On Monday, October 24th, Eugene Peterson, pastor, professor, and author of The Message and numerous other books died at the age of eighty-five. He left a rich, reflective, earthy, and grace-filled legacy. Below are the insights from his writings that I’ve appreciated or have influenced me the most. At the beginning, I’ve also included one passage from The Message because … Read More
The Strange Familiarity of God’s Mysterious Ways
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. (Prov. 16:9, NLT) In late 2015, I was in a discouraged place. God was providing for every financial need our family had, yet he seemed bent on frustrating MY plans. I had been in the process of trying to transfer my credentials to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and … Read More
For Those Who Struggle with Depression
…O LORD my Lord. Act on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is pierced within me. I am gone like a shadow at evening… (Psa. 109:21-23a, NRSV) A nothingness permeates my soul. My smile is forced and hollow. I can say nothing, write … Read More
The Best Christian Books I’ve Ever Read
These lists in no way represent the “best” Christian reading there is. Nor are they meant to be comprehensive. There are tons of great books—even classics like Augustine’s Confessions—that I haven’t, should, and hope to read. What follows represents only those distinctively Christian books I have found to be the most helpful to date. It’s my hope that one or … Read More
Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 5 of 5
Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, … Read More
Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 3 of 5
Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, … Read More
Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 2 of 5
Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it … Read More
Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 1 of 5
It was five in the morning. I was a freshman at college in Springfield, MO and, suddenly, the phone rang. It must have taken me five or six rings to answer and several sentences into the conversation before I realized it was my boss, Bill Hartley—owner of a small roofing company. My illustrious part-time job for him was to carry … Read More
How Death is a Pre-Fall Reality That Points Us to Christ
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…. (Rom. 5:12, ESV) Recently I was asked in light of the series I did on “How I Changed My Mind About Genesis 1 and Science” the following question: How do evolutionary creationists account for the idea … Read More
What White Birch Trees Teach Us About Life
Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary… Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it, then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD… (Psa. 96:6,11-13a, ESV) I wrote the … Read More