Church Life
Friday Five: Andrea Palpant Dilley
Andrea Palpant Dilley grew up in Kenya as the daughter of Quaker missionaries and spent the rest of her childhood in the Pacific Northwest. She studied English literature and writing at Whitworth University. Her work as a writer has appeared in Rock and Sling, Geez, and Utne Reader, as well as the anthology Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up…
Read MoreWe are Believers Instead of Disciples
I’m currently reading Your Church is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan. I was deeply, deeply convicted by this section: At some point we stopped calling Christians disciples and started calling them believers. A disciple is one who follows and imitates Jesus. She loses her life in order to find it. She steeps in the language and…
Read MoreWhy They Dislike Us: Christians and “Branding.”
“and this is why so many people reject the church . . .” How often have you read this in the last year? In the last month? In the last week? It’s a premise for a wide variety of ideas about the Church, a repeated refrain that has almost become a cliche. It goes something…
Read MoreImmigration Policy and Ministry
The Gospel Coalition is running a two-part blog series I coauthored with Matthew Soerens of World Relief on the sensitive subject of gospel ministry and immigration policy. In the first part we concentrated on a pastor’s role in shaping the attitudes of Christians toward immigrants, both legal and illegal. In the second part, we dived…
Read MoreChuck Colson and Hope for the Next Generation
In January, Russell Moore wrote a provocative column entitled, “The Next Billy Graham Might Be Drunk Right Now.” It was a terrific column pushing back against some of the handwringing among evangelicals about the lack of good leadership for the future. His premise was simple: God may be in the process of raising a leader…
Read More5 Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned in 4 Years
I’m nearing my fourth years as Senior Pastor at Gages Lake Bible Church, which means I’m just beginning. I’m still learning. John Maxwell need not fear. I won’t be dethroning him from the position of Leadership Guru anytime soon. However, being on the job has taught me a few things about leadership, especially for young…
Read MoreSome Great Easter Links
Some great Easter Reading: “He’s Calling for Elijah! Why We Still Mishear Jesus” – Al Hsu in Christianity Today: A fantastic piece pointing Jesus’s last words to Psalm 22. Did God forsake Jesus or was Jesus telling the world that he was the fulfillment of Psalm 22? I preached on this passage last Good Friday,…
Read MoreFive Reasons to be a Member of a Local Church
As a pastor and a lifelong church man, I’m concerned about the increasing tendency among young evangelicals to dismiss church attendance as irrelevant to spiritual growth. Today, my friend, Dave Jenkins shares five biblical reasons for being a member of a local bible-believing church. Dave is as pastoral intern and blogger and the director of…
Read More5 Reasons Why Pastors Should Write
I’m a pastor who writes, but I know I’m not alone. In fact, many, many pastors around the world supplement their teaching ministry with a writing ministry. God blessed me with a writing ministry before I assumed the pulpit at Gages Lake Bible Church almost four years ago, but it has only been enhanced as…
Read MoreFriday Five: Paul Tautges
Paul Tautges is a renowned pastor and biblical counselor. He has served Immanuel Bible Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin as pastor-teacher since 1992. His preaching and teaching ministry often takes him overseas for the equipping of national pastors for the work of church-based ministry. He is also the author of several excellent books on counseling and pastoral ministry,…
Read More5 Pitfalls for Young Church Leaders
I’m a young guy new at leadership, leading my church as Senior Pastor, leading my family as a husband and father of four, and leading (in some ways) as an author/writer/blogger. The world gets excited about young leadership, but quite often young leaders make mistakes because we lack the wisdom of our elders. Here are…
Read MoreCan We Build the Church By Being Against the Church?
It’s hard to read a Christian book or blog post or to hear a sermon without hearing some overt or implied criticism of some part of the evangelical Church as a whole. That’s not even counting the Twitter feeds of Christians. I’m reading a terrific book right on the centrality of the gospel by one of my…
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