takes work to be concise

“If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.” 

Winston Churchill

pastors should always be writing

Pastor Peter Schemm published a recent article in the Themelios Journal that encourages pastors to practice writing as a private spiritual discipline. He lays out six benefits of consistent writing (specifically for pastors but they apply to Christians in general):

1. Writing helps to deepen the mind.
2. Writing helps to clarify and refine your thinking.
3. Writing helps us to find a suitable pace of life.
4. Writing well requires quiet and solitude, both necessary in developing a healthy soul.
5. Writing (i.e. copying) Scripture helps us to meditate on Scripture.
6. Writing our prayers helps to make our prayer lives more meaningful.

I love writing as a way of communing with God. Unfortunately, it requires a discipline and quietness that I struggle to maintain.

Your inadequacy is one of God's favorite tools in accomplishing His purposes (Exodus 3; Jeremiah 1; 2 Cor. 12).

the church and the reign of Jesus

“The Church is, quite simply, the community ahead of time, the community that acknowledges now what one day will be acknowledged by all.  As ambassadors of a disputed sovereignty, we propose a claim that awaits a future and cosmic vindication.  For those who accept that claim, it is already vindicated by faith.  For them, the future is now.”  

- Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a FridayAfternoon

humility and pride in preaching

I read a little parable about a young Scottish minister who walked proudly into the pulpit to preach his first sermon. Not sure where the story comes from but it's such a great reminder!

This young Scottish minister had a brilliant mind and a good education and was confident of himself as he faced his first congregation. But the longer he preached, the more conscious everyone was that “the Lord was not in the wind.” He finished his message quickly and came down from the pulpit with his head bowed, his pride now gone. Afterward, one of the members said to him, 

“If you had gone into the pulpit the way you came down, you might have come down from the pulpit the way you went up.”

On Pins & Needles: How Churched People Often Feel About Christianity [dope song]

Mute Math has quickly become one of my favorite bands. A great blend of seemingly boundless creativity,  outstanding musicianship, and penetrating lyrics. Not to mention a downright transcendent live show. In short, this band is SICK!

This particular song, I think, expresses how so many (especially young) people feel who grew up in church. The song is a mix of disillusionment, doubt, and a burgeoning realization that there's something better than burdensome religion.

My favorite line is "I'm growing fond of broken people as I see that I am one of them." I think the early Christian leader, the Apostle Paul, could probably have made this song the soundtrack of his life leading up to his conversion.

This song screams for the Gospel.

Would love your thoughts.

Paper-thin conviction

Turning another page

Plotting how to build myself to be

Everything that I am not at all

Sometimes I get tired of pins and needles

Facades are a fire on the skin

And I'm growing fond of broken people

As I see that I am one of them

Oh, why must I work so hard

Just so I can feel like the noble ones?

Obligations to my heart are gone

Superficial lines explain it all

Sometimes I get tired of pins and needles

Facades are a fire on the skin

Oh, I'm growing fond of broken people

As I see that I am one of them

the delicate and dangerous balance between people and programs

"...ministry without heart, even well-financed ministry, is not ministry in God's eyes. A ministry can possess the best equipment, the finest quality of buildings, and the largest mailing list, and still not be doing God's work with quality if people do not remain more important. Excellence defined by standards of appearance is not excellence in God's eyes. I have seen organizations lose effectiveness in their testimony because they developed a reputation for caring more about programs and buildings than people. I have also been in ministries, especially in poorer countries of the world, where the buildings and facilities leave much to be desired, but heart is in the ministry so that people are cared for as a matter of priority. Throwing money at a ministry and paying others to do the church's work while making it look nice is not ministry in God's sight."

- Darrell Bock, The NIV Application Commentary on Luke, p.225

when you don't know what to preach

Occasionally I get invited to preach at other churches. That's always a tough thing for me because I typically have a hard time discerning what to preach. Along those lines, I found this helpful advice from Pastor Ray Pritchard:

There are two ways to go here, and only one of them really works. You can start with the church and think, “What do they need to hear?” Good question if you are their pastor. Bad question when you don’t know the congregation.

What do you do then?

Preach a message that is simple and clear and stirs your own heart. It’s not easy, in fact it can be very difficult, to come in cold and preach to people you don’t know. You can’t and shouldn’t depend on much help from the audience because they don’t know you very well. Think about what can you say in 30 minutes that is simple, clear, and stirs your own heart. This probably isn’t a good time to review the “meal offering” of Leviticus 2. Hard to get their attention on that one. Stick with a message that is close to your own heart. 

In most cases a visiting preacher doesn’t need to ask, “What do the people need?” because he won’t know the answer. Stick close to the central truths of the Bible. Pick something that feels comfortable to you, that you care about and believe in. That way you can preach with confidence knowing that you have a message from God’s Word you are excited about.

preaching that addresses non-Christians

One way to respect non-Christians in your audience is to talk directly to them not just about them. Rather than saying "they" as if everyone in the room is a Christian, say "you." Talking about about "them" indirectly makes non-Christians feel like you see them as some kind of specimen or abstract people group to be analyzed and described rather than actual people to be addressed.

