In 1977 our little church called down to our Presbyterian Church in America’s Mission to the World agency and said, “We need more missionaries to support!” They told us about Jay and Maureen Kyle…
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Very early on, as I began to understand my role as a follower of Christ in the contemporary art world, I felt I had to really challenge the assumption of scarcity…
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They found what they say is the single largest finding in the history of Gallup—that people care more about work than anything else…
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I've been working as a pastor for about 15 years. In that period of time, I put a lot of effort into preparing sermons. And I did a lot of things to improve my style of communication and my theology and my relevance and so on. But…
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We are a network of churches that started 10-12 years ago amongst church planters who wanted to think more about how to develop future church planters, leaders, and elders. Early on in that process, they realized…
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Issues of sexuality have become increasingly relevant to me for two reasons. One was from a ministry point of view. While serving as a pastor in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I noticed…
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I was born and raised in Minneapolis. I would say I had two very real and conflicting experiences growing up in my neighborhood. One is that it's where I found my faith…
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In Rome, I think the main question people have when it comes to Christianity doesn't really center around God. For example, it is not the question of “Is there a God?” or “How can there be a good God if there is suffering?” or “Is the Bible trustworthy, or is it oppressive and exclusive?” It centers around…
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I think the most pressing one we address is the question, “Is Christianity a White man's religion?” A number of different Black religions have formed on the assumption that…
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I'm passionate about answering people's questions, and I particularly enjoy helping people see how the gospel comes to bear on those questions—not in a simplistic way, but in a way that brings a sense of resolution. It’s interesting to…
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When I look at the political scene and social media and all of these industries that are driven by what could only be defined as a wall—people being at each other’s throats—I see people tired of being at war. By being a church…
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When I went to Amsterdam, I felt spiritually abandoned. I couldn't find God until I realized that, for me, he had been part of my former culture to an extent. Not only that, but God was so interwoven with the whole social dynamic of…
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When I first started reading Tim Keller's articles, I was fascinated by this whole idea of contextualization. We take this idea for granted now, but 30 years ago it was pretty radical. And the temptation is always to copy. So here I am in the center of Athens, trying to mimic…
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As a kid, I was delighted to take part in a Christmas pageant. As I readied myself for the performance, my elation peaked when I marked my face with charcoal—the definitive piece of my chimney sweep outfit.
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One of my most memorable theater experiences was taking one of my boys to see Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, a Broadway show based on J.K. Rowling’s famous book series. My wife, who is bewilderingly lucky, won the ticket lottery again and got me and my son two seats—first row, house right. We felt like kings…
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How long should a typical sermon be?
You might imagine the question being asked in a seminary homiletics class or perhaps by a seasoned preacher to a group of young pastors. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed…
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Of all of the lessons I’ve learned from being a pastor, perhaps the most important was recognizing the skewed standard I used to define my spiritual success. I remember it clearly—my wife had the most direct, bitter taste of this sin in my life.
On November 9, 2015, I found my wife…
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Here is a jar of jelly beans.
How many jelly beans do you think are in the jar?
Oxford Professor Marcus du Sautoy asked 160 office workers the same question and what he discovered…
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