3 Reasons (Some) Pastors Don’t Equip
The role of pastor is divinely designed to prepare others for ministry, not to perform all the duties in ministry. Pastors are not called to “do ministry” but to “equip believers” to minister to one another (Ephesians 4:11-13). Yet some pastors prefer to hoard ministry to themselves rather than equip others. Some pastors are like […]
Steve Jobs on Leadership and the Idol of Approval
Jony Ive is the senior vice president of design at Apple and is known as the great design mind behind the products at Apple. In a rare interview, Jony shares some lessons he learned from working with Steve Jobs. In the interview, he recounts a conversation with Steve where Steve rebukes him for leading to […]
Christians and Our Idols
The apostle John wrote, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). In a loving and pastoral way, John encouraged us not to ruin ourselves by replacing God on the thrones of our lives with something else, something less. In our sinfulness, we are prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love, […]
Becoming Baal
The psalmist declared, “those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them” (Psalm 115:8). In his great book, We Become What We Worship, G. K. Beale articulates, “What we revere we resemble, either for ruin or restoration.” If we worship a lesser god, a god other than the God […]
Four Root Idols
Last week I was honored to spend a day with the team at Austin Stone Church. I preached there two years ago for their summer preaching series, but this time I was blessed to speak to the staff and then teach a systematic theology session at Austin Stone Institute. Each week 300 plus men and […]
Three Lessons Learned from a Season of Idolatry
Last week, I shared the story about how God graciously rescued me from ministry idolatry. For a season, I placed ministry above my relationship with Him and my relationship with my wife. Here are some of the lessons I learned: 1 – I am the one responsible. Godly people in the church surrounded me, but […]
Ruin or Restoration
We resemble the God/god we revere, and this will either be for our ruin or our restoration. If the people we serve are not deeply impressed with Christ, the gods they serve will leave them ruined. They will live lifeless, worthless lives lacking the transformation only God can bring. Augustine recounted a chilling story about […]