Why Eat Turkey for Thanksgiving? (It’s Not Because of the Taste.)
Why eat turkey for Thanksgiving? It’s because of a mix of historical and cultural reasons, but for 21st century Americans, it also makes for an effective training in thankfulness. Turkeys […]
Church History Debates: What Should We Think About Gnosticism?
Early Christians, especially in the 2nd Century AD, had to respond to a philosophical-religious system that had begun synchronizing with Christianity. Was it okay to blend the “best” of both […]
How One Church Handled the LGBTQ+ Conversation
The people in your church are being discipled into somebody’s view of marriage, sexuality, and gender. Is your church helping to disciple its people into God’s view as described in […]
Jesus Healing the Ten Lepers & Our Need for Thanksgiving
In Luke 17, Jesus was passing between Samaria and Galilee when he saw ten lepers who begged Him to heal them. He told them to go and show themselves to […]
Short Prayers to Fuel Big Love: See Grace as Amazing (Part 3)
I can’t think of a more encouraging character trait to be around than gratitude. It’s why we train our kids from an early age to say “Thank you” when somebody […]
Generosity in the Bible
I’ve been in a formal leadership role in a local church for almost 30 years now, and there’s one sin that I’ve never had anyone confess (until I mentioned this […]
Church History Debates: What About Gentile Converts?
Although the first Christians were Jews, the first century began to see an influx of Gentiles into the church. How would church leaders respond to this ethnic shakeup? Background and […]
Theology in the Wild: Why Theology Matters in the Messiness of Ministry
(What follows is the manuscript of a talk that I gave at the 2023 Spire Conference for church leaders in Nashville, TN.) Those who put together this conference asked me […]