Leadership
Can 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…
Read More5 Ways to Pray for Your Church
A couple weeks ago I wrote a blog, How to Help Your Church. It was one of the most popular posts of this year so far, perhaps because it struck a chord with pastors and church leaders working hard to serve God’s people. Interestingly, I wrote a similar post a few years ago. However it…
Read MoreFive Lessons I Learned From Eisenhower
I’m nearly finished with a lengthy biography of our 34th President, Dwight David Eisenhower entitled, Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith. I chose this book to review for Amazon Vine for a few reasons. First, I needed some variety in my recent reading. Secondly, I’m fascinated by history of the World War 11 era.…
Read MoreDad and the Value of Hard Work
In my weekly Crosswalk devotional, I wrote about how my Dad’s insistence on making me work helped mold me into a man: It was 6 am and while the rest of my friends were sleeping in, dreaming of two weeks filled with Nintendo, cookies, and hanging out, I was putting on every layer of clothes…
Read MoreA Better Way to Discern
I come from a very conservative theological background and I maintain many of those same convictions. But one thing that has changed in my heart over the years is my attitude toward people from different ministry contexts and denominations. I used to think that if their bullet points didn’t line up with mine, then I…
Read MorePastors, Love the Ones You’re With – The Gospel Coalition Blog
The Gospel Coalition graciously posted another of my articles. This one is about a new lesson I learned from a familiar passage: I’ve read 1 Peter 5:1 many times. As a young pastor, I’m paying more attention to its straightforward directives for my calling as a shepherd. But it wasn’t until a few weeks ago…
Read MoreCreativity is Cool, but So is Maturity
By now you’ve read some of the dust-up online about two prominent pastors and their presentations of intimacy and marriage. Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace have written what seems to be a very raw, personal book, Real Marriage. Ed Young, Jr is launching a new preaching series/book/media blitz in which he and his wife…
Read MoreWhy Your Pastor Shouldn’t Be Your Podcast
Trevin Wax recently wrote a widely distributed post entitled, “Why Your Podcast Shouldn’t Be Your Pastor.” He raised some important points about the proliferation of content over the Internet. Its easy today to consume the best of contemporary evangelical pastors simply by downloading them through iTunes or listening online. While this is a wonderful blessing…
Read MoreHow I Found My Preaching and Speaking Voice
Growing up, public speaking was something I both enjoyed and dreaded. I enjoyed the preparation for a speech (still do), but always got the intense butterflies in public. Especially in school where one Rick-Perry like flub could ignite the snickering chorus in the front row of our high-school. I know because when I wasn’t speaking,…
Read MorePastoring the People You Have
I have been meditating on 1 Peter in my own private devotions for sometime now. This is a habit I began last year. Rather than rushing through a book, I’ve been taking books and just spending days and weeks and months on the same passages to get familiar with them. Next year I plan on…
Read MoreChildren as Image-bearers
I ran across this terrific article at the Gospel Driven Life blog on parenting (HT: Trevin Wax). It discusses our children as image-bearers. The author says about our kids: They are image bearers. They are creatures, made by God and for God. They are given glory and honor by God. They have inherent value, of…
Read MoreYour Best Testimony: Not Being a Jerk
Sometimes the best opportunity to demonstrate the gospel to those who do not know Jesus is quite simply not being a jerk when you have the opportunity. I’m talking about those times when you’ve been wronged and most people would excuse you for flipping your lid and taking your frustrations out on the next person…
Read More