The Way Home Episode 31 featuring Max Lucado
Max Lucado needs no introduction. He’s the bestselling author of 32 books, a popular speaker, and pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. Max joined me today on the podcast to talk about his writing process, leadership transitions, and why he’s bullish about the church, in spite of increasing cultural pressure. Listen to this […]
Pastors, Don’t Be Passive on Planned Parenthood
This is my latest piece for Leadership Journal: how pastors can lead their churches to fight for life in this cultural moment: Pro-life activism has been a part of Christian witness throughout church history, but has received particularly focused attention by evangelicals and Catholics since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Now, though, we find […]
Why Encouragement is Not Optional
From my recent article at In Touch: “I love working with you, Dan.” It was only a simple text from a colleague, but it buoyed my spirits during an intense week of work on a project together. As I thought over his kind comment, it reinforced to me a simple truth I’ve learned during my years […]
How to preach on race
Today, at the Lifeway Pastors blog, I have an article encouraging white pastors to preach on racial reconciliation. It’s not a subject we’ve often addressed from the pulpit, for a variety of reasons. I also give three ways to do this. The first is the most obvious: preach on race when the biblical text in […]
What Dad taught Me: 5 Invaluable Principles I Use Every Day
My dad is a quiet man, more comfortable working with his hands than delivering a speech or writing an essay. But this doesn’t mean Dad wasn’t a teacher. Dad’s life spoke to me in ways that I still think of today. Most of these lessons were simply by following his example.
Why Christians Should Be Clear
This week I’m over at the Lifeway Church Leader’s blog opining on three essential traits for countercultural Christian leaders: courage, clarity, and civility (how’s that for some serious alliteration?). This comes from 1 Peter 3:15. Here is what I said about that second point: The second thing Peter urges for counter-cultural leaders is clarity. “Have an […]
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.
Lee Strobel’s Crisis of Faith
Lee Strobel is a world-famous apologist who has presented arguments for the Christian faith in a variety of popular venues and has debated the sharpest secular minds. But what happened when he had his own personal crisis of faith, when a sudden illness brought him close to death? In a new and unusually personal book, Strobel talks about a fresh understanding of grace. I asked him about this in an interview for Leadership Journal:
Drive-By Discipleship
Paul had earned the right to speak into the lives of the believers at Colossae. Not because he had a PhD from a seminary. Not because he was on the NYT bestsellers list. Not because he had 100K followers on Twitter. Those things can all be leveraged for influential good. But the real spiritual growth transfer happens in deep and caring relationships. This Church and these people would listen to what Paul had to say because Paul had been invested deeply in their lives and cared for them.
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 […]
How NOT to Read the News
We live in a time where we are exposed to more news headlines than at any time in human history. In the ancient days of news, anchors checked the AP newswire for stories and reported on them and people in their homes watched or people in their cars listened to radio. Today, everyone, is essentially checking the wire, all day, through social media. We also live in a time when it’s has never been easier to publicly express an opinion. Before the Internet, if something happened, you might have picked up the phone to call someone or perhaps you might discuss it at work, around the water cooler. But today we are all pundits, all with commentary on what is happening right now.
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 […]