Exploring how Jesus changes everything.
About the authorThis article is cross-posted on ABWE.org. Several years ago, when I was contemplating a transition from my role as a youth pastor into missions mobilization, one of the questions that gripped me was: Am I deserting my “flock”? How many of the young adults I’m leaving behind will make shipwreck of their faith? As I … Continue reading Why Risk Is Still Right
Well, it feels a bit awkward to be writing again, given that I haven’t written anything in long form really addressing COVID-19 since the beginning of the shutdowns. It’s not for want of trying, but, as they say—the spirit is willing, but the flesh is wrapping up a major landscaping project, helping the wife with … Continue reading All Our Righteousness Is as Filthy Masks
This article originally appeared on ABWE’s blog. Evangelism is hard. It is true that the current global circumstances have opened doors for spiritual conversation in a variety of ways. Record numbers of individuals are searching for keywords related to prayer and hope. According to Google, there was a 170 percent spike in searches for Psalm … Continue reading 12 Bible Verses for Sharing the Gospel During Crisis
Reading through the Bible with my son has me feeling like a kid again. This isn’t something new; we’ve always read Scripture together. But at the ripe age of seven, our son is weaned off the storybook-style, paraphrased, pop-up, scratch-and-sniff “Bibles” marketed to kids in his bracket, and now we’re plodding through the original. We … Continue reading Crunching the Numbers on the Resurrection Toll
As I begin writing, it’s day six of the national “15 Days to Slow the Spread” initiative (catchy, no?)—or at least, I think it is, but I’ll admit, the days are starting to blend together a bit. I’ll spare you the full list of activities our family has undertaken in these historic days, since our … Continue reading The Blessing of Pestilence
We restless North Americans struggle immensely to prevail in prayer. I struggle in prayer. I see impoverished, persecuted believers in other parts of the world praying with fervor, corporately and individually, and I marvel at my own ineptitude when it comes to conversation with God. Yet prayer is an inescapable concept. Desperation of any sort produces dependence … Continue reading 5 Ways to Pray Missionally
Don’t have time to read? Listen to the sermon as it was preached on March 1, 2020 at Mount Calvary Church. Note: The following is a sermon manuscript and may contain typographical errors. The church of Jesus Christ is commanded to disciple all the nations, proclaiming the good news and brining all the peoples to … Continue reading The Power of God in Missions
Human beings are obstinately visual creatures. By this statement, I am referring not to all the typical examples of our visual nature—our propensity for art, the male species’ hard-wired infatuation with the optics of the female form, the fact that Baptist churches split over the color of the drapes, or. I am speaking, rather, of … Continue reading Fruit Salad Diversity
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so … Continue reading A Brief Reflection on Judaizers
Two years in a row now, my friend Neil Olcott, who runs our local chapter of the C.S. Lewis Institute discipleship program, has made the unfortunate blunder of inviting me to lecture on the topic of the Holy Spirit and spiritual warfare. You’d think the poor chap would have learned his lesson after the first … Continue reading The Indwelling Holy Spirit and Authority in Spiritual Conflict
