Articles
Finding Wholeness in Christ
On November 17, 1988, in Lexington, North Carolina, I was born with a rare craniofacial disorder called Goldenhar syndrome. Put bluntly, the left side of my face and parts of my body were badly broken. Nurses would return every few minutes with a new discovery of...
How to Help Kids Study the Bible as They Grow
When God gave the command to parents and the community to teach children, the core of that was to teach them to “Love the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Rather than attempting to introduce every story of Scripture, we would do well to prepare children for meat by...
Restoring Order After Loss
The night Reggie died, my family came over to sit vigil, but as the night wore on, they departed one by one to their own homes until only one of my family members and I remained. At first my family member was quiet, but eventually she opened up, pausing after each...
Shining Light Amid Darkness: Living the Radiant Christian Life
Not too long ago, I was driving my boys to school on the most beautiful fall day. Leaves were starting to turn, I had a pumpkin flavored coffee in my hand, I had just finished a fulfilling workout, and my boys were happily chatting in the backseat. I had nothing but...
Skate to the Future: Leading with Prototypes
“Skate to where the puck is going,” Wayne Gretzky’s father taught him. That is, don’t skate to where the puck is, but to where the puck is going to be. Anticipate the direction and speed of the puck and get there first. Jump ahead of the competition by learning to see...
Creative Missions Sunday Ideas for Your Church
If your church or denomination sets aside a special week to focus on missions, you know it can be difficult to plan if resources are lean. But there are many options to recognize and celebrate missions (from humble displays to week-long conferences) depending on your...
Why Visit the Holy Land?
Why Visit Israel? Does a visit to the Holy Land benefit pastor and congregation? Taking our Western eyes to the East is eye-opening. Comparing Middle Eastern countries, Israel is the most influenced by Western thought and lifestyle. Yet, seeing the nuances of the area...
How to Build a Blazing Bonfire of Hope in a Dizzyingly Dark World
There’s nothing quite as disorienting and terrifying as getting lost in the mountains at night. I speak from personal experience. My buddy Donnie Coxsey, an experienced outdoorsman, introduced me to the wonderful world of elk hunting. He had previously taken me on...
Christ-Centered Bible Study
When we think about understanding a passage of Scripture, we can picture an arrow aimed at the bull’s-eye heart of the passage: the purpose and meaning of the text. To hit the bull’s-eye, we must understand the content of the surrounding rings. The outside ring...
Teaching Our Kids to Love God’s Word
As Christian teachers, parents, grandparents, and caregivers, we want our kids to love God’s Word. We long for them to grow closer to God as they spend time in Scripture. But how do we encourage engagement with the Bible? By giving them a compelling reason to pick it...
Faithful on Every Page
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 There has never been a single moment in all of history where God has not been faithful. You may be thinking, But what about the times in my life when I...
Trusting Jesus in the Public Square
Parents have a biblical responsibility to protect their children not only from physical harm but also from spiritual harm. It is entirely appropriate and right for a parent to wrestle with whether they want to allow their child to continue to have a friendship with a...
God’s Refining Process
Few people predict the turbulence and pain that life will inevitably bring. Lives that are filled with joy today can suddenly become bumpy and hard tomorrow, but few people make plans that consider the difficult roads that are sure to come. Understanding the Refining...
The Wisdom of Set Times of Prayer
Looking back in history, it’s apparent that God’s people utilized set times of prayer to habituate and enrich their prayer lives. Historical Foundations of Set Times of Prayer We know that “Judaism prescribed prayer three times a day: after daybreak, before sunset,...
30 Crucial Questions for Premarital Counseling
Like many pastors conducting premarital counseling for couples, you probably feel like you never have time to cover everything. Homework is crucial, but often, the young man and woman fail to complete that. I’ve discovered some vital questions the couple might ask...
Leading Adaptive Change in Your Church
As faith leaders, most of us became leaders because there is a God that we love, and there are people that we love, and we want to introduce the people we love to the God we love by building a church, a ministry, a school, or an organization that they would love....
Building a Disciplemaking Culture in Your Church
“A disciplemaking culture? What is that?” No one should be surprised at the confusion this phrase causes. Its two main concepts, disciplemaking and culture, are famously difficult to pin down. Since we already chased down a robust definition of disciplemaking, let’s...
The Power of Transformational Leadership in Adaptive Change
When trust is gone, the transformational journey is over. Adaptive change requires leaders to face the challenges of a changing world or disrupted environment with hard decisions around core values, with hard questions about what we need to learn (and unlearn!), and...
Reviving Marital Love Through God’s Power
Many clients who receive marriage counseling say things like “I no longer love my spouse” or “There’s no love left in our marriage.” The sentiment expressed is that love is almost mystical, the result of a complicated combination of attraction, chemistry, and numerous...
Overcoming Leadership Resistance
When the going gets tough . . . most leaders freak out. We don’t want to think it is so. We love the idea that if we are called on to call the shots, we will rise to the occasion and lead our teams through any challenge with creativity, poise, and patience. But...