"The pastor who is always available will be of no use when he is available." H.B. Charles, Jr.

Needed wisdom from the blog of Pastor H.B. Charles, Jr.

what is "the gospel"? a short summary

I love how Elyse Fitzpatrick summarizes it:

"It is the incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, burial, bodily resurrection, ascension, and eternal reign of the Son of God, Jesus Christ." (in her book, Because He Loves Me, p.37)

"The church is not an audience of spectators; we are a fellowship of disciple-makers." David Platt

Helpful description of how Old Testament history relates to Christ

"In order for Christ the King to come through the chosen nation, the kingdom had to be formed. Under Joshua the Israelites took possession of the land for the kingdom (Joshua). Because of incomplete obedience, this was followed by the oppression of the nation (Judges). But devotion within the nation (Ruth) brought about a long-needed stabilization (1 Samuel) under Saul's kingship. This was followed by the expansion of the nation under King David (2 Samuel). After a brief period of Israel's glorification under Solomon (1 Kings 1-10), we witness the division of the nation into two kingdoms (1 Kings 11-22). Eventually this led to the deterioration of the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 1-17) and the deportation of the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 18-25). Chronicles reviews the prophetic history of Samuel and Kings from a priestly point of view, showing the deprivation (1 Chronicles) and ultimate destruction of the Temple (2 Chronicles). All is not lost, however, for God's providential hand is witnessed in the protection of His people in Babylon (Esther), the restoration of their Temple (Ezra), and the reconstruction of their nation (Nehemiah). Thus the checkered history of the Old Testament ends with the returned remnant awaiting the coming Redeemer." (Norm Geisler in A Popular Survey of the Old Testament, p.21-22)

Preacher, it is one thing to say that a truth is astounding; it is another for people to see that you are astounded.

your brain needs reflection

Here's an important post (important for me at least) that reminded me of the need to spend more time in reflection. Here's a quote that captures the essence of it:

"It’s when we engage our brains’ 'looking in' mode [i.e. reflecting]...that we make meaning out of the mass of experiences and information we encounter when we’re 'looking out.' [i.e. interacting with the world around us]."

Very important discipline for pastors (and Christians in general) to cultivate.

preaching is worship - Ed Clowney

"Since [preaching] is the declaration of God's name it is addressed not only to men, but also to God. It is an act of worship. Our preaching often lacks the punctuation of the exclamation point of praise. Unlike the Scriptures, our sermons are so centered on men that they neglect to bless God. The doxologies that burst from Paul in the midst of his expositions never trouble our placid pools of prose" (Ed Clowney in Preaching and Biblical Theology, p.73).

You are on the verge of wrecking your life.

"You are on the verge of wrecking your life. We all are. Forces are afoot right now, negotiating how to get you fat enough for consumption and how to get you calmly and without struggle to the cosmic slaughterhouse floor. The easiest life for you will be one in which you don’t question these things, a life in which you simply do what seems natural. The ease of it all will seem to be further confirmation that this is the way things ought to be. It might even seem as though everything is happening exactly as you always hoped it would. You might feel as though your life situation is like progressing up a stairway so perfect it’s as though it was designed just for you. And it is. In many ways the more tranquil you feel, the more endangered you are. As you find yourself curving around the soft corners of your life, maybe you should question the quietness of it all. Perhaps you should listen, beneath your feet, for the gentle clatter of hooves." (Russell Moore in Tempted and Tried, p.60)


As believers in Christ, we shouldn't live in anxiety or paranoia but this is a sobering warning to all of us. We can't coast.

Your Ministry Is Not Your Identity - Paul Tripp

One day I'll probably write my own post on the subject, but it is so easy as a pastor to unknowingly allow allow the locus of your identity to be transferred from Christ to ministry. Paul Tripp writes a great post describing his own experience with that challenge. Important read.

what sermon prep really looks like

This post by Kevin DeYoung about sermon preparation is almost unbearably real lol. Glad I'm not the only one.

"somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning"

A friend of mine sent me this quote today. Such a good reminder, based on 1 Corinthians 1:18, to trust God's power and wisdom over our own:


"At the moment, books are pouring off the presses telling us how to plan for success, how 'vision' consists in clearly articulated 'ministry goals,' how the knowledge of detailed profiles of our communities constitutes the key to successful outreach. I am not for a moment suggesting that there is nothing to be learned from such studies. But after a while one may perhaps be excused for marveling how many churches were planted by Paul and Whitefield and Wesley and Stanway and Judson without enjoying these advantages. Of course all of us need to understand the people to whom we minister, and all of us can benefit from small doses of such literature. But massive doses sooner or later dilute the gospel. Ever so subtly, we start to think that success more critically depends on thoughtful sociological analysis than on the gospel; Barna becomes more important than the Bible. We depend on plans, programs, vision statements—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning. Again, I insist, my position is not a thinly veiled plea for obscurantism, for seat-of-the-pants ministry that plans nothing. Rather, I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry." (D.A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry, p.26)


This may seem to be lifting up a false dichotomy between gospel ministry and strategic planning. I don't think that's what D.A. Carson is doing. This is obviously a quote out of a book, from a publisher, and marketed to consumers. There was certainly some strategy in there. But I think the operative words are trust and depend. We should use the wisdom God has given us in strategic planning and demographic research, but at the end of the day we have to trust that the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Strategic planning done well will get us to the people who need the gospel but then we must rely on the gospel itself to do its work.

