Announcing My New Book: The Original Jesus
April 8, 2015This September, Baker Books is releasing my sixth book, The Original Jesus. This book is a critique of ten different versions of Jesus floating around in the evangelical world. I was motivated to write this book by observing the flippant way we (and I mean we because, in some way, I’m tempted toward all of these false Jesus’ myself) talk about Christ. We have a tendency, in our modern age, to mold Jesus into our image rather than letting Jesus mold us into His.
Continue ReadingThree Questions to Ask About Your Job
April 6, 2015“Nothing matters except what happens in here.” How often have you heard that in church from well-meaning pastors? I know the message trying to be sent: the supremacy of the gospel and the importance of evangelism. I share those desires, but this kind of reductionism is not a biblical view of culture. Which is why I’m so excited about my friend, Bruce Ashford’s new book, Every Square Inch. Bruce is brilliant thinker and teacher, the Provost and Dean of the faulty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Bruce also is Professor of Theology and Culture at SEBTS. I had the chance to interview…
Continue ReadingThe Church As the Answer for Loneliness
March 20, 2015We are be the most connected generation ever, with no shortage of ways to communicate with our fellow man. And yet, we may be the most isolated, individualistic generation ever. In some ways, Facebook, Twitter, IM, texting–has brought us closer together. And in other ways it’s kept us apart.
I talked about this interesting paradox with Erin Davis, author of an important new book, Connected. Here is one of the questions I asked her:
Continue ReadingTeens and Screens: Advice for Parents
March 13, 2015As a father of four children under ten, I am constantly thinking about our kids’ interaction with technology. On the one hand, I want them to be read and equipped to leverage technology to fulfill their God-given mission in this age. On the other hand, I see technology as a kind of loaded weapon that can be used by the enemy to destroy their souls. This is why I really appreciate people like Dr. Kathy Koch, who has thought deeply about this. She’s got a new book out, Screens and Teens. I had the chance to chat with her for Leadership Journal this…
Continue ReadingThe Surprising Advice Max Lucado Gives to Young Pastors
March 9, 2015Max Lucado has been one of the most popular evangelical leaders for many years. His books have sold in the millions and are a regular fixture on the bestseller’s list. I had the chance to interview Max for my weekly blog with Leadership Journal. As with all interviews, this one had to be trimmed for publication. Leadership Journal featured the questions I asked Max about his new book on prayer. But I also asked him about his hopes and concerns for the evangelical movement and the surprising advice he gives to young pastors.
Continue Reading2016 and the Imago Dei
February 28, 2015But if we are going to have questions about the questions directed at presidential candidates, I’d like to offer one a query I hope every aspirant is asked. It’s a simple question that has profound policy implications.
Continue ReadingFinding God in the Darkness
February 21, 2015Praising God when everything is going well–that’s one thing. But what about praising God, or even finding God, when life gets dark. Let’s face it, if you’ve lived long enough you’ll experience seasons of crushing, hopeless despair and wonder where God is in the midst of it. That’s why I’m glad to see AJ. Swoboda’s new book Glorious Dark, address this issue. I had the chance to interview him this week: So most people picking up this book would find the two words of the title: Glorious and Dark to be incongruent. And yet you seem to make that case that…
Continue ReadingLee Strobel’s Crisis of Faith
February 13, 2015Lee Strobel is a world-famous apologist who has presented arguments for the Christian faith in a variety of popular venues and has debated the sharpest secular minds. But what happened when he had his own personal crisis of faith, when a sudden illness brought him close to death? In a new and unusually personal book, Strobel talks about a fresh understanding of grace. I asked him about this in an interview for Leadership Journal:
Continue ReadingJerusalem, Judea, and the Uttermost Parts
February 6, 2015Pastors are always wrestling with an international and a local focus as they think through ministry emphasis. I asked David Platt about this in my weekly interview for Leadership Journal. He’s written a new book, Counter Culture, challenging Christians to think soberly about how the gospel compels them to think critically about pressing social issues.
Continue ReadingChampions for Life In Every Generation
January 30, 2015As I think about the fight for life, I’m struck by the fact that this is a cause every generation of Christ followers must embrace. Every age, until the full consummation of the kingdom, will be beset by brokenness and feature incursions on the Imago Dei.
