Fisher of Men

Influence. It’s a funny thing. It’s inescapable–someone will always be perceived to have it or not have it, to either use or misuse it. We complain about it, but we also want to be influenced. Very few people are thorough-going “Lone Rangers” about anything. We see the utility of influence. We want someone to point us on a good course, to help us over a hurdle, and to set a model for us. Influence is how you get some things done or prevent others. Who doesn’t want influence on certain policy issues or certain church initiatives or with our children and spouses? We live in a world where influence is traded, debated, manipulated, and fabricated. Some people look influential but they aren’t. Some people look insignificant but wield influence like a sword. Some name drop and talk abo...

There’s way too much Christian negativity surrounding technology. All we seem to think and read about are the dangers and difficulties of the digital revolution. But how about some balance? How about recognizing and appreciating the amazing technological gifts that God has blessed our generation with? I recently linked to How Technology Made me a Better Mom, and I thought, “Why don’t Christians write pieces like this?” Then, “Why don’t I write a piece like this?” So here goes with “How technology made me a better Christian.” Affordable resources I would not have half the books I have without the advent of Logos, Ages Software, eBooks, Kindle Daily Deals, etc. How impoverished my life and ministry would be without these resources! Then add all the blogs, websites, online serm...

God wrote the 10 Commandments on stone tablets and gave them Moses to share with all the Israelites soon after they left captivity in Egypt (Exodus 20:1-26). Moses reiterated them 40 years later in Deuteronomy 5:1-22 as the Israelites neared the Promised Land. Though God wrote the 10 Commandments thousands of years ago, they still influence our society today. Modern Significance of the 10 Commandments The law given to Moses provided the foundation for a new Israelite society, they provided the foundation of personal and property rights found our modern legal system. Jewish tradition holds that all 613 laws found in the Torah are summed up in the 10 Commandments. Though Christians do not believe fulfilling the law is required for salvation, they still view the 10 Commandments as the foundat...

C. S. Lewis died 50 years ago, yet interest in his life and work continues. Allister McGrath’s C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet is the latest contribution to the numerous books about Lewis. McGrath provides a biography that attempts both to retell the story of Lewis’s life and to understand “his ideas and how they found expression in his writing” (xiii).  SUMMARY The book is divided into five major sections, arranged chronologically: Prelude, Oxford, Narnia, Cambridge, and Afterlife. Thus, the bulk of the book considers the life-story of C. S. Lewis, and the final chapter reflects upon his contemporary influence. “Prelude” (chapters one through three, describing Lewis’s life from 1898 through 1918) features Lewis’ childhood ...

Christians are rightly and necessary concerned about leadership, but many Christians seem to aim no higher than secular standards and visions of leadership. We can learn a great deal from the secular world and its studies of leadership and its practices, but the last thing the church needs is warmed over business theories decorated with Christian language. Christian leaders are called to convictional leadership, and that means leadership that is defined by beliefs that are transformed into corporate action. The central role of belief is what must define any truly Christian understanding of leadership. This means that leadership is always a theological enterprise, in the sense that our most important beliefs and convictions are about God. Our most fundamental beliefs about God determine eve...

It’s easy to talk about “unity within the church” as long as we’re talking in the abstract. However, what do you do when a Christian brother or sister offends you or sins against you? Do you “write them off” and go your separate ways? I submit this is often the easier choice, but Jesus and the standards of his kingdom rule do not permit us to do so.  Let’s consider the significance of Jesus’s prayer to the Father in John 17 when he prays: The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. (John 17: 20–21, The Message) Upon reading these words, we must recognize that any break in relationship threatens to undermine the essential witnes...

  I continually run into young men who are frustrated at their stage in life in part because of a lack of clarity about their calling, or a lack of opportunity to do what they really want to do.  This frustration leads many to become idle. Inactive if not aimless. This also leads many to become jobless (or nearly so) while becoming overly dependent on others (parents, friends, credit cards). If you find yourself at this stage I would like to address you, my friends. No, I’m not going to lecture you about your motives, growing up, or prolonged adolescence, though such things might be issues for you to deal with. I only want to remind you of three truths than can change how you understand and experience this time in your life. This time is hard, and it is easy to conclude the...

The doctor is a murderer. The trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell ended with the infamous abortion doctor convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. The doctor’s abortion clinic, described by a Philadelphia prosecutor as a “house of horrors,” is no more, but the truth revealed in his trial remains. He is not the only one with blood on his hands. The prosecution of Kermit Gosnell put the entire nation on trial. The doctor was indicted on hundreds of criminal counts, and in addition to the murder and manslaughter convictions he received yesterday, he was also convicted on more than two hundred counts including racketeering, infanticide, and performing abortions that violated Pennsylvania law. Most of those were illegal late-term abortions. The evidenc...

In his engaging book “Suburbianity” (Harvest House), Nashville pastor, Byron Yawn asks American Christians to get truly radical about embracing God’s call to an ordinary life where our nice, affluent, next-door neighbors need Christ as much as anyone living in the third-world. Originally published May 20, 2013.

As the earliest extra-biblical Christian confessional document, the Apostles’ Creed has stood the test of time as the preeminent testament to creedal orthodoxy.  The creed, attributed to the earliest missionary followers of Jesus, distills the basic outline of what it means to be a Christian into a short summation that belies the depth and richness of what it proclaims. The Apostles’ Creed We believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; (He descended into hell.)1 On the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father; from which he w...

  In recent years Pinterest has exploded in popularity. Initially favored solely by women, the site now is used regularly by men and women, old and young to capture ideas, information, or any other image deemed valuable. Once the item is “pinned” friends may view the image and the “pin” is shared. It’s an incredibly efficient and practical way to promote ideas or images that we like among friends. And who isn’t intrigued by what our friends value and enjoy? We take notice of what they like. The Scriptures provide the framework for understanding what God likes. In the Apostle Peter’s first letter we read of someone and something that is highly valued. Peter says that they are precious in God’s sight. What are we talking about? The godly woman. ...

This is post probably has something to make everyone unhappy. But here goes. With Memorial Day on Monday (in the U.S.) and, no doubt, a number of patriotic services scheduled for this Sunday, I want to offer a few theses on patriotism and the church. Each of these points could be substantially expanded and beg more detailed defense and explanation, but since this is a blog and not a term paper, I’ll try to keep this under 1500 words. 1. Being a Christian does not remove ethnic and national identities. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free (Gal. 3:28), but this does not mean men cease to be male or Jews ceases to be Jewish. The worshiping throng gathered around the throne is not a bland mess of Esperanto Christians in matching khaki pants and white ...