Once, after hearing a very gracious, gentle, nuanced pastor preach a particularly bold sermon warning against false teachers, I commented to him, “It’s good to see a vertebrate in the pulpit.” To my surprise, he replied, not skipping a beat, “I call it having evantesticles.” (He also knew that puns are my love language.) This … Continue reading How Not to Make Friends and Influence People
5 Principles of Biblical Restitution
Increasingly, biblically-aware Christians are consulting their Old Testaments to help them navigate modern issues of social justice and biblical. Unsurprisingly, as conversations over racial reconciliation escalate within the church, the notion of reparations has come to the fore, and many are inquiring as to what extent it may overlap with the biblical concept of restitution. … Continue reading 5 Principles of Biblical Restitution
4 Steps to Avoid Ministry Burnout: Lessons From Moses
Tracing Israel’s repeated rebellions in the wilderness is as dizzying as watching dirty bathwater circle the drain. In spite of its refrain stressing the patience of God, the book of Numbers exhausts the reader with its reports of these cyclical revolts of the exodus generation. Time and again, they clamor for food, drink, or a … Continue reading 4 Steps to Avoid Ministry Burnout: Lessons From Moses
Holy Ambition, Part Two
A few months ago, I wrote on the fact that we as evangelicals tend to baptize mediocrity in the water of false humility. By contrast, God calls us to a kind of Christ-exalting, cross-carrying striving for excellence and achievement for God’s glory and the good of others. Since this is a lesson worth learning more … Continue reading Holy Ambition, Part Two
Race, Biblical Justice, and Lessons From an Execution
Once, there was a national leader who, though the country had sworn to protect a population of natives, had in nationalistic, ethnocentric zeal instead sought to exterminate them. Years after his death, his actions brought misery upon all the people in the country, causing the new administration to investigate the source of their cultural ailments. … Continue reading Race, Biblical Justice, and Lessons From an Execution
Giants in the Land, Yeah-Buts in the Camp
Jesus is Lord. So, the collective vocation of the church for the last 2,000 years has been, essentially, victoriously waging a war against any idea that would attempt to usurp Christ’s throne (2 Cor. 10:5). We do this not with swords or AR-15s, but with the subversive leaven of a gospel that asserts Christ—not Caesar … Continue reading Giants in the Land, Yeah-Buts in the Camp
4 (Assorted) Ways David Points to Christ
Sometimes, finding Christ in the Old Testament is an exact science. Other times, it is an art. In recent weeks, I’ve sat under preaching through the life of David, and have myself tried to practice the science (or art) of Christocentric hermeneutics. We have all heard moral examples pulled from biblical narratives, exhorting us to … Continue reading 4 (Assorted) Ways David Points to Christ
We Are the Prostitute
When people write stories that represent bigger truths, it’s called mythology. When God writes stories that represent deeper realities, it’s called history. God has an incredible way of speaking to us through real events of the past. So when God raised up the brand-new nation of Israel to bring justice and invade the evil, twisted … Continue reading We Are the Prostitute
