Daniel Darling's Blog, page 76

What We Don’t Want to Hear: Leadership Is Hard

We live in an age when distrust of leaders is, perhaps, at an all-time high. I don’t have any statistics to verify that. However, if my Facebook and Twitter feeds are a reasonable sample, if the blogs and columns and books I read are an indication, people today just don’t like the people who lead them. For instance, Congress approval rating is at an all-time low. The latest negotiations over the Fiscal Cliff exposed the dysfunction in Washington between Republicans and Democrats. And so everybody, everywhere teed off on the politicians.

I think we’ve arrived here for two reasons. First, the last few generations have seen the stunning and tragic fall of leaders of all stripes, from Presidents to politicians. We’ve seen leaders abuse power, not only in Washington, but in the church, in the home, in the community, in business. Many wonder if there are any honest leaders left. Over the Christmas break and into our vacation, I read a few books on the American Presidents. I’m amazed at the decline in respect for this once-great office. Historians may disagree, but I feel that perhaps Watergate was a turning point, where the office of President became less regal. But it’s also the spirit of the age, I think, that we just don’t like or trust those who lead us. Some of this is deserved, but some of this a spirit of rebellion. And I think it makes leadership that much more difficult.

This leads to my second reason why I think we don’t like leaders. This reason points not to the leaders, but to us. You see, it’s much easier to be a critic of a leader than to actually lead. For instance, there is one President and 435 leaders. But there are a seemingly unlimited number of paid pundits, columnists, bloggers, radio talk show hosts, and other such members of the opinion media. Most of them get paid very handsomely to lob their criticisms at those in office. But, here’s the rub, they don’t actually have to lead. They are not in the arena. And so they can articulate purist ideological positions and hammer leaders who deviate, even in small ways. They can resist any kind of deal-making with the other party. They can live in a fantasy world where your side can get everything it wants all the time in every situation. Now, to be clear, I think the media and opinion-makers serve a valuable purpose in our democracy. They help shape the public discussion and influence those in power. After all, I’m a writer and blogger who sometimes gets paid for my opinion. However, looking at Washington from this perch is much easier than having to actually lead and get something done in a difficult environment with those who hold opposing views.

I think this view of leadership prevails in the Church as well. Church leaders should be open to criticism. One of the things that bothers me about some is that they dismiss all criticism with a sort of lazy “haters donna hate” defense. The best leaders bend an ear to opposing views and admit mistakes and weaknesses  But, it is far easier to be a Christian blogger with an opinion than to be a high-profile pastor in the arena. It’s easier to criticize Rick Warren than to be Rick Warren. It’s easier to criticize John Piper than to be John Piper. It’s easier to criticize Beth Moore than to be Beth Moore.

I think all of us would do well to recognize that leadership is difficult and while we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to abuse and corruption, we should obey the Scriptures and hold our leaders with some esteem. We should recognize that the sideline gig is much easier than the one in the arena, that couch commentary comes easy, real leadership is hard.

5 Reflections for the Pro-Life Movement

40 years ago, the Supreme Court issued its infamous Roe-v-Wade decision, making legal abortion the law of the land. Since then, there has been a pitched battle between those who (like me) consider abortion to be the savage ending of innocent and helpless life and those who consider it a tragic, yet viable option for pregnant women in distress. This issue has shaped our public discourse, influenced local elections, and has galvanized millions into political activism.

Many feel that the the pro-life position has gained in the popular culture. Polls seem to indicate that younger generations may be even more pro-life than their parents. And yet, abortion still remains the law the land and millions of babies are sent to their premature deaths every year. So what is next for the pro-life movement? Here are five reflections for a 21st-century pro-life movement. 

1) The Prolife Movement Should Model Wilberforce’s Endurance and Courage

William Wilberforce is a model for the pro-life movement in that he spent an entire life devoted to ending the slave trade in Britain. There were no overnight successes, but a long, steady, courageous battle to win over the English public and to shepherd legislation through the Parliament. It was a long hard slog filled with many defeats and disappointments. For much of his life, Wilberforce was on the wrong end of public opinion, a minority, an extremist for his views. And yet God gave him the courage and backbone to hang in there. The prolife movement still has much work to do to convince the public that abortion should be wrong. It still requires courage to move legislation forward and get it signed into law. Some question the commitment and feel Christians should abandon the issue. But if abortion is a moral evil, then we should not tire in seeing it abolished permanently.

