Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer by Charles A. Czeisler (Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School) explains how sleep deprivation undermines high performance. He likens sleep deficit to drinking too much alcohol, explaining that pulling an all-nighter (i.e. going twenty-four hours without sleep) or having a week of sleeping just four or five hours…
As I sit here typing this, I have several things in front of me. There is a sermon to finish typing, a phone meeting to prepare for, and a lunch meeting with someone who has been attending our church. Beyond that, there are emails to answer, books to finish reading, and a host of other…
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash. There have been too many weeks and months go by where intentionality seemed like a pipe-dream. My places of service in years past (and where I currently serve) have required that I think weeks and month ahead and work diligently towards being organized. For whatever reason, that same intentionality has been flagrantly absent…
A couple of weeks ago, I had two conversations. The first was with my best friend from college, Steve. Steve is my best friend; we have the same sense of humor, the same likes, the same personality (we even look a good bit alike!) and we deeply care about each other in a profound way.…
By all accounts, John Calvin, the great Genevan reformer and systematician of the Reformation age, was an educated man. His early educational endeavors help set a trajectory toward a rigorous pattern of intellectual engagement that will mark his ministry. If pastors would cultivate a robust life of the mind (and they should), then paying attention…
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash If you were to ask ten pastors the question of what constitutes success in ministry you would undoubtedly get ten different answers. Each response may have some similarities with other responses but I imagine that the thrust of what each person said would be distinctly different. Is success in ministry proportionate to…
Recently I posted an article arguing for the idea of multiplication. That is, as Christians we are called to make disciples (Matt 28:18–20). We hope the disciples we make will, in turn, make other disciples. In short, multiplication = disciples making more disciples. I’m not going to rehash that argument. If you are interested, you…
Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash Listen to Pastor Nick Sandefur of the Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky discuss some details on the important work of revitalizing a local church. Listen here. In summary, he gives several characteristics of a healthy work of revitalization: The necessity of an unwavering commitment to truth. A passion and commitment…
John Calvin is a heavyweight in the history of Christian thought. When thinking about any particular point of theology, theologians of all stripes are wise to wrestle with his ideas. Love him or hate him, his influence is unquestionably felt across the world. Karl Barth, an intellectual giant in his own right, says, Calvin is…
Photo by Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash This past Sunday I made the statement that the underlying reason for our sinful behavior, thoughts, affections, and words stems from unbelief. For sure this unbelief manifests itself in a lot of ways but I humbly believe it is an overflow of not believing the truth and promises of God’s Word and…
Theology Along the Way 