I’m grateful to the team at The Gospel Coalition for publishing some of my thoughts on leadership and the identity of the pastor. I never liked the title “pastor.” My plan was to practice law and pursue politics. I was fascinated with leadership, and all those career tests told me I had a knack for...

As a pastor responsible for a congregation of believers, it’s been a tough week. There are hard decisions to be made and challenges to serving those who are most in need. It has been shared widely, but these words from C. S. Lewis have been a wise reminder of how Christians live not just in...

Previous Post in This Series: The Two Ditches of Toxic Masculinity: Noah and The True Complexity of What is Wrong With Men The Bible warns of man’s tendency to over-identify with his impulses of aggression and passivity, a topic I’ve explored at length in a previous article. But the Bible is also careful not to...

This articles was taken from my Christmas Eve message to Bent Oak Church: December 24, 2019. My kids have a little wooden nativity set that each year we assemble beneath our Christmas tree. This time of year, you see them everywhere—plastic ones illuminated in front yards, wooden ones set up in front of McDonald’s, some...

Previous Post in This Series: A Good (Definition of) Man Is Hard to Find: How We Define Manhood and Masculinity I’m aware; toxic masculinity is a phrase of extreme controversy. Wrapped up in the phrase are hotly debated ideologies, fueled by very different perspectives on what a man is and should be. At the center...

The last few weeks have offered plenty of takes on both Kanye West’s new album, Jesus is King, and his newfound faith. Personally, I’ve found it refreshing to be reminded that the gospel is powerful and capable of transforming any life. Honestly, it feels kind of good to be optimistic. As my social feeds are...

Previous Post in This Series: The Male Malaise: Why Confusion About Masculinity is Causing Too Many Men to Disengage and Check Out The past years have seen a massive spike in debates, articles, and books on the topic of masculinity, most centered around a call to redefine what masculinity means. What does it mean to...

Last week I got my hair cut. My barbershop has been feverishly adding locations and rebranding itself in an attempt to monopolize the cutting of all men’s hair within a 50-mile radius. As their website puts it, they are just “your traditional neighborhood barbershop and the future of men’s grooming.” The nostalgia of your grandpa’s...

It’s hard to estimate the impact Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together has had on my concept of pastoral ministry. And maybe no sentence has ever impacted my work more than Bonhoeffer’s, “God hates visionary dreaming.” I’m honored to have been able to share more about this passage in a recent article on Christianity Today Pastors....

Can you imagine Ron Swanson waking up to discover he was suddenly allergic to meat? No steaks, no brats, no bacon, no cheeseburgers. Can you imagine his reaction? It would have made a great episode, but maybe it sounds too far fetched. Believe it or not, a meat allergy is a real thing, and I...