Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6–7). I’m thankful that I feel vulnerable, which is reality. I’m thankful that I … More 100 Things I’m Thankful For
Pride, greed, and lust never have enough. This is one of many lessons we learn from Adam and Eve’s fall into sin. In Genesis 2:9, God creates “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” The Creator gifts Adam and Eve a garden filled with beautiful fruit-bearing trees. These trees are … More Never Enough
Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen… 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen… the king made made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone (1 Kings 10:26–27). You’d think the narrator is describing a successful king. But he’s not. He’s describing a failure. How do we know? God’s earlier law: The king must not acquire many horses for … More Sometimes Success Isn’t
The year is new; the last is done. Again it flew; the course is run. We start again; we set our gaze. As mortal men we plot our days. The pages pass; the story flies. The clock a class for all the wise.
We sure do want a lot out of life. By now your social media feeds have been filled with articles about New Year’s resolutions and 2020 goals—mind, body, and spirit; work, rest, and play; personal, professional, and relational. There are the optimists aiming high, and the pessimists decrying the overambitional impulses that leave people disappointed … More How to Prosper in All of Life: The Main Thing You Need to Do in 2020
Our best loves are those we can’t fully explain: a flavor that grabs us, a partner who gets us, a place with roots in our heart. The Christmas season is obviously here, and while some feel more darkness than light during these days, many moments are filled with a warmth that can’t be measured. But … More Why We Love Christmas
Our morning services have been canceled due to a power outage. There are lots of weather-related outages across the city, and our provider is prioritizing emergency situations first. We hope to have power by the afternoon so we can hold an evening service, but we’ll see. This incident is just the latest in a long … More The Vision and the Battle
American culture is obsessed with dropping the mic. YouTube is overrun with videos of Shapiro or Colbert or Peterson “destroying” or “embarrassing” or “shutting down” some allegedly outwitted opponent. We love the idea of leaving an adversary speechless, their intellectual sails in tatters, the foundations of their confidence shaken and (we like to think) irrecoverable. If … More Four Ways to Drop the Mic
I grew up singing the best old hymns of the faith. We sang them so consistently that their lyrics and melodies carved deep ruts in my memory. I couldn’t appreciate their doctrinal strength or poetic beauty as a child or a teenager, but now they resonate at a far deeper level. Now I can understand … More Be Still, My Soul
In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. — Psalm 31:20 Ministry, sadly, can be filled with strife. The thorns of criticism and slander and disunity seem to mark the path of servant leadership. Painful disagreements, thoughtless comments, and … More Shelter from the Strife
To all who’ve said goodbye to family, friends, and those they hold most dear… To all who’ve left grandmothers and grandfathers growing old, and nieces and nephews growing up… To all who’ve left churches, and ministries, and small groups, and meaningful roles in the kingdom of God… To all who’ve left jobs and salaries, stable … More To All Who’ve Said Goodbye
The safest place to be is at the center of God’s calling, no matter how difficult or dangerous. The most dangerous place to be? Anywhere else. When God calls a man to a vocation, God is not primarily concerned with the things the man himself was concerned about before receiving that call. God is concerned with … More The Calling
The best way to read a book is one page at a time. Sure, if you’ve been through grad school or seminary or a PhD in the humanities, you know there are many different ways to read. But if you want to read a good book with an intricate plotline and a meaningful ending, the … More One Page at a Time
I am the resurrection and the life. —Jesus of Nazareth From all appearances, Jesus arrived too late. Far too late. And not fashionably, stylishly late, but wrongfully, neglectfully late. His friend Lazarus had been sick—critical condition—and Jesus waited. He didn’t rush to Bethany, like a real friend would’ve done. He didn’t come right away, like … More The Resurrection and the Life: Lazarus, Harvey, and the Love of Jesus
What God will do is not ours to tell. We don’t know, and we can’t know. We see him from below, and we await the revelation of his plan. At the same time, what God will do is truly foreseeable. We do know, because we can know. He’s revealed himself from above, and we have … More What God Will Do
Last night I went for a walk along the bayou near our street, trying to decompress and straighten out my mind. There, in the humid twilight of a Houston summer night, I found myself in a familiar place: struggling to pray. It’s not that there’s too little to pray about; if anything, there’s too much. … More When You Don’t Have a Prayer
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