Continue ReadingAddressing Cultural Issues in the Pulpit
January 27, 2015How do pastors preach on contemporary cultural issues? Or should they? This is a question every pastor faces as he contemplates both the spiritual needs of his congregation, the questions swirling in society, and the weighty commission to preach the Word of God. When I pastored, I constantly wrestled with when to address certain topics, how to address them, and in what format. I’ve also observed and watched pastors of large and small churches organize their preaching. Here are a few ways I’ve seen pastors address contemporary cultural issues: 1) Textual: Personally I feel the most healthy way for pastors to structure their…
Continue ReadingEnjoying God’s Good Gifts
January 26, 2015Is it okay for a Christian to, gulp, enjoy a nice steak, the laughter of good friends, or, even a football game between two good teams? Joe Rigney says yes. He’s not a new book out, Things of Earth, Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts. Last Friday I had the chance to interview him about this:
Continue ReadingDrive-By Discipleship
January 20, 2015Paul had earned the right to speak into the lives of the believers at Colossae. Not because he had a PhD from a seminary. Not because he was on the NYT bestsellers list. Not because he had 100K followers on Twitter. Those things can all be leveraged for influential good. But the real spiritual growth transfer happens in deep and caring relationships. This Church and these people would listen to what Paul had to say because Paul had been invested deeply in their lives and cared for them.
Continue ReadingPastors Who Press On
January 16, 2015Discouragement: it maybe the leading cause of failure in pastoral ministry. How do pastors keep from growing weary in their work? I had the chance to talk to an experienced ministry practitioner, Travis Collins. Travis has held a variety of ministry roles and is the author of a new book: For Ministers About to Start or About to Give Up. The first question I asked him was: You’ve served in various roles in ministry positions, from pastoring to coaching to consulting. In your view, what is the single greatest challenge facing contemporary pastors? The greatest challenge I find among vocational ministers is…
Continue ReadingAlzheimer’s and the Imago Dei
January 9, 2015Alzheimer’s may be the most feared disease of any in our culture because of the slow and painful way it sucks the life of out of people we love and the burden it places on caregivers. How should Christians think about this disease in a way that’s unique from the rest of the culture? How does the Christian concept of imago dei force us to consider the dignity of those held by the grip of Alzheimers? This is a question I posed to Dr. Benjamin Mast, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and an Associate Clinical Professor in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville. He’s the author of a brand new book, Second Forgetting, Remembering the Power of the Gospel in Alzheimer’s.
Continue ReadingHow NOT to Read the News
November 14, 2014We live in a time where we are exposed to more news headlines than at any time in human history. In the ancient days of news, anchors checked the AP newswire for stories and reported on them and people in their homes watched or people in their cars listened to radio. Today, everyone, is essentially checking the wire, all day, through social media. We also live in a time when it’s has never been easier to publicly express an opinion. Before the Internet, if something happened, you might have picked up the phone to call someone or perhaps you might discuss it at work, around the water cooler. But today we are all pundits, all with commentary on what is happening right now.
Continue ReadingThey hear you when you’re speaking
November 5, 2014Right before I got married, a wise man, married for many years, gave me a piece of advice. He said, “Dan, always talk favorably about your wife when she is not around. She can hear what you say about her even when she is not around.” This is a maxim I have tried to follow in my marriage. We’ve all been around folks who dis their spouses with regularity. It’s cringe-inducing for those of us who have to hear it and it only makes us wonder how good that marriage can be. I also believe, strongly, that spouses can sense when we…
Continue ReadingOn Halloween, Don’t Be That Parent
October 25, 2014So it’s Halloween and parents everywhere are finalizing their plans for next week. Candy is purchased and placed in the requisite pumpkin bucket near the front door. Costumes are selected and purchased. And evangelical car trunks stand ready to be decorated for the church parking lot. It’s go time. But before you venture out at the end of this week, make sure you are ready, as a parent, for the holiday. To get you ready I’m here with some important things not to do. 1) Don’t Be That Parent Who Judges What the Other Parents Do. Regardless of your parenting posture…
Continue ReadingMultigenerational churches and offering plates
October 11, 2014I’ve been writing recently about the shape of worship in our churches. First, a piece for Christianity.com about the importance of multi-generational churches: I recently said goodbye to one of my dearest friends, who taught me more about ministry than anyone else I knew. He recently succumbed to cancer in his early eighties. Until this quick-moving disease ushered Him home, Bill was a font of wisdom about how to do ministry. It was timeless wisdom good for dealing with every generation. Another of my close friends is a Boomer. I can’t tell you how many lengthy phone conversations I’ve had…
Continue ReadingWhy I’m Thankful for Christian Music
October 8, 2014This headline seems a bit redundant. After all, I’m a Christian and, of course, I’d love Christian music. But this is not always the case. In fact if you listen to a lot of the conversations young Christians are having today, you’d find that Christian music is a kind of punching bag. It’s fashionable for us to take a sledgehammer and bash, with great glee, the art that our brothers and sisters are creating. To be sure, there are songs for the Christian that are worth rejecting. Songs that have little or no theological teeth and songs that create a…
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