Coach Mike Leach and The Called, Loved, and Kept
Mike Leach, the college football coach for Mississippi State, passed away recently. He was beloved by players, fans, and other coaches. He was hilarious and did some unconventional things. A story from Mike Leach’s coaching days at Texas Tech University reminds me of God’s gracious pursuit. In 2008, his team was really good. They went […]
4 Common Fears and How to Fight Them
Psychologists make a distinction between healthy and unhealthy fear. Healthy fear helps us make wise decisions such as preparing for a test or wearing a seatbelt. Unhealthy fear can paralyze a leader from making decisions or cause someone to be untrusting of others. Below are the four common and unhealthy fears I have seen. I […]
3 Reasons We Must Be Alarmed by Boredom
The renowned pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “The life of sin is always in some sense a life of boredom.” This is a really strong statement about boredom—something we don’t typically associate as damaging or sinful. Augustine famously wrote that we are restless in this world until we rest in God. Thus seasons of boredom must […]
A Disturbing Moment in Ministry and What It Has Done for Me
In the last seven weeks, God has moved in beautiful and profound ways in the church I am honored to serve as pastor. We have seen nearly 500 people stand and declare “I Believe” in public gatherings… which I realize needs a bit of explaining. Every church I have served has invited people to “repent […]
A Reminder From My Stint as a Soccer Coach: From Victory, Not for Victory
When Evie was six, I coached her soccer team and I loved it. One game in particular reminded me how to live as a Christian. We were called the Soccer Rockers and it was a blast. The kids and their parents were great. Evie’s favorite game that year was the game we played when the […]
Popeyes, Our Fascination With “New,” and the Exhaustion of Climbing
Because I grew up in the New Orleans area I grew up eating and loving Popeye’s Chicken (Popeyes started in New Orleans). As a kid, my parents would drive us by Al Copeland’s house at Christmas, the founder of Popeyes, because of the incredible Christmas lights he put up each year. My childhood nostalgia had […]
5 Ways You (and the People in your Church) Will Grow This Year
When God wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32), God won Jacob to Himself by making Himself weak. In His love for Jacob, He withheld His power as even a slight touch to Jacob’s hip dislocated it. God has won us to Himself through weakness too. He emptied Himself, took on human flesh, and submitted Himself to […]
Pablo Escobar and How Providing for Your Kids Is Not Enough
With the Netflix drama Narcos, there is a resurgence in interest around Pablo Escobar. The Discovery Channel just released Discovering Escobar’s Millions, which tracks two guys searching for the buried money of Pablo Escobar, who reportedly buried millions of dollars. Escobar was one of the world’s richest men as he made nearly 22 billion dollars […]
Five Necessary Character Traits for Handling Criticism Well
Elbert Hubbard quipped, “To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” Because leaders cannot afford to do nothing or say nothing, being criticized comes with the territory of being a leader. In leadership, affirmation today does not mean affirmation tomorrow. In many ways leaders face the same volatility as coaches who can, within […]
Do You Want a People Filled with Gratitude?
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16). Most church leaders long to see the people they serve become a people who teach and encourage one another in the Christian […]