Fisher of Men

Isaiah 40:31 says: “But they who wait for the Lord renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” This is one of the most celebrated and shared verses of the Bible. I’m sure you’ve seen it on greeting cards, framed pictures, and tees garnered with a picture of a soaring eagle. If you’re like me you’ve had different responses at different times to these products. At one point you wrapped your hands on them anytime you found them. You got a euphoric inspiration from them. Then at other times these products exhausted you. You shunned them as superstitious, sentimental, or just flat out silly. Though we oscillate between euphorically or exhaustingly responding to “soaring eagle” merchandise, this is not how we ...

“So… what can I do to help the poor?” Let’s be honest: no one with a firm grip on reality looks at the world and says, “Yep, everything is running exactly as it should.” When we millions of people go to sleep each night unsure if they’re going to eat the next day while others have an abundance beyond what they could need for a thousand lifetimes, we know something’s not right. And therein lies the problem: we know things are wrong, but we don’t know what we can do about them. The problem seems too big to really make a difference! And you know something? We’re right to think so, at least in one sense. When we look at the suffering and injustice that exists in this world as a whole, it’s overwhelming. The problem is just too big! And yet, we see throughout Scripture an...

Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Foursquare, Flickr, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, Imgur, or whatever comes next—social media have changed our relationships in significant ways. With the touch of a button on a small device I carry in my pocket, I can instantly discover what’s happening with friends on the other side of the world. Drawing from personal experience, pastoral conversations, and recent sociological studies, I’m willing to wager that social media’s impact on our relationships has been equally wonderful and detrimental, introducing lots of new opportunities and lots of unforeseen challenges for Christians who use them. The Good Keeping in touch has never been easier thanks to the instant, far-reaching, and widespread power of the internet. Social media outlets af...

One of the perennial questions facing the church today is how do we integrate faith and work? What does it look like for believers to follow Jesus on the job? Almost all believers would agree that whatever the answer is, it involves more than sharing our faith on the coffee break. Evangelism is vitally important, of course, but how do you cope with a job you don’t like? What about jobs that provide little personal satisfaction? Can we find significance in even mundane and menial tasks? The providence of God and vocation The first thing we need is a God-centered perspective on our work. (See this article.) This means we frame all our thinking about work within the biblical metanarrative of creation, fall, and redemption, and we affirm the providence of God in and through our everyday lives....

Work is one of the most significant parts of our lives. Of the 168 hours we are given each week, most of us will spend at least 40 at the workplace.  Many spend closer to 60 or 70, sometimes juggling two jobs or more. One of the most pressing questions for a Christian to answer, then, is, “How do I think biblically about work?” Created to work The first thing to remember is that we were made for work. Work is implicit in the “cultural mandate,” the command given by God to the first man, recorded Genesis 1:28-31. Human beings were created in the image of God for the purpose of subduing the earth, ruling over the created order as the vicegerents of God.  In the words of J. I. Packer, “Man was made to manage God’s world, and this stewardship is part of the human vocation in Christ. ...

English-speaking Christians, we have a vast array of hymns available to us, and we each have our list of favorites. In my assessment, the best hymns are those that are universal and timeless, speaking to all Christians in all times, places, and situations. They are firmly grounded in Scripture and drawn out of, or toward, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they are inevitably coupled to a great melody. Here are my picks for the ten greatest hymns of all-time. Apart from the first, they are in no particular order. And Can It Be? by Charles Wesley. I begin with what I consider the greatest hymn by the greatest hymn-writer. Wesley’s “And Can It Be?” simply delights in the goodness of God while marveling at his saving grace. It captures every Christian’s experience of wandering, of...

I’ve got three kids: a five-year-old girl, three-year-old boy, and a one-year-old girl. They are in the sweet spot of life where they crave attention and affection. First thing in the morning or as soon as that front door opens at five o’clock in the afternoon, they flock to me. These moments give me delight and joy, and I know to make the most of them. I served as a youth pastor for a number of years. During that time I heard a common refrain from teens: “I’m not sure my parents like me anymore or ever did.” Upon exploring these doubts with students, I discovered that many felt like their parents chased after idols of career, comfort, and cash. Some had divorced parents and felt like those parent fought over who had to take the kids that week rather than who got to take them. These studen...

As we come to celebrate another Labor Day, it may be beneficial for us to step back for a moment and consider what Scripture has to say about the rhythm of work and rest—i.e. the cyclical configuration by which all the events of our lives occur. Learning the theology of work and rest is one of the greatest challenges of our own day. Many of us have adopted faulty views of work, and therefore have faulty views of rest. We are commanded to do all the work that needs to be accomplished every week in the six days that follow, and lead up to, the glorious day of rest. Then we are commanded to rest. This rhythm of work and rest is both a creational and a new-creational (i.e. redemptive) ordinance. The suffix to the 4th commandment in Exodus 20:11 and Deuteronomy 5:15 teaches us this. God command...

Social media can bring out the worst in us. We can post our immediate thoughts with a sense of minimal accountability. Facebook in particular is a public venting forum for all our least carefully considered thoughts. This feature of social media is on sad display in these days following the tragic situation in Ferguson, MO. It is not my purpose to write about the death of Michael Brown. The mere thought fills me with fear and trembling. Rather, I simply wish to make an appeal that we put down our weapons, cover our mouths, and for a moment simply grieve over the fact that our nation is still so divided over race. It is doubly grievous that Christians are so clearly divided. The level of certainty that some are displaying concerning what happened that awful night in Ferguson is remarkable. ...

“Are you sure about that?” This was the remark a very conservative professor made to me, over lunch, during my freshman year of college. He was responding to a flippant and hyper-spiritualized comment I made, something I was want to do in those heady days when I knew everything there was to know about the Bible and about the world. These were the days before I got married, before I had children, before I pastored. In other words, I thought I knew everything, but I really knew nothing. The comment I made was about the death of a comedian. I said something callous like, “Can you imagine a life spent making people laugh? What a waste!” Yeah, I really said that. Thankfully my conservative professor at my conservative Bible college offered this subtle, but pointed rebuke. I thought about this c...

The recent scandal over Thai surrogate baby Gammy involves just about every ethical question when it comes to children—surrogacy, abortion, selective termination of children with Down syndrome, and child abuse. No wonder the story has drawn an international audience, and Christians should not miss the opportunity to speak in defense of vulnerable and helpless children. The story first hit the news over a week ago when the Thai surrogate mother, Pattaramon, claimed that the biological parents, the Farnells, had left Gammy behind because he had Down syndrome but took his twin sister back to Australia. Since surrogacy was illegal in Australia, the Farnells resorted to Thailand and had paid Pattaramon about $15,000 to be the surrogate mother. Friends and family responded on behalf of the Farne...

It’s that time of year again.  Yellow buses practice their circuitous routes, stores brim with school supplies, and teachers adorn their rooms with inviting bulletin boards and welcoming smiles.  Back to school is officially upon us. I ended the summer reading through the Psalms and Proverbs.  As I drank in the wisdom of these two books, certain passages in particular have encouraged and directed my hopes for my children as they head back to school.  These verses have shaped my prayers and given words to the longings of my heart. As my children spend less time in my presence, I am thankful that I can bring all my concerns and cares before the Lord in prayer. Lord, I pray that my children would understand their need for Jesus and rejoice in the good news of the Gospel. B...