Eugene Peterson is concerned about the state of pastoral ministry. In Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Peterson warns his readers about pastors who “are abandoning their posts, their calling. . . . What they do with their time under the guise of pastoral ministry hasn’t the remotest connection with what the church’s […]
Richard Lovelace’s Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal explores “the nature of revival and what it means for the church.” Lovelace takes his readers through the Jesus Movement, Jonathan Edwards, and a wide range of historical figures and movements. It’s a fascinating read. At the heart of his book, Lovelace provides the […]
Major wars are fought on multiple fronts. The same is true with the spiritual war that every Christian finds themselves in. One of the major fronts of our spiritual war involves music. That’s why the Apostle Paul commanded the Colossians to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in […]
How does the growth of a church and its leadership team impact how its leadership team functions and what leaders should expect? Leaders who have been a part of a staff, whether paid or unpaid, that’s grown numerically, understand that growth changes certain aspects of the leadership team. But how? Well, Larry Osborne, in his […]
The married couple was in a long season of one crisis after another. The wife had undiagnosed Lyme Disease while pregnant and was extremely sick. After she gave birth, she continued to have a lot of health issues. The child was born with life-altering health issues. Since both the husband and the wife were teachers, […]
Jerry Sittser and his family were headed back home from an event when a drunk driver drove head-on into their minivan. Although he and three of his kids survived, tragically, his wife, mother, and one of his daughters all died at the scene of the accident. While most people don’t, thankfully, have to go through […]
It’s not loving to create laws that promote falsehoods, confusion, discrimination, and harm, while reducing the institutions that help people flourish the most. That’s why, out of love for all people, including the LGBTQ+ community, I’m praying against the Respect for Marriage Act. I know this isn’t a popular position in our culture or, most […]
Douglas McKelvey’s Every Moment Holy vol. 1 provides liturgies, or prayers, for all kinds of different situations. I thought I’d share the one he wrote for “The Death of a Dream.” In it, he skillfully and beautifully puts into words what so many feel when this happens and how they should process it in the […]
Last August, I had the privilege of sitting down with Mike Woodson, the pastor of Christ Church, to talk about 21 Days to Childlike Prayer for his fantastic “100+ Significant Moments in Christian History” podcast. I’ve enjoyed Pastor Mike’s podcast for quite some time. He does an unusually excellent job of summarizing history in substantive, […]
One of the major tasks of any leader is creating clarity. Patrick Lencioni, in his classic The Advantage, argues that in order for leaders to create clarity, leaders need need to make sure everyone they are leading is clear on six questions. These questions, he argues, aren’t unusually insightful. Rather, the insight is that “none […]