2) The Prolife Movement Should Primarily Invest In Crisis Pregnancy Centers

It disgusts me when I see the amount of money spent each year by conservative donors on candidates. I only imagine if half that money were donated to crisis pregnancy centers, where real lives are being saved each day. In my next book I devote an entire chapter to the largely unheralded success of these places. They run on shoe-string budgets and are largely staffed by dedicated volunteers who share love and kindness with scared, lonely, often-victimized young girls. These are places of hope and help, not simply for the unborn, but for young mothers. Many offer parenting counseling, give away supplies like diapers and baby formula. Our church supports a local center every year with a baby bottle donation campaign and some of our members volunteer at a thrift shop that supports the center. But sadly, most Christians are only prolife every four years. They are prolife in that they have a good reason to bash Democrats or liberals. But that’s the extent of their work. But a real prolife ethic is devoted not primarly to politics, but to saving one baby at time, whether it’s an unborn baby, a trafficked young girl, or an immigrant. It’s easy to be prolife every four years in November. It takes work to save the life in front of you.

3) The Prolife Movement Should Reframe The Issue as Justice Issue

The siren call of today’s generation of young activists is justice. And this is good, because God is a God of justice and calls His children to be on the side of justice. The prolife movement needs to adopt 21st-century language, to capture the hearts and minds of young evangelicals who are prolife but have a visceral distaste for the bombastic politics of the religious right. I think there are two ways to accomplish this rebranding. First, the prolife movement should break free from the conservative movement and stand on it’s own. In other words, there are young evangelicals who may be prolife, but who don’t subscribe to all the tenets of political conservatism. This would enable the movement to be more nimble, to engage and join common cause with people of all political stripes to save innocent children from death. Secondly, the movement should adopt a more holistic version of prolife. We shouldn’t simply champion the unborn, but we should fight human trafficking and join other causes that defend human life.

4) The Prolife Movement Should Not Make Women the Enemy 

So-called “war on women” is mostly a media creation, a caricature of prolife activists. Most pro-lifers I know are generous, giving, compassionate souls. Still, there are some whose articulation of pro-life views hurts the cause. Abortion is a sensitive issue. In championing the unborn we should not disrespect the very difficult choices faced by young women. We should be winsome in our public words and actions. Too often issues like abortion are used only to create enemies out of those who disagree. And the issue has been often used, by both political parties, to gain power. But perhaps this generation of activists will embrace engagement over demonizing. Perhaps we can find common ground and reduce the number of abortions. Not one baby is saved from death by using the issue as a sledgehammer against those who disagree. And let’s offer forgiveness and hope for those who have made the tragic choice to end a life, pointing them to the grace found in Christ.

5) The Prolife Movement Should Continue to Shape the Culture

According to Gallup, only 41% of Americans consider themselves pro-choice. That’s a  historic low. I think this is the result of many things, including the development and wide use of ultra-sound technology, creative attempts to shape the media culture, and a younger generation keenly focused on justice for the vulnerable. And yet we have more work to do. We need politicians to craft pro-life legislation, but what we need more is a culture willing to accept such legislation. Politicians largely respond to movements in the broader culture. So more creative media, more education, more small victories. 

We also need to address the factors that lead to abortion, particularly the crisis of fatherlessness. Abortion is downstream from the breakdown of the family. So while we fight the wanton destruction of human life, let’s recommit to strengthening the family, building up of our local churches, and preaching the life-saving message of the gospel.

The Kingdom of Disney and the Kingdom of God

As I write this, our family is wrapping up a long vacation in Orlando, Florida. We took our kids to a long-awaited, much-anticipated trip to Disney World. Specifically we spent our time at the Magic Kingdom, the epicenter of Disney world. Even though it was a herculean effort to lead four children through the teaming masses of people at the park (a clerk told us it was the busiest day of the year, go figure), we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. It was way more fun than I envisioned and our kids had a grand time.

I was struck by the idea of Disney World. Christians have long had their beefs with this iconic entertainment company. There was the famous ill-fated boycott in the 90′s. There is the company’s profiteering off of violent media. And some feel that Disney introduces secular themes through the cute back door of seemingly innocent characters. There is substance to all of those complaints. It’s not too hard to see in the Disney ethos a sort of pantheism, that there is no transcendant God, but that the real hope for the world lies within your heart and my heart. Good parents subtly correct this with biblical theology.

