Courage at the Cross
April 16, 2011At Gages Lake Bible Church, we’re going through the gospel of John. This Sunday, we’re finishing up chapter 19, covering verses 31-42. This is an interesting part of Scripture where John describes, with great detail, the burial of Jesus. There are great themes here with Jesus fulfilling prophecy even in his burial, the symbolism of water and blood (sanctification and justification) as well as the importance of Jesus actually being dead. If he wasn’t dead, He didn’t really rise and we are, as Paul says, “of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). But there is a subtle secondary application,…
Continue ReadingFriday Five – Tim Sinclair
April 15, 2011One of the ongoing conversations in the evangelical church is about marketing the gospel. There’s a tension. On the one hand, the gospel is decidedly countercultural. On the other hand, we want to contextualize the gospel to a modern world, so more people hear the message in their language and come to faith in Christ. Tim Sinclair lives at the nexus of both marketing and ministry. He grew up in ministry as a pastor’s kid, has successfully helped businesses market their products, and is a morning radio host on WGBL in Champaign, IL. He’s recently written an interesting and perhaps…
Continue ReadingA few weeks ago, I signed up for the service, Covenant Eyes as a way of holding myself accountable for my online activity. The reason I chose Covenant Eyes is because it came highly recommended by pastors and Christian leaders. I like Covenant Eyes because it’s more than simply a filter, it’s accountability. Today, Luke Gilkerson, editor of the Breaking Free blog offers a helpful guest post on the importance of Internet accountability.
Continue ReadingFriday Five Interview – Dr. Johnny Hunt
April 8, 2011Dr. Johnny Hunt is a well-known pastor, especially to America’s largest body of evangelical churches, the 44 million member Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Hunt is the Senior Pastor of one of the largest SBC churches in America, 1st Baptist Church of Woodstock (Georgia) and has served as President of the Pastor’s Conference. In 2008, he was elected as President of the Southern Baptist Convention and served from 2008 to 2010. He has disciple thousands of men through his popular men’s conference and is a mentor to pastors, who regularly attend his Timothy/Barnabas retreats. I’m honored to chat with Dr. Hunt,…
Continue ReadingResources for Graduation
April 6, 2011photo © 2010 Ralph Daily | more info (via: Wylio) We’re coming up on graduation day, that fateful day when you step across the aisle and enter into life. I’ll never forget the day I nervously stumbled down the aisle, sweating profusely and wondering what I was going to say in my speech. I remember thinking, “Okay, I’m an adult now, I guess. Now what?” Well one of my passions is to help young people answer the “Now what?” question in this phase of their life. So as parents and youth pastors and grandparents think about how to…
Continue ReadingLeading from Bitterness
April 6, 2011A few years ago I read a few books on the life of President Richard Nixon. I have always been interested in American history, especially Presidential history. I’m fascinated by the inside look at leadership at the top levels. But the one enduring lesson I gleaned from Nixon’s life was his inability to forgive. It ruined his entire leadership. Since he lost to John Kennedy in 1960 in an election that was possibly stolen from him, he vowed to never let anyone steal anything from him again. So even as he won two Presidential elections convincingly, that wasn’t enough. He…
Continue ReadingWhen Fun Becomes an Idol
April 4, 2011I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my father one day as we were working on a construction site. Dad owned his own plumbing business and had the bright idea of dragging me along to learn what it was like to get my hands dirty and to work. I remember this day vividly. It was during Christmas break. It was bitterly cold outside and we were actually up early enough for it to be dark outside. These concepts—hard work, getting up early—seemed like cruel unusual punishment. There I stood, layered in clothes in an attempt to block the bitter…
Continue ReadingFriday Five – Joe Koenig and Three Avocados
April 1, 2011When you think of all the social need in this world—poverty, war, disease, HIV/AIDS, malaria, you’re head spins and you almost give up at the sheer size of the task God has called us to remedy. But one man, Joe Koenig decided to be part of the solution by employing a unique form of activism. He launched Three Avocados Coffee Company, which sells delicious coffee and funds the drilling of wells in Uganda. I like coffee. I really like digging wells in Uganda. So I asked Joe to stop by for a chat for today’s Friday Five: What prompted you…
Continue ReadingYour Inner Circle
March 30, 2011Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:21 (ESV) Whenever you watch the news or read an article about a leader, such as the President or perhaps another world leader or a CEO or someone we think is significant, inevitably they will talk about their “inner circle.” These are the people a leader trusts with advice, the people whose wisdom and gut-level instinct he relies on to make life decisions. You and I might think that we’re too tiny to need an inner circle. After all, we’re just doing mundane things, living lives that nobody notices,…
Continue ReadingUnbroken – The Remarkable Story of Louie Zamperini
March 26, 2011I just finished an extraordinary book, Unbroken, by the immensely talented Laura Hillenbrand. I’m not sure what is more remarkable–the improbable life of Louie Zamperini or the improbability of Hillenbrand writing this story. She suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, a debilitating illness that leaves her confined to her bedroom most days. Somehow she managed to bring the story of Louie Zamperini to the attention of modern readers through the wonderfully written Unbroken. Louie lived several lives. He was first a no-good rascal of the Great Depression, known for stealing, pulling pranks, and causing much trouble. Then he harnessed his energy into marathon…
Continue ReadingFriday Five – Susie Shellenberger
