In one corner is the “evangelism is primary” group and in the other corner is the “discipleship is primary” group. While the two groups spar for a watching audience, the fight is useless and unfruitful. Not only are both important but they fuel each other.   As I have transitioned out of a role that... Continue Reading

In 2009 we started Soul Shepherding as a training center to help pastors thrive with Jesus. Our unique approach as doctors of psychology and spiritual directors cultivates intimacy with Jesus, emotionally healthy relationships, and fruitful ministry. To discover how we can help you check out our Soul Shepherding Institute.   Pastors and other ministry leaders are often under... Continue Reading

While serving as senior vice-president of LifeWay, I was on a team that gets to serve tens of thousands of churches a year. Every week I spoke with church leaders and listened and learned from both their struggles and the places where they saw the Lord working. I was also apart of several large-scale research... Continue Reading

The Bibles that had managed to leak out into the general population were also targeted for disposal. Chinese authorities once dumped a cache of them into a cesspool, believing they were soiled beyond use. Quickly, Chinese Catholics who had witnessed the vandalism hosed them off and sprayed them with perfume. Such was the hunger for... Continue Reading

When it comes to disagreeing with brothers over denominational issues, many of us can relate to Paul’s expression: “I do not do what I want, but often the very thing that I hate” (Rom. 7:15). We know deep down that we should engage in humble and open dialogue with the “other side”, and yet we... Continue Reading

One would think that Christians in general, and pastors in particular, would be exceedingly concerned with Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (NIV). However, in recent discussions of fallen pastors, this verse is curiously... Continue Reading

I have experienced many issues since taking the reigns of a youth ministry, a church team that ministers to 11-14-year-olds. And in that time I have experienced the immense value of having a “Timothy” to advise me, to share the struggles and triumphs, and to provide greater certainty for the future of the ministry.  ... Continue Reading

We are thankful that there are physicians who have expertise in medication. But we do know that there are spiritual realities at the heart of all misery. Suffering is an occasion to reconsider the love of God, the sufferings of Jesus, the presence of the Spirit, and so many other attractive truths that bring comfort... Continue Reading

To be fully human is to embrace our need to receive his compassion, and to show compassion to others in return. So why do we experience “compassion burnout”? Because we are finite and fallen. Our compassion is a diminishing resource. But when we turn to the Scriptures, we discover that God’s is a never-ending supply.    The... Continue Reading

These themes from Keller are sound. Space permitting, no doubt he would have elaborated how Christian political witness is pursued and by whom. (Perhaps he does in his book, which I’ve not yet read.) It seems important, for example, to distinguish among the institutional church, i.e. a denomination or congregation and its employees, versus the... Continue Reading