Still, the idea of the Magic Kingdom is one worth celebrating, I think, in so much as it speaks to the longing in each of us for a place, a time, an environment where all of our hopes and dreams are met. Where evil is destroyed, life is fun and creative, and beautiful. I don’t think this idea originated with Disney. I think his idea originated with God, who once created such a perfect place called Eden. Eden, of course, was not Disney and Disney is not Eden. But Eden was the place where God dwelled and where life was as it should be, as it was created to be. The Bible tells us that Eden was violated by a destructive enemy and a force called sin. And if you look closely at almost every fairy tale that originates from Disney and others, you will find a glimpse of this story.

The Bible also tells us that a Kingdom is coming one day that will spell the end of violence and war, of evil and death. That our hopes and dreams will finally be consummated and life will be as it should be. As we all know it was intended to be. Unlike the Magic Kingdom, the hope for this new city is not within us, but in the King who defeated the enemy and will usher in the Kingdom. Pantheism tells us that we can, by mere belief, usher in the Kingdom. But we all know that is not true. Human history tells us that man cannot create utopia. He can try. He can create pretty cool things, like Disney World which have echoes and glimpses of a perfect Kingdom. But ultimately someone outside of us must do this work. Someone transcendant and powerful and sovereign.

So, yes, Disney gets much of the theology wrong. It’s Walt Disney’s attempt to create Heaven on earth without the ruler of Heaven. And yet we shouldn’t dismiss Disney World as mere fantasy in that we shouldn’t imagine Heaven will be any less wonderful than Disney World. We should know that Heaven will be much greater than Disney world.

Sometimes Christian teaching makes Heaven seem, well, boring. Like going to Disney World in Orlando is way better than going to Heaven. As if Heaven will be a bunch of Christians in suits singing four verses of every hymn without smiling. As if Heaven will be uncreative and unattractive. But if you read the Bible, you will know that Heaven will be anything but. The Kingdom of God will not be any less than Disney world and will be so much more. God, the first Artist, the original Creative, the source of all joy and love and goodness will design a place that will make Disney look like a fold-up carnival in a Kmart parking lot. Because at the center will not be the misplaced hope in the human heart, but the glory of God and the light of His Son, Jesus Christ.

So until that Kingdom is fully here, let’s celebrate glimpses of it when we see them, however flawed, however obscured by the dark glass of a fallen world. When it comes to Disney, let’s dismiss the faulty theology, but celebrate it’s creativity and beauty.

10 Most Popular Blog Posts

This was a great year for my blog, the best ever. I’m still fairly unknown compared to heavyweights like Tim Challies or Jon Acuff, but I’m proud of the fact that my number of visits nearly tripled as did my number of visitors, while my pageviews more than doubled. I also added quite a few Twitter followers and email subscribers. All in all a very good year.

Here are the top ten blogs posts in 2012:

1) Ten Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Dad

This is a half-serious/half-humorous post about the unknowns of fathering. What’s funny about this post is that I wrote it late one Sunday night after an evening church service. I had a bit of inspiration rolling around in my head. I had no idea that it would “go viral” as the cool kids say. It was linked to by quite a few popular blogs.

2) The Sin About Which No One Will Speak

This post addressed the sin of envy, a sin which we seem to cultivate in America as something good. My post makes the argument that we talk quite a bit about the sin of greed, but too little about the sin of envy.

3) What You Don’t Like About Your Church (And Why That’s Good)

Here I discuss the importance of finding a church that doesn’t perfectly suit your preferences. It’s important that Christians die to their preferences for the good of the body and for their own growth.

4) Three Pitfalls for Young, Evangelical Leaders

As a young evangelical leader, I see a lot of hope in my generation. But I also see some potential pitfalls for our leadership. this post generated quite a bit of good discussion on Twitter and elsewhere.

5) Five Reasons Why Pastors Should Apologize

One of the most potent words a pastor or any leader can say is, “I’m sorry; I was wrong.” Rather than weakening his leadership, it empowers it.

6) 5 Ways You Can Help Your Church

This post generated a lot of reaction and I have had several who requested permission to print it for church newsletters or bulletins. Essentially I give some practical ways in which Christians can be good church members.

7) 5 Resolutions for a Christian Communicator

“To communicate the truth of the good news of the gospel, in any form, is a high privilege and a sober calling.” I drafted five resolutions that might guide anyone privileged to communicate the gospel in way.

8) 5 Ways to Pray for Your Church

We complain a lot about the Church and about our own churches. But how often do we pray? This is a simple prayer guide to help folks pray for the local body of believers to which they are called.

