Josh McDowell and The Reliability of Scripture
One of the most popular apologetics resources in the 20th Century was the classic Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. In many ways, Josh set the standard for apologetics work that would follow. Perhaps the most compelling evidence for the validity of the claims of Christianity is the increasing volume of manuscripts continually discovered by archeologists.
Well Josh McDowell is back with some new manuscript research. I interview him about this new discovery, about inherency, and his perspective on the future of the evangelical movement. Here is one of my questions:
Can You Love Jesus and Hate Jesus’ Followers?
The last few years have seen an explosion of books that try to separate Jesus from the church. Most of these are well-meaning efforts to distinguish genuine faith in Christ from hand-me-down, works-based religion. This is important in a culture still influenced by a nominal Christianity, where many think a ticket to heaven simply requires regular church attendance.
The Surprising Advice Max Lucado Gives to Young Pastors
Max Lucado has been one of the most popular evangelical leaders for many years. His books have sold in the millions and are a regular fixture on the bestseller’s list. I had the chance to interview Max for my weekly blog with Leadership Journal. As with all interviews, this one had to be trimmed for publication. Leadership Journal featured the questions I asked Max about his new book on prayer. But I also asked him about his hopes and concerns for the evangelical movement and the surprising advice he gives to young pastors.
Jerusalem, Judea, and the Uttermost Parts
Pastors are always wrestling with an international and a local focus as they think through ministry emphasis. I asked David Platt about this in my weekly interview for Leadership Journal. He’s written a new book, Counter Culture, challenging Christians to think soberly about how the gospel compels them to think critically about pressing social issues.
Pastors Who Press On
Discouragement: it maybe the leading cause of failure in pastoral ministry. How do pastors keep from growing weary in their work? I had the chance to talk to an experienced ministry practitioner, Travis Collins. Travis has held a variety of ministry roles and is the author of a new book: For Ministers About to Start or […]
Multigenerational churches and offering plates
I’ve been writing recently about the shape of worship in our churches. First, a piece for Christianity.com about the importance of multi-generational churches: I recently said goodbye to one of my dearest friends, who taught me more about ministry than anyone else I knew. He recently succumbed to cancer in his early eighties. Until this […]
Why I’m Thankful for Christian Music
This headline seems a bit redundant. After all, I’m a Christian and, of course, I’d love Christian music. But this is not always the case. In fact if you listen to a lot of the conversations young Christians are having today, you’d find that Christian music is a kind of punching bag. It’s fashionable for […]
Victoria Osteen and Our Conservative Prosperity Gospel
Last night, Christian Twitter was alive with the ridiculous and sad clip of Victoria Osteen’s blatant prosperity gospel declaration. “We go to church, not for God, but for us.” I especially liked the enterprising blogger who affixed Bill Cosby’s “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard” to the end of the clip. Well done. But […]
Two Things We Need: Comedy and Rest
I want to highlight two recent articles that are related to each other, I think. First, I wrote a column for Christianity.com about the need for comedy. I thought of this in light of the death of Robin Williams. Here’s an excerpt: The Scriptures tell us that laughter is a kind of medicine for the […]
Some recent interviews
I had the privilege of interviewing a few church leaders on a variety of issues: Here I interview pastor David Platt of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama and author of Radical and Multiply on the need for Christians in the West to speak up about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere: Here I […]
Barnabas Piper on Life in the Fishbowl
There are a lot of pastor’s kids out there, but few who grew up like my friend Barnabas Piper, the son of popular pastor and author, John Piper. That’s why I’m excited about Barnabas’ new book, The Pastor’s Kid. What is refreshing about this book, unlike so many other books in this genre, is that its not another angst-ridden, […]
Civil Rights and the Gospel
Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. To commemorate this landmark event and to discuss the Church’s role in working toward racial reconciliation, I had the opportunity to engage in a discussion with my ERLC colleague, Trillia Newbell, author of the new book, United. We […]