Every pastor has been asked some version of this question: “My son/daughter is doing X which of course, as a Christian, I don’t approve of, but they want me to do Y; should I compromise so as to maintain the relationship?” I’ve been asked that…

Last year around this time I retweeted something the late Tim Keller had posted that raised a bit of a ruckus on the interweb. I thought the tweet itself was innocuous: A surprising number of purportedly literate people seized upon the phrase…

Early on in my ministry I learned that sheep stealing is very baaaaaaaaaad. (Do you see what I did there?) Classic dad jokes aside, everyone knows that trying to lure sheep away from one flock in order to have them join your flock is a major no no.…

The loss of large group worship gatherings over the course of the recent pandemic was undoubtedly a hardship for the church, but in the Providence of God, it may have been the catalyst for the development of some much-needed tools and resources.…

Many of us are finding ourselves engaged in conversations about the crisis in Israel, therefore, I thought it might be useful to offer some pastoral advice as to what you might wish to say in that situation. Your first couple of sentences should…

“How are the kids?” I get asked some version of that question pretty much every day and I find it surprisingly difficult to answer. In part that is because I have 5 children and on any given day a couple of them are probably doing very well and at…

To be a good preacher you have to believe in your bones that all Scripture is inspired by God and useful; you have to believe that the Word of God will never return void, and if you believe that then you will want to base your sermon in the text and…

Every year around this time I am asked some version of this question: should I (or should my child) get baptized at camp? It would be difficult to defend an absolute prohibition of baptisms performed outside the confines of the gathered church given…

Mother’s Day is the most nerve-wracking day of the year for many pastors. If they do a sermon on mothering or the importance of being a mom they will be criticized for not keeping the focus on Jesus and bowing to the pressure of the “Hallmark…

As the father of 5 children born between the years of 1997 and 2011 I eagerly devoured Jean Twenge’s earlier book called iGen: Why Today’s Super Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Religious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – And Completely Unprepared For…

A pastor I know recently prayed to the Lord for guidance. He was eager to be useful, he was aware that time was short, and his desire was to be faithful and fruitful in the King’s service. He was also becoming aware of his physical limitations. There…

The first human cases of COVID-19 occurred in China in December 2019, mostly among those who had visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city of Wuhan. The first known death was reported on January 11th 2020, and by January 21st…