In my former life as a professor, I once spent a week grading 68 undergraduate papers, each 8–10 pages long. In the process, I noticed enough trends that I decided to throw together a series of writing tips. The number came to 25. I was focused on academic writing, but most of the principles are … More 25 Tips on Writing
I remember the last time I taught Introduction to Biblical Counseling in Rankin 101 on Wednesday, April 26, 2017. I finished the 1-hour 15-minute class, and about a third of the students lined up to say their goodbyes. They knew our family was moving to Houston. Near the end of the line was a senior … More No Small Moments
Dear Boyce College Graduates, This morning you’ll rise with a rush of excitement mixed with a few unnecessary nerves. You’ll mentally rehearse the big event as you dress in your regalia, get your hat and tassel properly arranged, and somehow get over that momentary feeling of silliness that always fades as graduates start feeling like medieval … More Pierce the Darkness: A Charge to the Graduates of Boyce College
How can young people move toward maturity? How can adolescents grow into young adults? How can college students move through the college years with increasing integrity, character, maturity, skill, and productivity? Here are six basic steps to help the saplings of the next generation add rings as they reach for the light. 1. Wake Up: Desire … More Growing Up: Six Basic Steps toward Maturity
Today I will give my final lecture as a college professor, symbolizing the end of fifteen years in Christian college ministry. Sometime late in the afternoon, I’ll finish a lecture like I’ve done many times before. But this time will be different. I’ll close my white teaching binder for the last time, corral my personal … More The Final Week
If you want to begin memorizing Scripture, how should you decide where to start? A student asked this question yesterday in Spiritual Life Dynamics. After some class discussion, here were my three basic recommendations. 1. Scripture you love. Hunger is the best spice. If you want to start memorizing, it may be wise to start … More ASKED: How should I decide what to memorize?
If you want to learn, you have to get uncomfortable. And since we don’t often choose to be uncomfortable, if we want to learn, we have to find teachers and mentors and programs and responsibilities and experiences that will make us uncomfortable. The semester has begun at Boyce College, my final semester as a college professor. … More If You Want to Learn…
Yesterday I shared the exciting news that God has called me to serve as Lead Pastor of BridgePoint Bible Church in Houston, Texas beginning this summer. I will teach my final five biblical counseling classes at Boyce College this spring before we launch into a new season of life and ministry. But this transition is … More A Letter to My Students
“Should my personality influence my ministry?” A female student recently asked this question in a discussion about counseling, but it applies to any responsibility a person might hold. Whether leading, managing, preaching, organizing, parenting, or discipling, we often wonder how our personalities should affect our Christian responsibilities. The longer we live, the more we see that … More ASKED: Should my personality influence my ministry?
As a college freshman, Scott Burns was my Resident Director. Scott was a 6’5″ man’s man who knew everything about hunting, fishing, poisonous insects, and indigenous bushes. When he walked the halls, guys flocked to him. But above all these things, “Burns” was known for one particular quality. I later heard that he had committed to pray consistently … More What Every Young Man Needs
Each week, it seems, I experience a class session that seems magical — filled with intellectual tension, unbridled curiosity, stimulating questions, rich spontaneity, and seemingly life-shaping learning. I inevitably walk away with my mind racing over fresh terrain and new ideas, rejoicing in my God-given role as lead learner. Of course, growth is mainly measurable over time, … More The Magical and the Mundane
The satirical Babylon Bee could and does write handfuls of articles about worship leaders. Apparently there’s a lot of material to work with. They’re mocked for their skinny jeans, their black-frame glasses, their chronological snobbery, their hipster tendencies. Or they’re knocked for their old-guard mentality, their antiquated ways, their refusal to get with the times whether … More The Sacred Teaching Task of the Christian Worship Leader
Bryan Baise is a beloved professor at Boyce College, soon-to-be PhD in philosophy, husband to Danielle and father of three, and my friend and office neighbor. When I was in Student Life, students talked constantly about his classes, and I always found him deeply compassionate and wise when we worked together to help students who … More “He Withholds No Good Thing from Us”: Marriage, Miscarriage, and the Goodness of God (by Bryan Baise)
ASKED: A New Feature This semester I’m teaching 230 students in four biblical counseling classes at Boyce College, the undergraduate school at Southern Seminary. CN101a: Introduction to Biblical Counseling CN101b: Introduction to Biblical Counseling CN201: Methods of Biblical Counseling CN481: Counseling Skills Development I Depending on time and topic, students ask 10-20 questions per class, and many … More ASKED: Should a younger Christian ever correct an older Christian?
Father of all light, Son of all wisdom, Spirit of all power, Humbly we come before you, our Creator, and humbly we confess our double blindness: sin and ignorance. You are wisdom, but we are folly. You are truth, but we are error. You are light, but we are darkness. Send us rays of your … More A Trinitarian Prayer for Learning
Welcome to the blank page of your next chapter. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. Welcome to Southern Seminary and Boyce College. Our campus is abuzz this morning. The graduate students were getting oriented all day yesterday, and hundreds of you new college students and your families are preparing to blitz … More A Blank Page and a Good Father: Welcome to Southern Seminary and Boyce College
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