This World is Not Our Home . . . Or Is It?
August 11, 2015“This World is Not My Home” was one of my favorite songs growing up. I sang it as part of a quartet that won first at the state convention in Illinois. (Relax, it was a Christian school competition, not exactly American Idol). But was popular song theologically right? In some ways, yes. The world system, run by the “prince and power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), is alien to the kingdom of God. You can’t love the world, John writes, and have the love of the Father in you (1 John 2:15-17). Yet, in other ways, this song is somewhat wrong.…
Continue ReadingPastors, Don’t Be Passive on Planned Parenthood
July 31, 2015This is my latest piece for Leadership Journal: how pastors can lead their churches to fight for life in this cultural moment: Pro-life activism has been a part of Christian witness throughout church history, but has received particularly focused attention by evangelicals and Catholics since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Now, though, we find ourselves in a unique cultural moment. The third in a series of undercover sting videos was just released this week, bringing to light the hideous reality of Planned Parenthood’s macabre abortion enterprise. To hear medical professionals casually discuss the deliberate termination, dismembering, and sale of…
Continue ReadingWhy Encouragement is Not Optional
July 27, 2015From my recent article at In Touch: “I love working with you, Dan.” It was only a simple text from a colleague, but it buoyed my spirits during an intense week of work on a project together. As I thought over his kind comment, it reinforced to me a simple truth I’ve learned during my years in leadership: Affirmation may be the most valuable currency in building relational capital. I’ve served on large ministry teams, I’ve led a small church staff, and now I serve in an executive role. I’m also a husband and a father of four. In all of…
Continue ReadingA Moving Speech by Senator James Lankford
July 16, 2015This is a powerful and moving speech by Senator James Lankford on the subject of Planned Parenthood. I’ve had the privilege to meet Sen. Lankford, a faithful follower of Christ. I really hope you take 8 minutes or so and watch. I pray this stirs the hearts of American consciences to protect the life of the unborn.
Continue ReadingI hope you are, like me, outraged and sickened by the macabre Planned Parenthood practice of selling the body parts of aborted babies (let’s call them babies and not fetuses, shall we?). The gospel of Christ demands that we adopt a prolife ethic. We see every human soul as created in the image of its Creator God. Every soul deserves dignity and respect. But what should you do with the outrage you feel at the abortion industrial complex, the wicked conglomerate, Planned Parenthood, that targets vulnerable young women for profit? Here are five things we can do, right now: 1)…
Continue ReadingHow to preach on race
June 29, 2015Today, at the Lifeway Pastors blog, I have an article encouraging white pastors to preach on racial reconciliation. It’s not a subject we’ve often addressed from the pulpit, for a variety of reasons. I also give three ways to do this. The first is the most obvious: preach on race when the biblical text in front of you addresses it: The best way, in my view, to embed the priority of racial reconciliation into the everyday lives of our people is through the faithful application of the text. By this I mean through expository preaching. I’m a firm believer in…
Continue ReadingHere We Stand: An Evangelical Statement on Marriage
June 26, 2015Today the Supreme Court issued its ruling, making same-sex marriage legal in all fifty states. I am honored join a broad coalition of evangelicals to sign my name to this statement in dissent: As evangelical Christians, we dissent from the court’s ruling that redefines marriage. The state did not create the family, and should not try to recreate the family in its own image. We will not capitulate on marriage because biblical authority requires that we cannot. The outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling to redefine marriage represents what seems like the result of a half-century of witnessing marriage’s decline through…
Continue ReadingA Primer on Southern Baptists
June 25, 2015Just who are the Southern Baptists? When I did ministry in the Chicago area (not an SBC stronghold), I often heard evangelicals talk about Southern Baptists in ways that I knew were either caricatures or just plain wrong. This is why I was so glad my boss, Dr. Russell Moore, penned this great piece for OnFaith on 10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew about Southern Baptists. One of the things he wishes people knew (and I wish people knew) is about the growing diversity in the SBC. He says this: We’re more ethnically diverse than you might think. Among the fastest…
Continue ReadingMy dad is a quiet man, more comfortable working with his hands than delivering a speech or writing an essay. But this doesn’t mean Dad wasn’t a teacher. Dad’s life spoke to me in ways that I still think of today. Most of these lessons were simply by following his example.
Continue ReadingGeorge Yancey on the Rise of Anti-Christian Bias
June 13, 2015There has been a lot of recent debate over the shape of Christianity in the West and how it will cause the Church to rethink it’s posture. What nobody is debating is the increasing antagonism toward evangelical faith, both in the West and, in violent and murderous form, overseas. I had the chance to speak with George Yancey, who has a new book, Hostile Environment. Yancey is a professor of sociology at the University of North Texas. Here is one of the questions I asked him: You coin the term, “Christianophobia” to describe the increasing hostility toward Christianity in the world. Why…
Continue ReadingLuke describes a poignant scene or series of scenes in Acts 9:19-21: For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” For those of us who read these words, 2,000 years later, as we are making our way through the book…
Continue ReadingShort-Term Missions Trips: Good or Bad?
