“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:6-7 NASB) “Studies have shown that…. grateful people view their lives more favorably than others, have…

The best leadership during turbulent times is both realistic and reassuring. And the more realistic people believe it to be, the more reassured they will become. This is one of the great challenges all leaders face – whether they are pastors, prime ministers or presidents. Being able to articulate the reality of a given situation…

I arrived back in the States a few days ago, and (thankfully) am healthy and feeling good. I’m now in a self-imposed 14-day quarantine (per CDC recommendation when I landed at Chicago O’Hare). The velocity of changes that have overtaken the world over the last few weeks is astounding. To say that it has taken…

Biography, history, documentaries – true stories have always captivated me, whether it was studying an individual in school or reading in my free time. I was reminded of this again over the last few days, as I prepared to teach Church History for a group of indigenous pastors on an upcoming trip. There is a…

At Global Training Network’s annual All-Staff Leadership Gathering last week, I shared about one particular author whose writing has profoundly shaped my understanding of what it looks like to live out the Christian life. That author is the late Jerry Bridges, who served with the Navigators ministry for over 50 years. In 1980, I read my first book by…

“Nothing discredits the Christian gospel like churches that don’t look like Christ. If we become a religious version of the ugly partisanship already rampant in the world, we are screaming at the top of our lungs, ‘Jesus isn’t real, and we’re here to prove it!’  The ‘only’ point of being a church is, by His…

“The work God needs to do in you matters far more than the work you think He needs to do through you.” (Sam Allberry) “If you’re familiar with Bach, you may know that at the bottom of his manuscripts, he wrote the initials, “S. D. G.” Soli Deo Gloria, which means “glory to God alone.” What you…

If you don’t have a plan to read through the Scriptures in 2020 yet, can I make a recommendation? I have found the Five-Day Reading Schedule to be one of the most effective. Why do I like it and recommend it? It guides you through the entire Bible in one year. If you invest approximately…

One of the most influential authors in my life has been C.S. Lewis. The first Lewis book that I read back in high school was The Screwtape Letters. The second (not long after) was Mere Christianity. Over the years I have returned often to this small, yet incredibly profound book. We live in a world…

We were just kids. I was just a few weeks shy of turning 20 and Lisa turning 19. In October of 1980, I was a junior in Bible College and a youth pastor. She was a freshman in college. This past week, we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. 40 years ago, we met… and within…