March 25, 2011If you are a Christian teenage girl (or were within the last two decades), chances are you know Susie Shellenberger. That’s because she was the founder of the wildly popular, Brio Magazine, published by Focus on the Family from 1990 until 2009. She’s written more than 40 books, including many for teens. Her latest is Girl Talk With God. Susie has traveled to every continent in the world. Susie is a renowned youth speaker and has appeared on a variety of media outlets. What’s awesome about Susie is that when Brio ceased to exist, she launched her own magazine for Christian…
Continue Reading21st Century Discipleship
March 24, 2011If you are familiar with the Great Commission verses (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8), you’ll know that the imperative command by Jesus is to “make disciples.” Evangelism is the simple part in many ways, but building up strong believers is the hard work. So how is a person discipled? Well, we first believe the primary discipleship is in a local church, with the regular proclamation of the Word of God, along with other avenues such as Sunday School, Bible Study, and small groups. Also, one-on-one discipleship is key. But that is not the only way to grow…
Continue ReadingGod of Scars
March 21, 2011Because I grew up as a classic Christian good kid (a heritage for which I am grateful), I used to look at folks who bore a few scars of their previously worldly life and sort of think, “Well, God bless them, but they can’t be used for Christ as much as I am, because I’ve never (insert a really destructive choice here).” Multiply the self-righteousness if the person had tattoos. How wrong I was. Apparently I hadn’t really learned the story of Peter. Peter fascinates me because if anyone had big Christian scars, it was Peter. And what made it…
Continue ReadingGreat Reads on Heaven, Hell, and Universalism
March 18, 2011I’ve been talking to quite a few pastors, both online and off, about the issue with Rob Bell, Love Wins, and the whole issue of universalism, hell, etc. Some are lamenting this as a unnecessary controversy in the body of Christ, but I view this as a great opportunity to discuss some basic Christian doctrines. Some will use this as an opportunity for greater hand-wringing about the state of the church. I’m actually optimistic, that the evangelical church today by and large still rises up and boldly affirms the doctrines of salvation and eternal judgment, because we love God and we…
Continue ReadingFriday Five – Toni Birdsong
March 18, 2011A few weeks ago I attended the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, TN–my first time–and met quite a few terrific gospel communicators, who are faithful in sharing the gospel across old, new, and emerging mediums. I came away greatly encouraged at the increasing ways in which 21st Century technology is allowing Christ to be heard. One of the most fascinating and engaging people I met was Toni Birdsong, author of a new book, Sticky Jesus. If the title makes you scratch your head–that’s the point. Toni, a creator, designer, and communications strategist, and her friend, Tami Heim have started…
Continue ReadingThe Gospel Isn’t This Hard
March 15, 2011I’m amazed at the conversations that Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins is provoking in the mainstream media environment. I think Bell’s book is tragic for a variety of reasons, articulated most thoughtfully, in my view by Kevin DeYoung. But, I’m amazed at how gospel-centered questions are being asked in environments not normally reserved for these kinds of discussions. Recently Rob Bell did an interview with Martin Brashear of MSNBC. The questions Brashear asks are good ones. Great lines of questioning. Sadly, the answers Bell gives make the gospel less clear. Compare this to Jesus response to Nicodemus’ very similar questions.…
Continue ReadingUpdate from Awana in Japan
March 15, 2011I got this update from one of our Awana Missionaries: Awana Praying Friends: My friend Jess Curabo, Awana Director for the Philippines, reported the following in Japan: Pastor Sato of Fukushima Ist Baptist Church was able to locate around 150 of their people but more than 50 are still unaccounted for. He was able to drive to Tokyo to obtain socks, food and phone chargers and has gone back to Fukushima. Thank you for your prayers. PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!
Continue ReadingOn Showing Up
March 15, 2011Yesterday I attended a ministerium (meeting of pastors) for the church fellowship of which Gages Lake is a member. (IFCA International). We meet every other month. I enjoy these times, opportunities to meet other pastors in the region and glean wisdom from those who’ve been doing this way longer than me. As a young pastor, I think it’s important to get around older, wiser men who’ve navigated the pastoral road. This is why I regularly meet with evangelical pastors in my area. I enjoy their fellowship and want their wisdom. But something really struck me yesterday as I was driving…
Continue ReadingFriday Five – Eric Metaxas
March 11, 2011Eric Metaxas penned one of the most celebrated books of 2010, a thorough and gripping biography of German pastor, Deitrich Bonheoffer. It’s a powerful book that is a must-read for serious Christian leaders, with life lessons spilling out of the pages of Bonheoffer’s highly courageous life. Metaxas is also the other of several other books, most notably a widely acclaimed biography of William Wilberforce. His writing and career are eclectic—having written for Chuck Colson, Veggie Tales, as well as The New York Times, First Things, and Christianity Today. He is also the author of several children’s books, a…
Continue ReadingBooks I’m reading
March 9, 2011Here are the books I’m either reading or on the verge of reading: Spiritual Rhythm by Mark Buchanan Sticky Jesus by Toni Birdsong and Tami Heim Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand St. Patrick by Jonathan Rogers More Than an Aspirin by M. Gay Hubbard Podcasts I’m listening to: The Village Church – Matt Chandler Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church – Tullian Tchivigian Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey Fellowship Church – Nashville – Dr. Michael Easley Covenant Life Church – Josh Harris Redeemer Community Church, Little Rock, Arkansas – Bob Lepine (and others) Tim Challies Podcast
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