The present hour calls for more theorists and practitioners to take up the task of explicating robust articulations of Christian love and duty applied to each of life’s concentric spheres. Augustine’s idea of ordo amoris—the “order of love”—reflects the Scriptural pattern of directing our affections to first love God, then to love our families, and … Continue reading 4 Applications for the Order of Love—From the Home to the Ends of the Earth
The Order of Love in the New Testament
As both a church leader and a missions leader, I often hear Christians ask how to set the right priorities in life. Is “family first” really biblical? How much love for country is healthy? And how do we know when we are being faithful at home while still caring about people across cultures and borders? … Continue reading The Order of Love in the New Testament
Evangelism and Missions Begin at the Dinner Table
This article originally appeared at Founders Ministries on August 13, 2026. It is excerpted from chapter 7 of Ordered to Love: Recovering the Order of Affections from the Home to the Ends of the Earth (Founders Press, 2026). Used by permission. Knowledge is the eye which must direct the foot of obedience . . . … Continue reading Evangelism and Missions Begin at the Dinner Table
What the Order of Love Means for Global Missions
In recent years, American culture has revived interest in a classic Christian idea: the ordo amoris, the order of love. The phrase comes most famously from Augustine, who taught that virtue consists in rightly ordered love. “Living a just and holy life,” Augustine wrote, “requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things: to love … Continue reading What the Order of Love Means for Global Missions
The Nations and Natalism
There’s a long-running joke in evangelical circles that Baptists do all their church growth through missions and evangelism, while Presbyterians do all theirs through having children. Like most good humor, this joke relies on sweeping generalization. But it also strikes a chord because it plays upon a familiar theme many have observed. All too often … Continue reading The Nations and Natalism
The Time Mothering Saved the World
Conventional wisdom says that everybody loves their mother. It’s a man’s one thing—apart from one’s beard—that his fellow man isn’t to insult. Even Mussolini, nature dictates, had a soft spot for his mammina. But somehow, even though everyone has a mother, a segment of society has managed to declare war on motherhood. This war has … Continue reading The Time Mothering Saved the World
Three Ways Our Adoption Enriched Our Understanding of the Gospel
Last Friday, after two and a half years as foster parents, my wife and I finally adopted our five-year-old son. Surrounded in the courtroom by loved ones, fellow church members, and case workers, we felt the weight of paperwork and legalities dissolve away, replaced by peace in our veins and tears in our eyes as … Continue reading Three Ways Our Adoption Enriched Our Understanding of the Gospel
Why Your Name is Lydia: A Letter to My Daughter
Why are we naming our daughter Lydia? Acts 16 has the answer—and contains the basis for our prayer for her.
4 Ways Not to Help Foster and Adoptive Families in Your Church
With the mild resurgence that is taking place right now in the adoptive and foster care movement within evangelicalism, church leaders and members alike are beginning to recognize that something of orphan care runs in the blood of every believer—since God “predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure … Continue reading 4 Ways Not to Help Foster and Adoptive Families in Your Church
Christian: God Fostered-to-Adopt You
Why foster? Under the old covenant, God's relationship with his people looked more like fostering than permanent adoption — but all that changed with Christ.
