Leadership
A word to husbands on Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that sneaks up on you. Well, at least it sneaks up on me. The winter is rich with holidays for the Darling Family: Angela and I were married the week before Thanksgiving, two of our four children have December birthdays, and my birthday is in late January. It…
Read MoreWhy Should We Talk About Our Racial History?
In Southern Baptist Churches this Sunday we celebrate Racial Reconciliation Sunday. At the ERLC, we’ve developed quite a few resources for churches to use in their presentations. I’m grateful our denomination celebrates this, given our racial history and given how central this issue is to the gospel. In the Great Commission (Mathew 28:16), we see…
Read MoreBeware of Backdoor Legalism
Last week, during an apparent display of debauchery at the Grammy’s (I don’t usually watch award shows. It’s just not my thing. Other folks feel that way about NFL football, which I love). This caused award-winning singer, Natalie Grant to walk out. She was, from all accounts, not self-righteous or judgmental about it, but just…
Read MoreBeware of People-Pleasing
My good friend, Charles Stone, has written about one of the hidden temptations of leadership: the tendency to people-please. I know that I fought this as a pastor and continue to fight it as a leader today. On the one hand, your job is to love and serve God’s people. This means putting aside preference…
Read MoreDon’t let your kids say this phrase
There is a phrase in our vocabulary that nobody has to teach us to say. It’s a phrase kids learn very quickly in childhood. And it’s a phrase you should ban in your household: “That’s not fair.” It sounds innocent enough. Everybody wants life to be fair, right? But this is an insidious phrase, revealing…
Read MorePreaching as a Craft to Be Cultivated.
I love preaching. I love the act of preaching and I love listening to preaching. There is something wild and mysterious and beautiful about God’s Word flowing through a flawed man empowered by the Holy Spirit as a primary delivery method for spiritual change. This week I had the chance to interview Matt Woodley, managing…
Read MoreRepeat the Sounding Joy
Have you noticed lately that it’s the Christians who are often most cranky during the Christmas season? Complaining has almost become required. We hear sermons on how to deal with the stress of Christmas. We read ominous-sounding emails and Facebook posts on the so-called “War on Christmas.” And of course, cable news shows ramp up…
Read MoreThe Power of a Mentor
You can’t underestimate the power of a mentor. I know that because six years ago, a man came into my life who would shape me in profound ways. This month I had the chance to write about this man, Bill Swanger, and his impact. Here’s an excerpt: Bill became one of my best friends during…
Read MoreJesus and the Digital Pharisees
It’s kind of ridiculous to ask, “What if Jesus were on Twitter?” But indulge me for a second, anyways. I’ve noticed something about our generation’s engagement online and with those we consider “Christian celebrities” – famous pastors or church leaders who have big platforms. There’s a tendency among those of us who blog, tweet, write,…
Read MoreYour Family is Not a Problem to Be Solved
In a symposium published by The Guardian, novelist Richard Ford was asked to deliver his best advice to aspiring writers. Forgive me for quibbling with the wisdom of a celebrated muse, but I was offended by his first two pieces of advice: 1) Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a…
Read MoreThe One Thing Your Team Needs . . . That Only You Can Give
“Nobody has ever told me that before,” she said to me. Her tired voice and tired posture betrayed years of faithful ministry work that had gone unnoticed and unappreciated. It was my first week on the job as a Senior Pastor and I had much to learn about shepherding God’s people. But one thing I…
Read MoreSpeaking with Grace: The gospel and the way we speak
Over at ERLC.com, I’m in the midst of a series of blog posts on speaking with grace in the culture. Here’s the second in this series: Mark DeMoss is a longtime public relations consultant who has represented some of the most well known evangelical figures such as Jerry Falwell and Chuck Colsen. DeMoss has also…
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