I spent a lot of last year traveling the world to carry out research for my forthcoming church history project–a project that took me to 24 countries across 6 continents. Now that the travel is winding down, I’m beginning to think about a few of the travel lessons I learned along the way. I decided…
Gossip is not only a sin of the mouth, but also a sin of the ears. It takes two: the one who speaks and the one who listens. Reading or listening to gossip is not a different sin from speaking or spreading it, but simply the opposite side of the same sin. It’s a quarter…
A couple of weeks ago someone captured a photograph of a smiling or sneering, mocking or awkward young man standing face-to-face with a peacemaking or threatening, respectful or bad-mannered older man. This photo was posted to Twitter. And you know what happened next. But even though you know what happened, it’s worth considering why it…
The West is becoming increasingly post-Christian. Many of the more progressive nations are not merely overlooking or ignoring their Judeo-Christian heritage, but actively destroying it. They are making their way through their laws and constitutions, their definitions and traditions, to divest it all of any remnants of the biblical principles and assumptions upon which these…
Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Here…
It’s good to go to a conference or a concert and to sing with hundreds or even thousands of strangers. There is something majestic and soul-stirring about gathering with other believers and using the common language of song to join together in worship. But I believe it’s far better still to go to a local…
Simon, his brother, and their business partners were fishermen whom Jesus called to a very different kind of fishing. “Follow me,” he told them. “From now on you will be catching men.” They were caught by Jesus so they could catch others. And in much the same way, we have been caught by Jesus so…
Few authors alive or dead speak to me the way J.R. Miller does. In his book Self-Control, now long out of print, he has his readers imagine life without Christ. It’s a passage worth reading and worth reflecting on. The relation between Christ and his friends is closer than any human relation. No one can…
Over the past few weeks I’ve been putting out the call for new bloggers to get started and for given-up bloggers to give it a new try (as in here and here). I’ve been calling for bloggers who have turned all their attention to writing for ministry blogs to also consider writing for their own…
One of the trends that has swept our society through the past decades is the “funification” of pretty much everything. We have been told and become convinced that everything ought to be fun. I can’t think of a better example than in schools where the rote memorization that was once considered essential to learning was…
History is packed full of fascinating figures. Some of these are men and women who were raised to lay claim to great positions—Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II. Some of these are men and women who come from nowhere and nothing but still rose to great prominence. Among these we find Aimee Semple…
Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Here…
During the past few weeks I’ve been asked many questions about blogging and other forms of writing, so thought I’d tell you about the three tools I consider essential to my writing life. There’s an app, a font, and a calendar that represent the heart of all I do. The App: Ulysses For many years…
It is impossible to consider the modern history or contemporary state of Christianity without accounting for the sudden rise, the explosive spread, and the worldwide impact of Pentecostalism. To that end, I’ve been reading several books on the subject, focused especially on the Azusa Street Revival, which most historians consider the setting in which Pentecostalism…
Earlier in the week, eager to be encouraged, I put this question out to Twitter: What has the Lord been teaching you from his Word recently? The responses were quick, plentiful, and encouraging. Here are a few of them. (Click here to read them all.) I’ve been meditating on the Good Samaritan, and I’m learning…
I have said a few times and in a few ways that I’m concerned about what seems to be a growing trend: Bloggers are shuttering their blogs and instead submitting articles to the major ministry sites. If they aren’t shuttering their blogs altogether, they are writing on them less or using them primarily as a…
I spent a good portion of last year scouring the world for objects of historical importance. I read histories and biographies before I left so they could shape the direction of my travels. I read histories and biographies after I returned so they could interpret what I had seen and experienced. Here’s one case where…
A couple of days ago I was eager for some encouragement, so put the question out to Twitter: What’s something encouraging you’ve seen in your church over the past few months? The answers were a blessing to me! And, just so you can be encouraged as well, I thought I’d share some of them with…
Near the end of 2018 I went through the long list of blogs I’ve subscribed to over the years and was both surprised and dismayed to see how many have gone dormant or closed down. By definition, these were blogs I enjoyed reading and that had proven beneficial to me. Obviously there will always be…
Without a doubt, the most impactful book I read last year was A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness. I’m sure its significance was partly due to some medical struggles I’ve been having recently, but also simply because life is full of difficulties. We all go through difficult times in these difficult lives in…