The (Anti-Gospel) Ethos of Fundamentalism
I’m presently reading Andy Crouch’s Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. In chapter 5 (“Gestures and Postures”) Crouch traces the development of American fundamentalism and its failed...
View ArticleWhat Is God’s Will For My Life?
David Platt has a great, concise response to the question, “what is God’s will for my life?” over at Relevant. Platt does an excellent job of undercutting the presupposition undergirding this question....
View ArticleBeck | Bowie | New Creation
Recently the car maker Lincoln invited the artist Beck to reimagine David Bowie’s song “Sound and Vision.” Beck was given access to a 160 piece musical ensemble through which his renewed vision of the...
View ArticleTimothy Keller: Making Peace with Hell and the Wrath of God
Hell. A touchy subject if there ever was one. Contemporary people scoff at the notion. After all, how in the world can you square the idea of a God of love with the idea of hell and wrath? This...
View ArticleRandom Thoughts on Suffering and Community
Community cannot be generated without suffering. At least, not the kind of community we long for; not the kind of community that God invites us into. But we live in a time that wants community without...
View ArticleIs the (Institutional) Church Worth Fighting For?
Over the past few weeks I’ve encountered a number of people wrestling with the question of whether the church is worth fighting for. The “church” in question is the local, institutional expression of...
View ArticleThe Best Sermon on Love and Lust I’ve Ever Heard
One of the things that has served me well has been my habit of listening to 2-3 Timothy Keller sermons a week over the past year. My practice is to listen to one sermon after another until I’ve worked...
View ArticleChoosing a Name: Avery Eden Strong
One of the joys (and anxiety-producing challenges) of parenthood is choosing a name for your child. Leading up to the birth of our fourth child, Heather and I hadn’t been able to agree on a name....
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A Spirit-Saturated, Gospel In-Breaking Day
Yesterday was a Spirit-saturated, gospel in-breaking day. It was intense. It was beautiful. And it took everything out of me. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely wrecked, but in a gospel,...
View ArticleTake Up Your Cross: Jesus Through The Looking Glass
This past Sunday Matt and I shared some thoughts on Jesus’ insistence that all who would follow him, “must deny themselves and take up their cross” (Matthew 16:24). In researching the passage, I came...
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7 Deadly Sins: Acedia
This summer I’m leading some of the young adults in our church through a study on what are popularly known as the 7 deadly sins. The seven sins of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride...
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7 Deadly Sins: Greed
Sunday night our young adult group ventured into our second deadly sin: Greed. Greed is defined as the “inordinate desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of value with the intention to keep it for...
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Culture Making, Playing God, and the Common Good
Last year our lead pastoral team attended a Q session in New York City that featured Andy Crouch and Timothy Keller exploring what it means for Christians to be culture-making agents for the common...
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These Are Your Pastor’s Secrets
Mark Love is a former pastor who quit congregational ministry seven years. He recently wrote an article highlighting “Eleven hidden truths your pastor wishes you understood.” Reading over the list, I...
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How I Write A Sermon
A friend recently asked me about the process I use to write my sermons. In putting my process down on paper for her, I thought it might be interesting/helpful/enlightening to post the process I work...
View ArticlePrayer As Incubator
Personally, I’ve always struggled with prayer. It’s not my spiritual love language (in fact, it may be my weakest!), and that’s led to prayer being associated predominantly with dullness instead of...
View ArticlePrayer as Incubator of Intimacy
I believe each of us wants and needs a meaningful connection on two levels: with God with others. Prayer is an incubator for both. Intimacy with Others “28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he...
View ArticlePrayer As Incubator of Identity
Prayer is an incubator of Identity. I realize that idea may strike you as kind of weird, so let me explain it. During Jesus’ transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36), verse 29 notes that Jesus’ appearance...
View ArticlePrayer As Incubator of Mission
I think it’s telling that Jesus takes time to prayer with Peter, James, and John between a series of missional moments. Earlier in Luke 9, Jesus has sent out the twelve disciples into kingdom mission....
View ArticleBook Review: “Jesus Feminist” by Sarah Bessey
A few weeks ago I heard about the new book Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey. I had been recently invited to a discussion on the role of women in pastoral ministry, so I was in the midst of researching...
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