First Thoughts

Dragons in the Dark My wife and I have two young boys. One of the things that means is that we spend a lot of time reading stories about knights defeating dragons. When I read these stories with my boys, wonderful things happen. They grow a desire to be brave, courageous, and honorable like knights, and they grow a disdain for the evil that dragons represent. But occasionally, the fictional worlds that we’ve read about can start to take on a life of their own in my boys’ minds. In the darkness…

The Land of the Wealthy In Nocatee, Florida, the average household income approaches $200,000 a year. Most families own their homes, drive nice cars, take memorable vacations, and have access to top-tier education. On any given day, you’ll see families cruising in designer golf carts, headed to a luxury water park built just for them. Welcome to a land of the wealthy. That means I pastor at a church filled with people whom the world would consider “rich.” Many of our members are doctors, surgeo…

Two Persistent Questions Every few years Christians have a public debate about whether women should serve as pastors. My denomination, The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), often draws attention in our debates on this issue because there are so many of us, but plenty of people regularly get exercised about this. Whenever these debates happen two different questions get asked with equal passion by opposite sides. The first question is asked by frustrated conservatives who wonder why we can’t ju…

When You Don’t Like Your Job “Here we go again,” I said as I clocked into my shift at a local department store. I was newly married, working full time, and trying to get through seminary. That morning was a low point for me. I felt stuck at a job I did not like, surrounded by employees I did not get along with, and now I had another 12-hour shift to get through. As I walked through the store to reach my department, I wished I could float away from work and be elsewhere. My experience is not uni…

The Frantic Search for God’s Will It is 8:00 a.m. on a Monday morning, and an all-too-familiar scene is playing out at my house. It’s time for me to get in the car and head to work, but I have lost my keys. A frantic search ensues. My older son grabs the flashlight and checks under the couch. My younger son wanders around the backyard. I investigate the bathroom, then the kitchen, then inside the fridge (you never know). As the moments slip by, I begin losing hope that I’ll ever make it to work…

Everyone loves a good story. We read books, go to the movies, and binge-watch countless hours of streaming shows all because we like to be entertained by comedy and intense drama. We also like to tell stories. It is an amazing feeling when someone is hanging on your every word, just waiting for you to get to the end. This affinity for telling and hearing stories is hardwired into us by God because he is a storyteller. Roughly two-thirds of the Bible is narrative and contains the greatest story…

I don’t recall the exact moment my dislike of needles began. Instead, it feels like a persistent theme throughout my life. I am not a fan of anything involving needles—shots, blood draws, and IVs all make my face go white. Once, during a campaign to promote blood donation in my high school years, I absolutely refused. The thought of a needle going inside me made my head spin. I would only get my blood drawn at the doctor’s office if there was no other option. Each time felt like a massive ordea…

The Bible is remarkably clear about the command to give regularly to the church. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul says, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” In other words, regular, patterned giving is a moral imperative. It’s something we, as Christians, must do. But what if I told you that various studies and surveys show that only 10-25% of Christians obey this straightforward c…

Are You Discouraged? Everyone has experienced the signs of discouragement. Your motivation is low, your confidence deflates, your courage is gone. You feel like you have been throwing seeds in a field, day after day, only to find no growth. You begin to wonder: “What’s the point?” Everybody gets discouraged. Discouragement is usually circumstantial – the accumulation of enough trial and struggle that our knees buckle under the weight. And sadly, the temptation to discouragement is inevitable in…

Chaos, Correction, and Confrontation We are living in times of unsustainable chaos and pain. You see it in the wicked incompetence of elected officials, the moral confusion and corruption from cultural influencers, the convictional weakness of our religious leaders, and even in the spiking cost of eggs, milk, and rent. Everything is in a chaotic mess. Unfortunately, chaos is not the kind of thing you can drift out of. You have to bust out. It is a fact of history that a disruptive confrontation…