Articles
Overcome Toxic Thoughts
He was my favorite teacher. I had hoped and wished to get Mr. Saperstein for the fourth grade, and he was even better than all the kids said! He was funny and kind, and I learned a lot from him. And he gave us a whole hour each day for quiet reading time. During this...
Embracing Forced Pauses
Doesn’t a forced pause always seem to happen at the most inopportune times? Not now, Lord, we tend to whisper loudly. I have noticed though, as I get older, that maybe I would do better to not resist these unchosen times of slowing down (and, often, solitude). Because...
Preparing For Mission, Part 1
You are Royal How do you see yourself? When you attend a social activity, how do you introduce yourself? How do you describe yourself to others? Does the interaction go something like this? “Hi, my name is David”. “So, David, what do you do?” “I‘m a Ministry Systems...
Does God Really Care If I Get a Sex Change?
Being in ministry provides leaders with a front-row seat to the good, the bad, and the ugly of people’s lives. If I’ve learned anything through the years, it’s this: Life is messy. And it doesn’t come with a nicely packaged answer to suit every occasion. Consequently,...
Understanding Victim Blaming
My pastor sat in his chair and steepled his fingers as he listened to my confession. When I finished, he asked me, “Did you enter this relationship with your consent?” I thought about my constant stream of nos, the boundaries pushed and prodded over and over, the...
Resisting the Hero Narrative
We want heroes and want to be heroes. We imagine ourselves as the Billy Grahams, the Elijahs. We like to imagine ourselves in their company. We want to be that effective. To shape a society where our set of values and preferences is the norm. Where we can fit in and...
Stepping into the Impossible
There comes a time to move and to act. God commanded his people to do the impossible and step into the flooding waters: “Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing....
Why Friendships Are So Hard
Paul’s letter to Philemon presents us with a challenge. Imagine taking this letter to various movie studios in the hopes it gets turned into a film. The problem that studio executives will have is there is no clear villain. Sure, Philemon is fraught with problems— he...
Does Our Enthusiasm Matter to God?
Imagine greeting a family member without a hug, handshake, or smile. Your lack of enthusiasm would reveal a great deal about how you felt—or didn’t feel—about that relative. Imagine your favorite team in your favorite sport winning the game. Enthusiasm would be the...
From Depressed to Flourishing
In a sense, a life of flourishing can be described very simply: It is the opposite of depression. Though you may be familiar with what depression feels like and how debilitating it can be, you may be surprised at how exceptionally common it is in our society. In 2020,...
The Five Goals of Discipline
Discipline is about teaching. In fact, the word discipline is derived from the Latin word disciplina, which means instruction or training. It is also derived from the word discere, which means “to learn.” Basically, discipline centers on providing instruction and...
The Spiritual Sub-text of Music
There is a special joy for a Christian in teaching, because for every subject there is a backdrop of God’s reality and presence. For instance, in the teaching of mathematics, the lesson is about truth and distinguishing truth from falsehood: God is the God of all...
Mental Health Awareness in Theological Education
Mental health challenges can affect anyone, including pastors. Raising awareness and providing support within faith-based education is essential for equipping religious leaders with the tools they need to effectively serve their communities. The following are some key...
Quieten the Room: Finding Peace in Hard Decisions
"We've done everything possible to save this leg, all that's left is amputation. When you're ready, we'll have that conversation." Those words came from my wife's surgeon, following numerous operations to save her right leg - crushed and disfigured in her 1983 car...
Embracing Insufficiency: Leading with Weakness
A Call to Insufficiency How often have you thought, I’m the wrong guy for this? Right. And wrong. At the same time. Deep pastoral wellness begins with reckoning—a reality check of sorts. Without complaining, we need an objective view of ministry realities. Gospel...
Ignoring God’s Limits: Embracing Rest
Fourteen years ago, I suffered heat stroke in sight of the finish line of a community race I’d been training to win. It was 80 degrees, with high humidity, and I’d trained for months in unusually cool-for-summer 70-degree mornings. I had my time goals for each mile —...
Listening to God’s Voice: Rediscovering Your Identity
So often we try to find the plan for our lives based on those around us. We listen to what others say about us or the way the world defines us. We try to measure up to other people’s standards. We even look at people we think are successful in this world and then...
Living Out Faith Beyond Boundaries
“I'm on a mission to end missions.” This was the wild proclamation I found myself scribbling down during what some might call a “burnout” or crisis of faith. After devoting more than half my life to Christian humanitarian work around the globe, I was exhausted and...
Liturgy in Worship: Rediscovering Depth
EACH WEEK, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of Christians all over the world go to church. There are some constants. In almost every church, Christians are praying, reading the Bible, hearing sermons, singing songs, and sometimes receiving the Lord’s Supper. There are also...
A Liturgy of Intercession for One in Ministry
O God Who Faithfully Ministers to All, you have called us not only to know you and love you, but also to become like you, pouring out our lives for the sake of others. You call all persons to this noble task, and some you particularly set apart as ministers in your...
