The season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is marked by appropriate feasting. Christmas cookies and other baked goods seem to appear on my kitchen counter out of nowhere. Christmas parties offer a chance to enjoy the company of friends around tables where food is abundant. If you are like me, you show up hungry but end up eating well beyond what you need to satisfy your hunger. Why? Because the food tastes so good. The turkey and dressing satisfy my hunger, but the apple p

This week, most of us will pause long enough from our grumbling and griping to realize we have a lot to be thankful for. But that is very different than actually giving thanks. Thankfulness is a noun. Thanksgiving is a verb. Thankfulness is internal. Thanksgiving is external. Thankfulness is self-focused. Thanksgiving is God-focus. Thankfulness is an emotion. Thanksgiving is prayer. Thankfulness is passive. Thanksgiving is an act of worship. The apostle Paul, after listing a

I have a friend who says, “Anything that makes you need God is a blessing.” While I wholeheartedly agree with the statement, continual neediness doesn’t feel like an advantage!  It often feels precarious, risky, and uncomfortable. As we plant a new church, our need is acute.  Thankfully, I am reading through the Bible with Paul Tripp’s book, Everyday Gospel. This week, we started the book of Acts, and the Lord began to show me a man who was in great need. In Acts 3:1-16, Pete

For most of my ministry, I’ve worked hard to clearly present the gospel as objective truth to be believed. I’ve studied to equip myself with the best philosophical arguments for God's existence, logical defenses for the Bible’s reliability, and evidence for the resurrection of Christ. This is the vital work of Christian apologetics. But in our post-Christian culture, demonstrating truth alone is no longer sufficient. We must also show that the gospel is not only true  but als

Psalm 61 has become one of my favorites. The Psalmist begins by asking the Lord to hear him, to listen. We know our Good Father listens to our prayers, whether they are prayers of gratitude or cries for help. The Psalmist states that he is crying out from the ends of the earth, conveying his feelings of distance and discouragement. The Psalmist notices and names his feelings, but he doesn’t stop there. He presses in with a request. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I  

What if your doctor prescribed you a new medication that, if taken once a week over the course of your life, would prolong your life expectancy by seven years, significantly increase your chance of happiness, and substantially reduce the likelihood you’ll suffer from depression? Would you take it? Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found a “miracle drug” that does this. What is it? It is the age-old habit of church attendance. Despite what you may have b

God’s single purpose for my life is to bring him glory. He not only created me for his glory, but he is committed to continually transforming me into increasing degrees of glorious-ness. (Or is it gloriosity?) I don’t know.  What I do know is that  “beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) Becoming more like Christ is the result of beholding more of Christ. The more I behold the

Our thoughts of God are too small. Left to ourselves, we tend to reduce God to manageable terms. We tend to think of him as a lot like us on our best days or the nicest person we know. We want a god we can use and control. We want a God who doesn’t alter our plans, who will allow us to meet with him in ways that don’t demand changes to our lives. We want a god who stays out of our business. But that is not the God of the Bible. How big is your God? Theologians use the term “

One of the most basic understandings of the nature of God is that he is everywhere present at the same time. This is what theologians...

This week, three Bible studies that God has been working into me have been released on Amazon . I wanted to feel relieved and experience...

When you start a church from scratch, you don’t have many amenities to offer. We don’t own land. We don’t serve coffee. We don’t have a...

On Monday night and Tuesday of this week, Trent and I were with 100 other church-planting pastors and their wives. We enjoyed some...

When was the last time you were invited to dance? What was your response? Do you remember the last time you danced? What was it like? Our...

Recent events, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk, have prompted cultural commentators to prophetically declare that our nation...

A friend of mine just finished creating a pink princess room for her three-year-old daughter. I was amazed at the finished product and at...

Like many of you, my heart has been wrecked this week with the unceasing reports of the brokenness of our world. From the assassination...

If you dare to enter any relationship, whether friendship, marriage, or church, you run the risk of being offended. Every offense is a...

Do you have a life verse? You know, a bible verse that leaped off the page for you in a foundational season of your life that you return...

Last week, America Online, better known as AOL, announced that it was ending its dial-up internet access. My first thought when I saw...

In 2021, I found myself in a dark, confusing place. I had gone to counseling, been meeting with ladies in an accountability group, and...

This week, I had the joy of leading a new friend into a personal relationship with Christ. This marks the first of what I trust will be...

I’ve learned there are two primary reasons people get involved in a church plant prior to it launching.  The first reason is that they...

These last two days, I've been thinking through Matthew 14:22-32.  You probably know the story well.  Twelve disciples are in a boat when...

One of my favorite things about my dad is that he is full of hope!  At 77 years of age, his excitement about what he is hoping for spills...