Hi Friends! Here’s our latest: Care Net: It was great to be in San Antonio last week with dear friends, serving over 1,500 individuals from pregnancy centers and churches across North America and Canada. The theme of the conference was “Light in the Darkness”—an appropriate descriptor for these unsung champions offering compassion, hope, and help to women and men facing … Read More
Malachi’s Vision of Hope: Remember, Return, and Rest
“On the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children … Read More
Malachi’s Vision of “The Good Life”
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You … Read More
Is God Male?
Most children’s catechisms answer the question, “Who is God?” with some version of the statement, “He is a spirit and has no body as we do.” A study guide commenting on the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s version of this question explains, “When we say that God is a Spirit we make clear the fact that He is distinct from all things … Read More
Are You the Head of Your Home?
I thought he was kidding at first. As we finished our meal, we left our spouses in the living room and stepped into his man cave. A talented woodworker, my friend showed me many of his creations, and then somehow our conversation drifted toward gender and sex roles: “When I get time, maybe when I retire,” he said, “I want … Read More
Arianism Remixed? On the Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS)
Ever been canceled? Several years ago, around the time that I wrote this piece, part of the back story was associated with an email I got from a friend who didn’t like the fact that I was leaving his Christian subculture to join another: “I must inform you that your decision to affiliate with… is one which I firmly believe … Read More
What I Learned from Esau McCaulley
“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows, there we hung our lyres… O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” Psalm 137:1-2,8-9, ESV What are we to … Read More
Taking Care of Yourself as a Pastoral Caregiver
One of the most helpful books I’ve read to date on both giving pastoral care and taking care of myself in the process is Clergy Self-Care by Roy Oswald. Below are my favorite quotes and once you’ve read them, I encourage you to pick your top three and discuss them with your spouse, closest friend, or leadership team: Spiritual healing … Read More
EXCLUSIVE PRAYER & MINISTRY UPDATE- 063021
An unexpected change in our home: By his own choice, my eighty-one-year-old Dad has been living in an assisted living home for the last five years. And, as some of you know, he got and survived Covid-19 in early 2020. Thankfully, the virus didn’t take his life, but it did take a lot out of him and left him less … Read More
What I Learned from Gregory Nazianzus
For most of my adult Christian life, I’ve been convinced that the cross and grace are at the core of the Christian faith. That hasn’t changed. What has is my appreciation for the Trinity as the foundational doctrine that binds all three branches of Christianity together. In my spiritual formation—largely in the evangelical Protestant tradition, the mystery and relational importance … Read More