In 1 Corinthians 15:3, the apostle Paul declares that the gospel is "of first importance." In other words, Paul is telling his audience that the gospel is the most important thing for them to know. His words have huge implications for how the church holds its beliefs and how it does theology. For if the … Continue reading How Do You Hold Your Beliefs? (Determine Doctrinal Rank)

It's self-evident that pastors are holier than "regular" people, right? It's obvious that those who leave their home country to take the gospel around the world are better Christians than those who stay and work ordinary jobs, right? Wrong! And the reason why those sentiments are wrong is the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was … Continue reading You Don’t Need to be a Monk to Follow Jesus

40 Days of Focus: Adapted from Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport Lent is an important season in the life of our church for personal spiritual renewal. While the church has historically practiced fasting from food during Lent, we believe that it is prudent in our current time in history to fast from screens and technology. … Continue reading 40 Days of Focus

Deep Work by Cal Newport: Cultivate focus to get important things done 4,000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman: There are too many "big rocks" in life. You have to settle. Effortless by Greg McKeown: Bitterness and unforgiveness makes you less productive by clogging up your heart and mind. Tranquility by Tuesday by Laura Vanderkam: Batch small … Continue reading Key Ideas from Productivity Books

Former Navy Seal Jocko Willink summarize the most important principles for combat in his book, Leadership Strategy and Tactics. He codified the Four Law of Combat: Cover and Move Simple Prioritize and Execute Decentralized Command Military teams must Cover and Move. Whenever solider want to advance on a position, they need their teammates to provide … Continue reading The Four Laws of Combat

One of the major protests the Protestant reformers had against the Catholic Church in the 1500-1600's was the fact that the Bible used in the worship services was written in Latin. Now, a Latin Bible wouldn't be a problem...if you read and spoke Latin. But most people in the Middle Ages did not, in fact, … Continue reading Be a Good Protestant and Update Your Bible Translation

Here are a few resources on burnout. Articles Helping Senior Pastors Overcome Depression and Burnout: Written to help pastors specifically, but has so many good insights both theologically and practically for overcoming burnout. How I Recovered From Burnout: 12 Keys to Getting Back: Short article written from ministry/Christian perspective. Why Do We Work Too Much?: … Continue reading Burnout Resources

The apocalypse is personal for me. In 1994, Harold Camping predicted the end of the world and the return of Jesus, despite the fact that Jesus himself says no one knows when he will return (Matthew 24:26). When I was young, Camping's heresy infiltrated the church my parents were attending at the time and some … Continue reading Let’s Save Apocalyptic Thinking for the Actual Apocalypse

One of the most difficult to interpret passages in the New Testament is Jesus' "mini-apocalypse" in Matthew 24, also as known as the Olivet Discourse. In the passage, Jesus seems to speak of the impending destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD but also of the event surrounding his second coming. As with most … Continue reading The Olivet Discourse

I took one punch to the face and said, "I'm done!" I threw the boxing gloves down and walked out of the locker room. During high school, one of my football teammates brought boxing gloves into the locker room and so, after practice, when the coaches weren't around, impromptu boxing matches would start up. This … Continue reading The Two Hands of God’s Mission