced local elections, and has galvanized millions into political activism. Many feel that the the pro-life position has gained in the popular culture. Polls seem to indicate that younger generations may be even more…
Continue ReadingThe Kingdom of Disney and the Kingdom of God
January 9, 2013As I write this, our family is wrapping up a long vacation in Orlando, Florida. We took our kids to a long-awaited, much-anticipated trip to Disney World. Specifically we spent our time at the Magic Kingdom, the epicenter of Disney world. Even though it was a herculean effort to lead four children through the teaming masses of people at the park (a clerk told us it was the busiest day of the year, go figure), we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. It was way more fun than I envisioned and our kids had a grand time. I was struck by…
Continue Reading10 Most Popular Blog Posts
December 28, 2012This was a great year for my blog, the best ever. I’m still fairly unknown compared to heavyweights like Tim Challies or Jon Acuff, but I’m proud of the fact that my number of visits nearly tripled as did my number of visitors, while my pageviews more than doubled. I also added quite a few Twitter followers and email subscribers. All in all a very good year. Here are the top ten blogs posts in 2012: 1) Ten Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Dad This is a half-serious/half-humorous post about the unknowns of fathering. What’s funny about this post…
Continue ReadingWhat Advent is and Why We Should Celebrate
December 24, 2012There is something really wonderful about the word, advent. When you Google the word, one of the definitions you get is: the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. We know this word from other contexts besides religions. We say things like, “Since the advent of the automobile . . . .” Or “Since the advent of the modern era . . . ” Advent means something new is coming. The dawn of a new and better era. This is really what Christmas is about, isn’t it? It’s the celebration of the advent of a new era. God broke…
Continue ReadingEvangelism as a Journey Instead of a Deal
December 19, 2012I’ve been reading quite a few books on evangelism lately for some of my Mdiv work at Trinity. I don’t agree with all that I have read, but one of the things that I think I’m learning is the simple idea that evangelism is less of a “deal” that we must close and more of a journey, a conversation we must initiate. The passion to win people to saving knowledge of Christ is good, but sometimes in our zeal we misguidedly think we, and only we, are the ones who have to witness the conversion. And we put all kinds…
Continue Reading5 Things I’ve Learned in Ten Years of Marriage
December 18, 2012Last month, on November 22nd, Angela and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. I’m not an expert on marriage and by some standards I’m still a rookie. But I have learned a few things in these ten wonderful years. Here they are, in no certain order: 1) I’m not naturally a good husband. Before I tied the knot, I was convinced I’d be a great husband. Some lucky girl would be praising the Lord daily that she nabbed me. How wrong I was, really. Rather, I was the blessed one, having snared a women as patient and loving as my wife…
Continue ReadingA God For Every Part of this Tragedy
December 15, 2012Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15 ESV) As a father of four young children, it was hard for me to process the horrific news of the Sandy Hook massacre. How could anyone gun down defenseless children? This is a tragedy that defies easy answers, even for those of us who put our hope in Christ. We should resist simple solutions and trite phrases that may contain truth, but end up providing…
Continue ReadingThree Kinds of Christians Who Should Always Keep Their Cool
December 12, 2012I was struck this week as I studied 1 Peter 4:7-11 as part of our Exiles series at church. I was struck particularly by this phrase: “Be self-controlled and sober-minded.” (v 4 ESV). There are differing ways translators have translated this. HCSB says “Be serious and disciplined.” NASB: “of sound judgement and sober spirit.” NLT: “Be earnest and disciplined.” KJV: “Be sober and watch.” You get the idea. Christians are to be level-headed. Sober. Balanced. Mature. Of sound judgement. Wise. In control. These virtues should characterize our life, both in our speech, in our online engagement, in our beliefs. And…
Continue ReadingFriday Five: Tyler Ellis
December 7, 2012Today I’m pleased to welcome my friend Tyler Ellis to the blog. Tyler serves as a Campus Minister at the University of Delaware. Tyler also partners with One Verse and the Seed Company which translates the Bible into new languages. Tyler and his family live in Newark, DE. Tyler has a just-released book, Question Everything. The book comes with endorsements from some very prominent Christian leaders. This is such an intriguing approach to Bible study that I asked Tyler to stop by and answer a few questions: This is a unique concept – providing a question for every verse of the New Testament…
Continue ReadingWhat You Don’t Like About Your Church (And why that’s good)
December 5, 2012I have this conversation quite often with members of my church and with believers outside of my church. It is usually sparked by a discussion of something this person doesn’t like about our church or about the church they attend. Now, let’s assume the disagreement is not related to doctrinal purity, moral integrity, authoritarian abuse (issues I believe are grounds for leaving a church). Let’s also assume this is a gospel-preaching, Word-saturated, bible-believing church. Let’s also assume the disagreement is not over a 2nd-tier issue that is not orthodoxy, but valid reason when choosing a church (mode of baptism, denomination, etc). So we’re…
Continue ReadingThe Lincoln Movie and the Importance of Racial Reconciliation
December 4, 2012I’m not a critic, so you won’t often find here substantive, intelligent movie reviews. I do enjoy cinema, however and occassionally a movie comes along that is more than something to pass time while eating popcorn. Movies like this are conversation starters. “Did you see it? If not, you must!” Movies like this stay with you long after you’ve viewed them. They make you think. Lincoln, by Stephen Spielberg, is such a movie. I had the chance to see it last week and was profoundly moved. What’s so interesting about viewing a movie about our 16th President is that we…
Continue ReadingThree Pitfalls for Young Evangelical Leaders
November 28, 2012I’m young. I’m an evangelical. And I’m a leader (at least of my family, my church, and in some disconnected sense, to my small audience of readers). It’s exciting to be a leader, but it’s also sobering and carries many responsibilities. As I interact and read some of the work of the evangelicals in my generation I’m noticing some tendencies. I notice them in my own leadership and in the leadership of others. Here are the three that concern me most: 1) The tendency to caricature those with whom we disagree. Tim Keller has a saying that goes something like…
Continue ReadingWhat We Really Should Be Teaching Our Kids
November 27, 2012Last Thursday, during the Thanksgiving meal we hosted at our house, my son, Daniel Jr (age 4) had an epic meltdown over a superheros costume. My brother, Tim, was the recipient of much of this. After dealing with Daniel’s tantrum, we both went our way, sharing times with our family members, eating more pie, and watching football. About 30 minutes later, something wonderful happened. My son, Daniel voluntarily walked up to my brother, Tim and said, “Uncle Tim, I’m sorry for my attitude before. Will you forgive me?” Nobody forced Daniel to do this. He just did it. For me, it…
Continue ReadingCelebrating 10 Great Years
November 22, 2012Ten years ago, today, I held hands and looked into the eyes of a beautiful girl from Texas named Angela Sullivan. I didn’t know much, but I knew I was in love with this girl. I fell in love with her beauty, her vivacious, sweet spirit, her love for the Lord and her zest for life. I thought I knew what marriages would be like, but I didn’t have a clue, really. It’s been ten years, ten of the best, richest, most satisfying years of my life. This girl I married, Angela, has enriched my life in so many ways.…
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