9) Bible-reading plans for 2012

I challenged our church to read through the Bible in a year and listed a variety of resources and plans. These are “evergreen” so this post might be helpful if you’re planning on doing it in 2013. (BTW, I’m almost finished with my plan for 2012).

10) What Pastoring Taught Me About Spiritual Growth

Pastoring has taught me a lot about spiritual growth, especially how to disciple different people in different ways.

 

What Advent is and Why We Should Celebrate

There is something really wonderful about the word, advent. When you Google the word, one of the definitions you get is: the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. We know this word from other contexts besides religions. We say things like, “Since the advent of the automobile . . . .” Or “Since the advent of the modern era . . . ”

Advent means something new is coming. The dawn of a new and better era. This is really what Christmas is about, isn’t it? It’s the celebration of the advent of a new era. God broke into time and space and entered our world. He is Immanuel, God with us. He broke in the midst of the sin and clamor and the fallenness. He came as a vulnerable baby in a poverty-stricken town to ordinary people, in a time of great political unrest. Advent–Christ’s Advent–means that God sees us in our distress, in our sin-ravaged condition, in all of our helplessness.

We’d like to think that we can save ourselves from ourselves. We’d like to think that with a few tweaks here and there, we can create the Heaven we long for. We’d like to think that with a bit more progress and education we can overcome evil. But alas, we know we cannot. If the tragic events in Sandy Hook tell us anything they remind us that evil invades even the safest, most beautiful environments on this earth. But the hope of Christmas tells us that Christ invades even the most evil, sin ravaged places on this earth.

The 1st Advent is worth celebrating with great joy because it tells us that a new day is here. Christmas is the dawn of something to come. It fills us with hope that the endless cycle of sin and violence and hopelessness of human history will someday be reversed. The curse that was put on mankind, on the universe is not forever. God broke in as man and God and by his life, death, and resurrection defeated sin and death. As hymnwriter Isaac Watts wrote:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

We should celebrate Christmas joyfully with presents, with food, with singing, with festive decorations because Jesus has come. God is with us. And because the First Advent signals a second advent, a coming of a King whose Kingdom will end all other kingdoms and whose rule will create the world we all long for but can’t create. His glory will spread through the earth and sin and sickness and death will be no more. The enemy will be forever silenced.

So, celebrate Christmas, not as a scrooge, not as a scold, but with overflowing joy. Because the Lord has come.

Evangelism as a Journey Instead of a Deal

I’ve been reading quite a few books on evangelism lately for some of my Mdiv work at Trinity. I don’t agree with all that I have read, but one of the things that I think I’m learning is the simple idea that evangelism is less of a “deal” that we must close and more of a journey, a conversation we must initiate.

The passion to win people to saving knowledge of Christ is good, but sometimes in our zeal we misguidedly think we, and only we, are the ones who have to witness the conversion. And we put all kinds of undue pressure on ourselves to get it all right. In reality, it is the Holy Spirit who does the saving. We are simply ambassadors. We share this great story. Empowered by the Holy Ghost, we go into the world and deliver the message.

And sometimes it is our message that needs tweaking. For instance, many people think witnessing is simply applying a few verses in Romans or Galatians or John and sort of hitting someone with a dump truck of salvation verses. This method may work with someone who has a base in Protestantism or Catholicism. Or it may work with someone who is at the end of years of careful gospel nurturing by someone else. But by and large, starting with the dump truck is ineffective and turns people away. Instead, we should begin by initiating conversation, building a friendship, establishing a repoire. And we might approach the gospel in ways that share the entire narrative rather than skipping ahead to the New Testament.

Recently I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with a Hindu friend. In previous years I might have been intimidated. I don’t have all the answers to rebut Hinduism with Christianity. But this time I was confident. First I asked him about his faith journey. Then I shared the narrative of the Bible. I said something like this, “I know you probably disagree with the Bible and affirm your own holy book. I understand that. Let me just share with you the story of the Bible.” And I started with Creation, then the fall of man and worked through the story of Israel up until the revelation of Jesus on the cross and on through Revelation and the coming Kingdom. I said something like this, “The reason I believe this is because it answer the deep questions people have better than any other narrative I’ve heard or read.”

