This morning I shared some hard and frustrating news with First Baptist. In the last week, I learned I will require another surgery for ongoing neurological problems in my brain. It is painfully ironic that I was learning about my need for this fifth brain surgery during the week of the release of my new book, which had its origin in my very first surgery. The release of that book seemed, in my mind, to be commemorating the end of this season of struggle. Let me explain this unanticipated setback. How I Got Here In 2018 I was diagnosed with what doctors called a vascular compression of cranial nerves in my brain. That means a cluster of blood vessels was applying pressure to a crucial nerve in my brain that controls movement on the right sight of my body. That pressure was creating serious...

As a child, it is common to seek out heroes you would love to be like as you grow up. They become models for future growth and even icons in dreams for the future. I can remember baseball players I wanted to play like when I played little league, musicians I wanted to sound like when I became interested in music, and pastors whom I wanted to emulate when I was called to ministry. We know that the perfect image we are to “grow up” in is that of Jesus Christ. But who can we look to in the Scriptures to follow because of their example of following Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1)?   The obvious choices are the heroes of the faith. The book of Hebrews gives us a list of options in Hebrews 11: Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, and many more are obvious choices listed there. In the New Testament,...

The Great Love of God is my first book since 2016, and releases today. There are lots of books out there to read, so I’d like to take a moment to explain three reasons why I hope you’ll pick up this one. A Personal Reason for The Great Love of God The years between 2018 and 2022 were the worst of my life. A ministry crisis and four brain surgeries created an explosion of suffering. But my story of those years is not one of pain but one of love, grace, and glory. When Christians betrayed me, and my body failed me, God pulled me close. His presence sanctified my suffering. God revealed his love to me in profound and fresh ways. I want to share with you what I experienced. This book is personal. There is more of me in these pages than anything I’ve ever written. A Global Reason for The Great...

It has been said that every good story borrows from the gospel. If you have ever found yourself in tears at the close of a book or witnessed an eruption of applause in a movie theater, you have tasted gospel seasoning in the drama. The self-sacrificing hero, victory from the clutches of defeat, or the sudden reappearance of a character thought to be dead all borrow their glory from the greatest story ever told. These tales are often woven around central characters who give of themselves for the good of others. Mr. Darcy, Frodo Baggins, Atticus Finch, and Penny Baxter are endearing precisely because they look a little something like Jesus. But nothing compares to the real thing. Our favorite stories only are pencil sketches of the gospel diamond. The true gem glints and glitters with the...

Why Southern Baptists Fight Southern Baptists don’t like to fight. That might sound surprising if you think they fight a lot. But it’s true. Fights only happen in the SBC when convention leaders forget who Southern Baptists are. Southern Baptists are a group of theologically conservative churches cooperating together to announce to the world that Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. The brilliance of the SBC is that churches of all sizes and in all locations understand we can do more together than we ever could alone. They trust each other to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the Great Commission. That trust has made them the largest mission-sending entity in world history. If leaders would remember that, we would never have any fights. Certainly not any big ones. But...

There is something spectacular about sitting outside on a brisk, dark evening and staring at a fire. I’m not sure what it is about fire that is so amazing, but many of my favorite memories involve late-night conversations and s’mores around the fire pit in my backyard. If the experience of sitting around a fire is spectacular, the way fire is produced is shocking, almost miraculous. Fire comes when three elements are combined: oxygen, heat, and fuel– you probably remember this from your middle school science class. The combination of these commonplace things produces something amazing. Love and care in relationships are similar. It is a spectacular thing when God fills our hearts with ever-increasing love. In order for this to happen, we need God to work a few commonplace things in our hearts...