Photo by Omar Prestwich on Unsplash Grouchiness about other pastors’ churches? Their size? Their coolness? The number of conversions they see? Their creativity in programming, marketing, and sermons? Nope. Not me. Never. I promise. I’m always kingdom-minded and thankful for the work that God is doing in and through other churches. God tells us to…
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash Each and every time I attend an event that the North American Mission Board facilitates they submit several questions to participants for the purpose of personal engagement. Too often we hear great content but fail to reflect and intentionally think about how we can appropriate certain truths or principles into our lives.…
I want to interact with those around me, respond to sin (either mine or others), and generally live in such a way that I put the good news of Jesus on display. Of course, I’ll never do this perfectly but I should strive to make everything I can in my personal life point to the…
I can’t overstate the gift that friends have been in my life. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate or value friendships in the past, it’s more of me coming to an understanding that I will not make it without friends. Read that sentence again. I mean it. Friendships are a gift of Jesus that have…
My bride and I love our kids. Honestly. We enjoy hugging and kissing them. We enjoy holding their hands, though they’re quickly seeing that I’m not nearly as cool as they once thought I was! We love seeing them smile and hearing them laugh. We love when they ask questions about Jesus, truth, the Bible…
No one enjoys feeling trapped. When you feel trapped, you feel suffocated, pressed in, like there’s no way to escape. Many Christians live feeling like they are trapped in sin. While we experience the joy of Christ changing us through the power of the Spirit, there always seems to be certain sins from which each…
Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash Consider these specific practices that can lessen your stress from Charles Stone in his book, “Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church.” Exercise. For decades, we’ve known how exercise benefits our body. But recent research26 has discovered that it benefits…
Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash Consider these specific practices that can lessen your stress from Charles Stone in his book, “Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church.” Exercise. For decades, we’ve known how exercise benefits our body. But recent research26 has discovered that it benefits…
Measuring spiritual growth appears to be an unspiritual endeavor but it is indeed spiritual and a Jesus-honoring endeavor. We see Paul telling the believers in Thessalonica to keep doing good and excel at it (see 1 Thessalonians 4:10), as well as Jesus exhorting His disciples to bear much fruit (see John 15:1-8). And the references…
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash A couple weeks ago I met with a friend who recommended John Newton’s book, “Letters of John Newton.” John Newton was once a strong advocate for the slave trade and lived a deeply immoral life as a sailor. Through the gospel, Jesus saved John Newton and used his life in a remarkable…
Theology Along the Way 