“She Refreshed the Saints” – A Tribute to a Great Mother-in-Law
January 28, 2012On January 17th, my mother-in-law, Linda Sullivan went to be with the Lord. She was a beloved woman, a dear friend, and someone who shaped my life in the last nine years. I had the privilege of speaking at her funeral on Saturday, January 21st. Here is my tribute: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ On January 17th at 8:03 PM central time, Linda Diane Sullivan whispered her last breath on this earth and entered the arms of Jesus. I imagine a triumphant welcome in Heaven, because this was the home going of one of God’s most precious saints, a life marked by unceasing joy…
Continue ReadingFriday Five: Laurie Alice Eakes
January 27, 2012Today I’m honored to feature the talented novelist, Laurie Alice Eakes. She is a fellow client of my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray and an award-winning author. Her books have won numerous awards, including The National Readers Choice Award. She was also a Carol Award finalist. In the past three years, she has sold six books to Baker/Revell, five of which are set during the Regency time period, four books to Barbour Publishing, as well as two novellas to Barbour Publishing and one to Baker/Revell. Six of her books have been picked up by Thorndike Press for large print publication, and Lady in the Mist, her first…
Continue ReadingWhen Partisanship Blinds
January 23, 2012You don’t have to be a political junkie to know that GOP voters are in the midst of primary season, choosing whom they’d like to face off against President Obama in the fall. Many conservative Christians are tuning in and making choices. Politics in America is a necessary evil. We need good Christians in levels of government to help shape society. But politics often plays to our basest instincts, drawing even good people into silly partisan games and blinding them to reality. Such is the case with Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, architect of the Contract with America…
Continue ReadingFriday Five: Ed Welch
January 20, 2012Edward T. Welch, M.Div., Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He has counseled for over twenty-five years and is the best-selling author of some of the best, gospel-centric counceling books, including When People Are Big and God Is Small; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; Running Scared: Fear, Worry and the God of Rest; and When I Am Afraid: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety. His latest book is What Do You Think of Me and Why Do I Care?, Today, Ed was kind enough to stop by and chat for…
Continue ReadingDon’t Be the Hero of Your Own Story
January 18, 2012I recently wrote this for my weekly teen Crosswalk.com devo: If you and Abraham were in Heaven, relaxing over a sweat tea in rocking chairs (I know Heaven isn’t like Cracker Barrell, but that’s the best I can do right now), I think he would tell you that his little weekend trip to Egypt (Genesis 12:10-13:4) was one of the dumbest moves he made. I’m not saying this lightly, because for me to say anything this man of faith did was dumb is like me chiding Aaron Rogers for not throwing a tight enough spiral. But Genesis clearly portrays Abraham’s move…
Continue ReadingPastors, Love the Ones You’re With – The Gospel Coalition Blog
January 17, 2012The Gospel Coalition graciously posted another of my articles. This one is about a new lesson I learned from a familiar passage: I’ve read 1 Peter 5:1 many times. As a young pastor, I’m paying more attention to its straightforward directives for my calling as a shepherd. But it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that the simple, often overlooked phrase “among you” leaped off the page and into my mind. Why did Peter add this prepositional phrase? We know he wasn’t meeting an editor’s quota. And unlike so much of my writing, the inspired Word of God doesn’t contain…
Continue ReadingCreativity is Cool, but So is Maturity
January 17, 2012By now you’ve read some of the dust-up online about two prominent pastors and their presentations of intimacy and marriage. Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace have written what seems to be a very raw, personal book, Real Marriage. Ed Young, Jr is launching a new preaching series/book/media blitz in which he and his wife are broadcasting live from their bed for 24 hrs on their church roof (Yes, you read that right). I have read some terrific commentary on both issues. I’ve also read some snarky, arrogant triumphalist commentary and some downright unfair commentary. In my view, the two best…
Continue ReadingFriday Five: Matthew Lee Anderson
January 13, 2012Matthew Lee Anderson is the founder of the popular blog Mere Orthodoxy as well as the author of Earthen Vessels, Why Our Body Matters to Our Faith He was featured in Christianity Today’s Who’s Next column in December of 2009. Matthew sits on the editorial board of The City, and has been quoted on FoxNews.com, in the Wall Street Journal, and by the Associated Press. He is a frequent contributor to publications such as First Things, Christianity Today, and The Gospel Coalition. He is a Perpetual Member of the Torrey Honors Institute and a graduate from Biola University (2004). You’re part of a wave of young evangelical…
Continue ReadingDoes God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins?
January 12, 2012Writing in the Atlantic, Owen Strachan writes the column lot of us wanted to write, but couldn’t. A great, great piece answering the question, “Does God want Tebow to win?” A key paragraph: But what happens when Tebow loses? What happens if my New England Patriots, a team I have loved since Dave Meggett was getting stuffed on every punt return and Drew Bledsoe was completing cannon-like passes to more sideline coaches than receivers, steamroll the Broncos, as they did earlier in the season? Has God capriciously retracted his blessing on this All-American golden-boy, who runs like a lion yet speaks like…
Continue ReadingInternational Trafficking 101
January 11, 2012Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. As part of an effort to bring awareness to this important issue, I’m featuring a series of posts on the subject. Earlier today, I posted an informative article by my friend, Kathi Macias. I also asked Charles Powell to write a guest post for me. Charles is the coauthor (with Dillon Burroughs) of a book, Not in My Town, which exposes the scourge of human trafficking in our own American towns. Sometimes when I wrote about human trafficking, I’m told to avoid using too many “figures and facts.” While I have used “figures”…
Continue ReadingLet My People Go – Human Trafficking Awareness Day
January 11, 2012Today, January 11th, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To help raise awareness of the scourge of human trafficking around the world, I asked my good friend, Kathi Macias to write a guest post. Kathi is a prolific, award-winning author, but the book she wrote that most touched me was her novel, Deliver Me From Evil that put a face to human trafficking. You can read my review. But first, read Kathi’s informative post about this all important issue: The term “human trafficking” or “trafficking in persons” (TIP) often draws raised eyebrows and skeptical expressions—until statistics are laid out to show…
Continue ReadingEd Stetzer – How Should We Talk About Sex?