May 29, 2015There has been a lot of discussion and debate among missiologists about the validity of short-term mission trips. Some view them as an impediment to long-term, rooted gospel work in cross-cultural contexts and others still see mission trips, used well, as a great tool to engage God’s people in His work in different cultures. I posed this question to Tony Myles, the author of a new book, Flipping Missions. Like me, he feels that short term missions is still a good thing and he gives great tips on how to do them well. Here is one of the questions I asked him:…
Continue ReadingFinding the Story Behind the Story
May 23, 2015Every story, whether in movie or music, has a story behind the story. I’ve learned a lot about this from the work of my friend Mike Cosper, who I’ve interviewed several times. Another voice is Kevin Harvey, who has written a new book, All You Want to Know about The Bible in Pop Culture: helping Christians see gospel themes in pop culture. This doesn’t have to be in a ham-handed way, but in a redemptive way, tracing the thin lines of the big Gospel story in the stories we tell ourselves. I had the chance to interview Kevin this week for Leadership…
Continue ReadingWhat The Stories We Consume Say About Us
May 14, 2015Have you ever watched a good movie, read a good book, or heard a popular song and wondered, “What is this saying?” This is the questions we should ask when we consume media. What questions are being asked by this particular piece of pop culture and what answers does the gospel offer? One of the best discerners of culture is my friend Mike Cosper, pastor of Worship at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY. I had the chance recently to sit down for a video chat:
Continue ReadingWhen I was hungry
May 11, 2015One of the more interesting books I came across lately is written by Daniel Ryan Day: 10 Days Without. In this book, Day chronicles his experiment in experiencing the suffering of those who are less fortunate. Each day he gave up a personal item, such as a coat, a meal, technology. The items were carefully chosen, items that are luxuries for people in the developing world, items first-world people easily take for granted. I had the chance to interview Day for my weekly Leadership Journal blog. Here was one of the questions:
Continue ReadingSome Of My Recent Articles: 5/8/2015
May 8, 2015Here are a few of my recent articles: I wrote for The Gospel Coalition on “Why You Can’t Escape from the Culture Wars.” The title is intentionally provocative, as I’m arguing against a “culture war timeout” that, in my view, would a) be impossible and b) show a lack of compassion: The shape of our witness may change, and the culture we serve may look different than it did a generation ago. But if we care about obeying all that Jesus commanded us, we will have to die to our desire to be liked and recommit to doing as the…
Continue ReadingJosh McDowell and The Reliability of Scripture
May 1, 2015One of the most popular apologetics resources in the 20th Century was the classic Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. In many ways, Josh set the standard for apologetics work that would follow. Perhaps the most compelling evidence for the validity of the claims of Christianity is the increasing volume of manuscripts continually discovered by archeologists.
Well Josh McDowell is back with some new manuscript research. I interview him about this new discovery, about inherency, and his perspective on the future of the evangelical movement. Here is one of my questions:
Why Christians Should Be Clear
April 21, 2015This week I’m over at the Lifeway Church Leader’s blog opining on three essential traits for countercultural Christian leaders: courage, clarity, and civility (how’s that for some serious alliteration?). This comes from 1 Peter 3:15. Here is what I said about that second point: The second thing Peter urges for counter-cultural leaders is clarity. “Have an answer for every man” doesn’t just mean “speak up whenever you feel like it.” Instead it implies a seriousness, a soberness, a thorough grasp of theology and an ability to speak well into whatever culture you are serving. Sometimes well-meaning, but uninformed speech actually hurts…
Continue ReadingShould Pastors Have Good Friends From their Church?
April 15, 2015At Leadership Journal I discuss the advice I received, upon ordination to ministry, to not become good friends with people in my congregation. It was well-meaning, but wrong advice, I thought at the time. Here’s an excerpt of the article: I don’t see a detachment from people in Jesus’ public ministry. Yes, Jesus took time to get away from the crowds and be alone—something too few pastors do—but this is the same Jesus who purposefully chose, discipled, and cultivated 12 men to walk closely with him for three years. What’s more, Jesus further winnowed his inner circle to three: Peter, James, and John…
Continue ReadingCan You Love Jesus and Hate Jesus’ Followers?
April 11, 2015The last few years have seen an explosion of books that try to separate Jesus from the church. Most of these are well-meaning efforts to distinguish genuine faith in Christ from hand-me-down, works-based religion. This is important in a culture still influenced by a nominal Christianity, where many think a ticket to heaven simply requires regular church attendance.
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