Church Life
Jerusalem, Judea, and the Uttermost Parts
Pastors 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.
Read MorePastors Who Press On
Discouragement: 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…
Read MoreMultigenerational churches and offering plates
I’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…
Read MoreWhy I’m Thankful for Christian Music
This 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…
Read MoreVictoria Osteen and Our Conservative Prosperity Gospel
Last night, Christian Twitter was alive with the ridiculous and sad clip of Victoria Osteen’s blatant prosperity gospel declaration. “We go to church, not for God, but for us.” I especially liked the enterprising blogger who affixed Bill Cosby’s “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard” to the end of the clip. Well done. But…
Read MoreTwo Things We Need: Comedy and Rest
I want to highlight two recent articles that are related to each other, I think. First, I wrote a column for Christianity.com about the need for comedy. I thought of this in light of the death of Robin Williams. Here’s an excerpt: The Scriptures tell us that laughter is a kind of medicine for the…
Read MoreSome recent interviews
I had the privilege of interviewing a few church leaders on a variety of issues: Here I interview pastor David Platt of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama and author of Radical and Multiply on the need for Christians in the West to speak up about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere: Here I…
Read MoreBarnabas Piper on Life in the Fishbowl
There are a lot of pastor’s kids out there, but few who grew up like my friend Barnabas Piper, the son of popular pastor and author, John Piper. That’s why I’m excited about Barnabas’ new book, The Pastor’s Kid. What is refreshing about this book, unlike so many other books in this genre, is that its not another angst-ridden,…
Read MoreCivil Rights and the Gospel
Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. To commemorate this landmark event and to discuss the Church’s role in working toward racial reconciliation, I had the opportunity to engage in a discussion with my ERLC colleague, Trillia Newbell, author of the new book, United. We…
Read MoreWhat The Church Needs
This week I had the privilege of interviewing the new President of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Ronnie Floyd, the Senior Pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve had the chance to meet Dr. Floyd and am inspired by his heart for evangelism and his desire to the Church…
Read MoreWhat Do Do With the Nones?
What will ministry look like in an increasingly post-Christian age? James Emery White, a pastor and researcher, joins the fray with a fascinating new book, The Rise of the Nones. If you are not familiar, “Nones” describe the increasing number people refusing to affiliate themselves with any faith group. There is a lot of conjecture…
Read MoreOur Snarky Eye-Rolling Might Actually Be Sinful
My pastor has been preaching thru 1 Corinthians. He’s a terrific expositor, always providing the nuance and thrust of the text at hand. Lately we’ve come upon 1 Corinthians 8, the well-known “meat offered to idols” text that helps inform the way we treat each other when disagreeing over the gray areas of the Christian…
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