My friend didn’t bow the knee on the spot and trust Christ. But the dialogue was open and he was intrigued. You see, most people don’t even know what the Bible’s true story is. They react against what they think it is or some misguided ways Christians have presented the gospel message. And again, having been released from the pressure of “closing the deal” so I could have another “notch on my belt” I was free to share only what the Spirit led me to share and then direct the conversation that didn’t make my friend want to shut down and never talk about it again.

We have to start looking at evangelism as less than a one-time, do or die opportunity and more of a journey. The Spirit is working and you may be one of several Christians used by God to win their hearts. When we approach evangelism this way, it takes much of the fear out of it. We don’t have to get out all of our Christian sales pitch in one moment. Instead, we can feel our way around, depend on the Spirit’s leading, and apply the gospel to each person’s differing lives. Sometimes your witness may involve a detailed explanation of the gospel story. Sometimes it may be a question or two that merely cracks open a seemingly shut door. Sometimes it may be as simple as doing a kind work of charity for a person that gets them to ask about why you do it. Other times it may be as simple asking someone to that church function.

The key is to be obedient to the Spirit’s call and be confident in His ability to convert seemingly stone-cold hearts.

5 Things I’ve Learned in Ten Years of Marriage

Last month, on November 22nd, Angela and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. I’m not an expert on marriage and by some standards I’m still a rookie. But I have learned a few things in these ten wonderful years. Here they are, in no certain order:

1) I’m not naturally a good husband. Before I tied the knot, I was convinced I’d be a great husband. Some lucky girl would be praising the Lord daily that she nabbed me. How wrong I was, really. Rather, I was the blessed one, having snared a women as patient and loving as my wife Angela. What I’ve learned is that I am not naturally a good husband. I have to really, really work at it. Naturally I’m selfish, proud, and tend to see things only my way. To be a good husband I must do two things: I must work at loving my wife intentionally and I must rely on the Spirit of God to change my heart. If you’re not yet married, you won’t realize this until you do get married. And then this reality will hit you in waves.

2) It really isn’t good for men to be alone. Those words uttered by the Triune God in the Garden of Eden are actually true. Nothing changes a man quite like being married to a good, godly woman. I can say that for myself. When you commit to being and staying married for the long haul, you are committing to a relationship that will refine you as a man. It will shave off your worst instincts. It will domesticate you in a good way. It will mature you. Today I am dependent in many ways on my wife. Not simply for what she does for me, but the companionship, the togetherness. I don’t like it when she is out of town or away. I feel like half of my life is missing. God designed life to be this way.

3) Love grows deeper over time. There is a richness to long-lasting marital love that is hard to describe in words. When you are married, you go through tremendous highs and lows as a couple. You will endure crushing defeats. You will enjoy soaring heights. You will suffer pain together. And you will laugh together. All of these times only add muscle to your love, they build your relationship. If you are willing to hang in there and suffer and laugh and cry and forgive and repent together, you will, at the end, find a love that is far richer than the plastic, Hollywood, fake infatuation you think you desire.

4) The gospel is the indispensable key to your marriage. And when I say “gospel” I don’t simply mean, “Make sure you marry someone who shares your faith.” Yes, yes, and amen to that one. But it’s more than that. Marriage requires that each of you believe the gospel so deeply that you live it out. It means the husband is willing to die literally and figuratively for his wife. It means there is a oneness that is a small picture of the intimacy shared by the Trinity. It means you dig deep on forgiveness, extending grace to the one whose wounds can hurt you the most. And you quickly repent when it is you who is doing the wounding. It means you don’t projet some kind of impossible standard on your spouse, but accept her as a sinner who is being slowly sanctified by God’s grace. It means you, like Jesus, love your spouse at their worst because you will wand her to love you at your worst. Believing the gospel means you don’t see your marriage as a happiness vehicle for your pleasure, but as a witness of the grand narrative of the Bible to a watching world.

5) Every day you spend with your spouse is a day for which you should praise God. If you are a husband, realize that your wife is a gift from God. If you are a wife, realize that your husband is a gift from God. Somedays it doesn’t seem like your spouse is a gift. Maybe she wakes up cranky. And some days you are not so much a gift to her. But the longer you are married, for as many years as you are gifted together, you will thank God for bringing her to you. I think this way often, when I see the way my wife enriches my life, cares for our children, and does so many things in the community. I’m grateful for God giving her to me. And if you are married, you too should be this grateful for the one to whom you are united by God.

A God For Every Part of this Tragedy

Thus says the LORD:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.”

