Spiritual Formation
Fingerprints of God: Lessons from the Book of Esther
Last year, I had the privilege of preaching through the book of Esther at Roosevelt Community Church. The sermon series was such a reminder of God’s sovereign hand at work behind the scenes and his providential care for his people living in exile. The tagline that we said repeatedly to sum up this great book…
Read MoreIs Work Good? Exploring Creation and Economics
There are a few questions related to work and economics that I field regularly. They all center around whether work, money, and economics in general are inherently good, neutral, or necessary evils in our post-fall world. Faithful followers of Christ want to know, how should I think about my relationship to God and my work?…
Read MoreThe Simple Gift of Being Present
My wife and I love to open our home to friends and neighbors. We know that our world can be isolating and lonely, so we want our hospitality to open the door for community and conversation. One of the results of our hospitality (and certainly being a pastor) is that friends will ask us for…
Read MoreThree Medieval Theologians You Should Read
C .S. Lewis once wrote that we should read two old books for every new book. The reason for this is that old books are able to lead us towards different ways of thinking, to say nothing of providing us with different perspectives than the ones bombarding us every day. But surely this advice doesn’t…
Read MoreHope in the Face of Temptation
Temptation is a part of all our lives. The serpent’s appeal, so crafty and surgical, has been repeated by the enemy every day since the Garden. Like Eve, we hear the whispers, the lies, the subtle voice of the Enemy. He peddles the myth, that to sin—to yield to the voice of Satan and indulge…
Read More3 Dangers to Avoid as a Christian at a Secular University
Perhaps more than ever, today’s Christian students face a significant question: How do I maintain my faith, and even grow spiritually, at a secular university? This is a topic I explore in my new book, Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College (Crossway, 2021). In many ways, the…
Read MoreWhat Is Death?
Do you remember how you learned the Alphabet? A, B, C, D… and so on, right? At some point, you probably had a nice picture book to help you out: “A” is for apple you dutifully learned. “B” is for ball. “C” is for cat. The acrostic wasn’t always so cute. In seventeenth-century New England,…
Read MoreMaster and Be Mastered By Scripture
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Ps. 119:99) Some of my favorite seminary classes were the electives I took with the learned, insightful, near-legendary Dr. Peter Gentry, including the Hebrew exegesis of Isaiah. The set text was Isaiah 1–11 and 54–56. We were required to read the…
Read MoreWhat Luther’s Trip to Saxony Teaches Us about Connecting Church and Home
My grandparents once had a wall of pictures in the long hallway at the top of the stairs in their home. I can remember my mom and aunts standing around the pictures after a new cousin was born, talking about how much the new addition favored one older relative or another. These days it seems…
Read More2 Truths from John Owen about Being Spiritually Minded
While this past year has brought many unexpected difficulties, it has also brought some surprising gifts. One of the surprising gifts of the pandemic came for me when an old seminary friend asked if I wanted to be a part of a Zoom book study. Thursday mornings have now become a place to dig deep…
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