The Way Home Podcast: Karen Ellis on Advocating for Missions and Persecuted Christians

Today, we have Karen Ellis rejoining us on The Way Home podcast. Director of the Center for the Study of the Bible & Ethnicity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Karen is an expert in Christian religious persecution and an all-around delightful person! Today, we discuss her work advocating for missions, the historic role […]

The Way Home Podcast: Natalie Runion on Staying in the Church Through Hurt

Today, we have Natalie Runion joining us on The Way Home podcast. Natalie is the Pastor of Women and Creative Pastor of Family Ministry at New Life Church. Today, we discuss her new book Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away. If you have questions about what […]

The Way Home Podcast: Jen Oshman on Welcoming People into your Church

Today, we have Jen Oshman joining us on The Way Home podcast. Jen is an author, missionary, blogger, and host of the All Things podcast. Today, we discuss the Church, how to be welcoming to others, and her new book Welcome: Loving Your Church by Making Space for Everyone.  If you have questions about what it […]

How to Think About Cooperation

What lines should Christians draw when it comes to their allegiances? How do we understand primary, secondary, and tertiary issues? I wrote about this at length in my forthcoming book, Agents of Grace which drops May 9th but I wanted to present this here because the way we cooperate with each other is increasingly a topic of […]

Why I’m Hopeful About the Evangelical Movement – USA Today

In 1976, the cover of Newsweek declared that, with a presidential election that featured the born-again Jimmy Carter, it was the “Year of the Evangelical.” Forty-five years later, the news media fascination with my spiritual family has not abated. From the heady days of 2004, when once again evangelicals were crowned a defining political force, to this moment when a cottage industry […]

Passing The Plate In a Digital Age

I saw an offering plate before I was even old enough to attend church. My father was a lay elder and church treasurer. This usually meant I got to stay and play with my friends long after the services were finished, because Dad was counting the offering. The offering plate is as indelible in my […]

How Pastors Can Combat Conspiracy Theories

It came as a text from a very close friend: “Did you know Mike Pence is part of a global human trafficking ring?” I didn’t really even know where to begin. I know people who have worked closely with the former vice president and repeatedly vouch for his character and integrity. What’s more, if a […]

Christmas During COVID: What the Incarnation Speaks to Our Troubled World

As 2020 careens to a close and we limp into Christmas season, most of us aren’t feeling very jolly. It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but we’re just hoping to make it through December. Preferably with a vaccine. Few us thought last year when we celebrated the season, that in a […]

How to Keep Your Friends In An Election Season

I recorded this video for Lifeway Voices on keeping your friends in an election season. I give four reasons: 1) Determine not to let politics be a litmus test for friendship. 2) Listen to those who disagree 3)  Look beyond the election 4) Take the long view

Church Unity and The Presidential Election

We’re living in one of the most divisive years in American history, with a raging pandemic, racial tension and a contentious election. When I talk to pastors, they’re grieved at the way brothers and sisters in Christ are so divided—grieved at the way people are talking to each other and about each other. So how do pastors […]

Embracing My Less than Spectacular Church

For nearly nine years I was on senior staff at one of the largest evangelical churches in the suburbs of Chicago. We were highly organized, and prided ourselves on excellence in all of our ministry outreaches. My drive to work every day was about 30 minutes, a commute that took me past many small churches, […]

The Church That Saved Me

When a church looks for a pastor, in most cases, it is looking for a leader who can revive its witness and vitality in the community. So I supposed Gages Lake Bible Church, a small, struggling church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, was looking for a human savior. And while we had some successes […]