(Jeremiah 31:15 ESV)

As a father of four young children, it was hard for me to process the horrific news of the Sandy Hook massacre. How could anyone gun down defenseless children? This is a tragedy that defies easy answers, even for those of us who put our hope in Christ. We should resist simple solutions and trite phrases that may contain truth, but end up providing no comfort. In this dark hour, we don’t want to be Job’s friends.

When evil unveils its ugly face, we must turn to God and bare our souls. Each part of this tragedy finds a God standing ready to hear the cries of the grieving.

“What would possess a man to do this?” To this question, we might point to mental instability, revenge, or some combination of factors. But ultimately, we know that it is evil itself that possesses humans do commit atrocities like this. It is the work of Satan, the author of evil, who has possessed men from the beginning of time to stage acts of gross violence. (John 8:44).

“What kind of world are we living in?” We are living in a broken world. When sin entered the world at the Fall, it did violence to God’s original creation. The Fall crushed man’s soul, bringing in death and the lust for death. Grieving people reach for all kinds of solutions: tighter gun laws, character training in schools, Ten Commandments in classrooms. Those may be good solutions, but ultimately, the roots of this tragedy go back to a Garden and a rotten piece of fruit. (Romans 5:12)

“I’m angry.” And you should be. We all should be. The Christian should mimic the visible anger felt by Jesus when he witnessed the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11). Death is not good. Death is the work of the enemy. Death is the enemy, the last enemy, Jesus came to defeat (1 Corinthians 15:26). Every life was created in God’s image and death, especially death at a young age, robs man of their full God-given potential. It’s not just okay to be angry at this sin, it’s the proper response of those who hate evil as God hates it.

“Where is God in This?” God sometimes seems hidden in despair (Job 23:8).And yet we are told that Christ weeps at death (John 11:35). That he knows our every tear (Psalm 56:8). We know we have a God is not immune to our pain and our struggle, but as Christ endured and suffered the very worst of life (Hebrews 4:15). We know that God is “close to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).

“Why Would God Allow This?” This is a fair question to ask. And the answer is: we don’t know. We won’t ever know. We can’t know the ways of God. And yet we are invited to ask Him that question, in anger, in fear, in sadness. The Psalmist often asked this very thing of God. Job was candid in His querying of the Heavenly Father. The Bible essentially says that we may never know why God allows what He allows (Isaiah 55:9).

“We need justice.” Every murder we see or hear about prompts something deep within our soul: a demand for justice. With a tragedy like Sandy Hook, that feeling is multiplied a thousand-fold. We want to see something done to the person responsible. This longing for justice reflects the heart of God who is a God of justice. Every heinous act of violence is an act against a holy God. A God who won’t let crimes go unpunished, whether big or small. And yet true justice can’t really be served in our courts. There must be a bigger payday. In one sense that day already came, when God poured out his righteous wrath against evil on His own son. This is why God could not look at his Son, why Jesus was forsaken on the cross. Jesus became the face of all evil. He bore this so sinners like you can me might find peace with God. Those who accept this find peace. Those who reject it will face the wrath of God one day. For perpetrators of these heinous crimes, there is a payday coming that will be swift and severe (Romans 2:5).

“Will the violence ever end?” Year after year, it seems we see more and more violence and bloodshed. We can put more cops on the streets and tighten our laws and affirm moral values. And yet it seems that violence continues, even in seemingly safe American towns like Newport, Connecticut. Will it ever end? The answer is yes. Satan, evil, violence does not have the last word. We are told that the last enemy, death, will be defeated (1 Corinthians 15:26). In a sense, it was defeated at the cross, where Christ conquered sin and death and rose victoriously in resurrection. There is coming a day when the King, Jesus, will fully consumate His kingdom, when the beauty and perfection of creation will be restored. When sin will be no more. When all tears will be wiped away and there will be no more death (Rev 21-22).

