I'm a "Christian 20Something."

This means: I'm on my smart phone all the time, I talk to my friends more on Facebook than I do face to face, I tweet, I Instagram, and I complain.

I am an expert complainer: I complain to my friends that all the guys my age aren't grownups. I complain that I never have any money. And I complain, oh boy, do I complain about my church.

You see, ...

This is one of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotations, from Mere Christianity:

"Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage."

Maybe it's my non-conformist streak (OK, it's more than a streak). Maybe it's my generational disillusionment with this planet and its ...

Behind the veneer of spiritual leadership, some of us carry deep struggles or dark secrets: pain from past abuse, guilt over sin, or a sense of spiritual failure. Should we tell others about our struggles? If so, how?

It can be difficult to know when we should share our struggles, sins, and failures in a public forum. There definitely is a time and place to talk about areas ...

You're investing thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours, and numerous headaches in planning a missions trip. You hope to save the world (at least the corner you'll be in) and return with photos, stories, and unforgettable memories of souls you've touched.

Nothing surges global vision in your church like team members returning from a cross-cultural experience with ...

Fresh out of college and full of hope, enthusiasm, and confidence, I was ready to change the world, one pimply teenager at a time. As the school year crawled by, the demands of teaching 125 high school students wore on my optimism. Those kids seemed impervious to my influence, and there were so many things I needed to change to get my classroom running more smoothly.

By Christmas ...

I must admit right off the bat, I'd never been one to buy into "spiritual warfare." Though I've long believed evil was as real as the hand in front of my face and that Satan has his own grubby hands at work in this world, when people would claim they were "under attack" from dark forces, I worked hard not to roll my eyes.

Under attack seemed a bit much. Especially for the bits ...

Consider these recent events and how they might affect your ministry.

Avengers Assemble!

Summer blockbuster season has officially arrived, as the huge opening weekend (over $200 million in its first three days) of the The Avengers proved with...a vengeance. And it's raking in not just great numbers but great reviews—Christianity Today gave the long-anticipated Marvel ...

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I've written two books. If I were asked to write a third book, I don't know if I would say yes or no. I would have to discern. I would have to listen to know what would give me life in this season. Right now, starting a book feels less appealing than the invitation to notice the myriad of transcendencies just out my door. Still, I have said yes to the invitation to ...