Wisdom from JC Ryle

"Finally, may I not say to all, both old and young, with this great text in view [i.e. Heb.12:2], that we shall do well to aim at greater SIMPLICITY in our own personal religion. The early Christians lacked many privileges and advantages that we enjoy. They had no printed books. They worshipped God in dens and caves and upper chambers, had few and simple ecclesiastical garments, and often received the Lord's Supper in vessels of wood, and not of silver or gold. They had little money, no church endowments, no universities. Their creeds were short. Their theological definitions were scanty and few. But what they knew they knew well. They were men of one book. They knew Whom they believed. If they had wooden communion vessels, they had golden ministers and teachers. They "looked to Jesus" and realized intensely the personality of Jesus. For Jesus they lived, and worked, and died. But what are we doing? And where are we in the nineteenth century? And what deliverance are we working on earth? With all our countless advantages, our grand old cathedrals, our splendid libraries, our accurate definitions, our elaborate liturgies, our civil liberties, our religious societies, our numerous facilities, we may well doubt whether we are making such a mark on the world as Clement and Justin Martyr, and their companions, made 1700 years ago." (J.C. Ryle, from his sermon called Looking Unto Jesus)

it's worth the sacrifice

"It is impossible to renounce anything at the bidding of the inner life without adding immensely to its strength; for it grows by surrender, and waxes strong by sacrifice. " F.B. Meyer

I'm convinced that many of us fail to soar in our spiritual life because our souls are weighed down by unnecessary attachments.

Our lives are full of seemingly harmless things which may actually have some benefit but ultimately weigh us down and keep us from being fully devoted to Christ.

F.B. Meyer makes this comment based on Hebrews 12:1: 


"There would be little difficulty in maintaining an intense and ardent spirit if we were more faithful in dealing with the habits and indulgences which cling around us and impede our steps. Thousands of Christians are like water-logged vessels. They cannot sink; but they are so saturated with inconsistencies and worldliness and permitted evil that they can only be towed with difficulty into the celestial port. Is there anything in your life which dissipates your energy from holy things, which disinclines you to the practice of prayer and Bible study, which rises before you in your best moments, and produces in you a general sense of uneasiness and disturbance? something which others account harmless, and permit, and in which you once saw no cause for anxiety, but which you now look on with a feeling of self-condemnation? It is likely enough a weight." (Way Into the Holiest: Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews)


As A.W. Pink said: "A bag of gold would be as great a handicap to a runner as a bag of lead!”

Confessions of a Gay Christian - Some Thoughts

I just read an article published in Relevant Magazine and I think it's an important article for Christians to read because it articulates a very painful struggle for some of the people in our churches. Here are several applications I took from it and I think Christians, especially Christian men, need to consider:

1. "Gay jokes" are unwise, insensitive, and unacceptable. If you struggle with this, I'd encourage you to study and meditate on Ephesians 4:29, James 3:9-12, and Matthew 12:33-37.
2. Christians tempted with same-sex attraction need the Church to be a community marked by humility, compassion, and truth. Humility = I'm not better than you. Compassion = I am drawn to you in love not repelled by you in disgust. Truth = Love is not synonymous with unbiblical compromise.
3. Christian men shouldn't be afraid of gay men. (I'm sure this applies to women also but seems to be predominant among men).
4. Parents, we MUST teach, emphasize, and model passion for the Gospel and not just the "rules" of Christianity. D.A. Carson says, and I agree, that people don't usually remember what you teach; they remember what you're passionate about.
5. Parents, we should create an environment where our children can doubt, ask questions, and seek truth. They will do that with or without your guidance.
6. Pastors, we can't just preach against homosexuality in the abstract, we must disciple people dealing with it.
7. Pastors, we need to equip the men in our churches to put off the homophobia of secular masculine culture, and put on the grace-and-truth-filled character of Jesus.
8. Christians who stay faithful to the biblical view of sexuality will be increasingly treated with disgust, "moral" indignation, and hostility. And yet, out of love for people and faith in God, we cannot cave in to societal pressure (2 Timothy 3; 1 Peter 4:12-19). Quite frankly, this is a hard one for me because many racists made the same argument for upholding New World slavery and, later, Jim Crow segregation. Bigotry has often been defended by appeals to purity. However, we must hold fast to truth, knowing that biblical truth, truth inspired by the Holy Spirit, is always accompanied by humility not self-righteousness, service not oppression. The wisdom of God has a distinctly humble quality to it (James 3:17). So while we will be treated like bigots, our lives must prove that to be a false accusation (1 Peter 2:12).