January 10, 2012I wanted to write a post about this, but couldn’t find the words. Thankfully Ed Stetzer, a wiser man than me by far, wrote what I consider a terrific and wise post on how evangelicals might approach the delicate, but necessary subject of sex. I especially liked this paragraph: Third, when talking about sex, hype does not help. I have to say that some of the gimmicky sex campaigns are simply unhelpful and can many times be harmful. For example, a friend of mine did a series he called “Storybook Sex” with all the shocking ads and comments– a series…
Continue ReadingSome great advice for election season
January 7, 2012Amy E. Black writes a terrific article for Christianity Today, encouraging believers to watch how they engage politics. Too often we check our Christianity at the door. She writes: If we are to seek peaceful solutions and honor God in politics, we Christians of all people must avoid such hateful talk. James 4:11 commands us to “not slander one another,” an exhortation that should extend beyond how we treat other believers. Whether talking with friends or campaigning for our favorite candidate or cause, we should engage our political opponents and their ideas with respect, welcome the opportunity to learn from…
Continue ReadingEvangelicalism’s Changing Heart on Immigration – Patheos Column
January 6, 2012Today Patheos is featuring a my column, cowritten with my friend Matthew Soerens of World Relief on the changing attitudes toward immigration among evangelicals: The conventional wisdom among pundits and journalists holds that immigration is a key to winning over the evangelicals who dominate the Republican presidential nominating process in the early states. This is why the GOP candidates continue to jockey to see who sounds more restrictionist. But this thinking fails to capture a growing sense in the larger evangelical world that the problem of illegal immigration must be handled with care, not because of electoral sympathies, but because…
Continue ReadingFriday Five: Joe Carter
January 6, 2012Joe Carter is one of the most articulate evangelical voices on the intersection of church, culture, and politics. Joe founded Evangelical Outpost in 2005. He is the web editor for First Things and an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. A fifteen-year Marine Corps veteran, he previously served as the managing editor for the online magazine Culture11 and The East Texas Tr ibune. Joe has also served as the Director of Research and Rapid Response for the Mike Huckabee for President campaign and as a director of communications for both the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and Family Research Council. He is…
Continue ReadingFlattery Can Kill – The Gospel Coalition Blog
January 4, 2012The Gospel Coalition website posted my article entitled, “Flattery Can Kill”. In this piece I share the story of my being wooed by the flattery of a church member and how it ultimately hurt the ministry: Flattery is a hidden trap for pastors, especially young men new to leadership. Pressured to grow and besieged by our own insecurities, we allow flattery to shape the way we do ministry.For one thing, flattery can feed a natural, human desire to compete with the other ministries in town. We do this in subtle ways. A few folks throwing around some hyperbolic words and…
Continue ReadingWhy Your Work Matters
January 4, 2012This is a terrific conversation between Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition and Matt Perman, proprietor of the blog What’s Best Next and director of strategy for Desiring God Ministries. Collin interviews Matt about his forthcoming book, but more importantly about the often-neglected doctrine of work. I love this new emphasis, helping so-called “lay people” discover the worth and value of the work they do Mon-Friday: Monday Morning Motivation from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.
Continue ReadingKevin DeYoung on Christian Political Engagement
January 3, 2012Today is the Iowa caucus and the first of many primaries for Republicans before a long drawn-out Presidential and Congressional contest. Christians of course have to wrestle with politics in America. Good people find themselves on both sides of important issues. This is why I especially appreciated the wisdom of Kevin DeYoung, who writes on this blog: This can be tricky. On the one hand, I’m concerned that some of us think there is a Christian position on every issue—as if the Bible determines the one and only God-honoring decision regarding rates of taxation or how to respond if Iran…
Continue ReadingPermission to Pursue What You Love
January 2, 2012I’ve just finished reading two books which have cemented in my mind an often neglected biblical doctrine. We often call it the doctrine of “vocation” but I think this doesn’t speak to the totality of it. The first book I finished was Work Matters by Pastor Tom Nelson (Christ Community Church, Leewood, Kansas). The second was The Cure for the Common Life by best-selling author and pastor, Max Lucado. While both books are different–Nelson fully fleshes out a theology of work while Lucado beautifully illustrates the uniqueness of every human being created in God’s image–they both arrive at an important conclusion: God…
Continue ReadingThe Most Misunderstood Woman in the Bible | Kyria
December 30, 2011I was pleasantly surprised to find that an article I wrote for the Kyria online magazine (Christianity Today) was among it’s most popular articles. This was one I enjoyed writing, a sort of contrarian take on the typical depiction of Job’s wife: Her name was never revealed and yet she may be the most infamous woman in the Bible. Augustine labeled her “the devils accomplice.” Calvin called her “a diabolical fury.”And the contemporary understanding of Jobs wife hasnt improved on Calvin or Augustine. Its difficult to find a book or sermon treatment of the life of Job that doesnt include…
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