“What can we do to stop this?” Again, some pin the blame on lax gun laws. Others pin the blame on the lack of the Bible in the schools and a country’s embrace of liberal values. Others will call for increased mental health screening and assistance. All of these are good measures. But ultimately, we are powerless against evil, because we as fallen creatures are poisoned by this very evil. Though we should do all we can to prevent such senseless acts of brutality, we are limited as humans in our ability to combat violence. The only hope is in the baby who arrived on Christmas Day, into a world of violence and bloodshed (Matthew 2). Herod, a jealous king, ruthlessly killed thousands of infant boys in a quest to kill Jesus. It was a fulfillment of God’s prediction in Genesis 3:15 of the cosmic battle between God and Satan, played out in the human race. and yet it was that very baby Jesus, the God-man, who entered this world for the very purpose of defeating the curse, defeating death and evil, and bringing about hope. The hope for mankind is not to go back to a perceived golden era or to embrace progress. Every generation is is cursed. Jesus labeled his generation “a wicked and perverse generation” (Matthew 17:17. Paul labeled his generation, “crooked and perverse” (Philippines 2:15). The only golden era was Eden. The only utopia is the city for which we long, whose “builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10)

“Is there any hope?” When a gunman randomly and mercilessly robs 20 children of their lives, it’s hard to imagine any hope in the world. We live in perhaps the wealthiest, safest, most prosperous nation on earth and yet this violence and evil penetrate even here. And yet in the gospel story we find hope. Hope not just in that our sins were nailed to Jesus’ cross and that we find peace with God. But we also have hope that Christ defeated death and in the resurrection there will be new life. Life as it should be, as it was meant to me. There is hope in knowing that Christ is coming back one day to restore all things, to fix what we cannot fix and to establish His kingdom forever.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

- Edward Mote

Three Kinds of Christians Who Should Always Keep Their Cool

I was struck this week as I studied 1 Peter 4:7-11 as part of our Exiles series at church. I was struck particularly by this phrase: “Be self-controlled and sober-minded.” (v 4 ESV). There are differing ways translators have translated this. HCSB says “Be serious and disciplined.” NASB: “of sound judgement and sober spirit.” NLT: “Be earnest and disciplined.” KJV: “Be sober and watch.”

You get the idea. Christians are to be level-headed. Sober. Balanced. Mature. Of sound judgement. Wise. In control. These virtues should characterize our life, both in our speech, in our online engagement, in our beliefs. And yet there are times, many times, when virtues like this, such as balance, sound judgement, and sobriety are looked at by some as a lack of courage. Or we excuse them with things like, “I’m just speaking my mind.” Or we post half-baked conspiracy theories online or fire them off via email. We buy into ponzi schemes or weird ideas. An election doesn’t go our way and we freak out. We scan the negative headlines and we cower in fear or make goofy, doomsday predictions (or read the latest Christian bestsellers that posit them). But Peter says, “Be sober. Keep your cool. Pray.”

This phrasing is not original to Peter. In fact, in the New Testament you will find three types of Christians who the Bible says should always keep their cool:

1) Anyone looking for Jesus to Return. 1 Peter 4:1: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” Peter says the end is at hand. In my view this means two things: First it means the end of the age is upon us. It was upon the first century Christians and it us upon us. It was coming soon for them and coming soon for us. So, knowing that the end of the age is upon us, how should we act? Should we create newer charts? Should we try to figure out who the anti-Christ is? Should we say historically innacurate things like, “Its as bad as its ever been!.” Should we hide in the basement? No. In light of the end, Peter says, “be sober, be watchful, and pray.” When the headlines turn sour, Christians should be the last people gripped by irrational fear. The second thing this means is that the end is at hand in the sense that the end of the reign of Satan is at hand. The end is the beginning. Christ has defeated sin, death and the curse. The kingdom is here and is coming. So, rather than fear, rejoice. Be watchful. Be serious. Be balanced. And pray. Christians, of all people should not be fear-mongering conspiracy nuts. We should be joyful readers of the news, because we know the end is here and a new beginning is dawning. We know the story. We know a King is coming.

So, really, Peter here is referring to every kind of Christian. Because every serious disciple should be watchful and sober. Every follower of Christ should be joyfully looking for the return of the King. Not with colored charts, but with prayerful, sober hearts. (I honestly didn’t intend for that to rhyme!).

2) Pastors 1 Timothy 3:2 says that one of the qualities for pastors should be “self control and sobriety” (1 Timothy 3:2). And this makes sense. If we are to lead God’s people to do as God says and live as if the end is near, we have to model it in our own lives, don’t we? There is something about leadership that say if the leader is freaked out and scared, the people will be even more freaked out and scared. Leaders set the tone. Especially pastors who are looked upon, by their people, as having a word from God. That’s why one of our main jobs is to calm people during a crisis, to give them the reassurance that God is in control, that the end is near and the King is coming, despite what is happening right now. That’s why I cringe a bit when I see pastors write and publish doomsday scenario books or make outlandish public statements about America, etc. There is a place for prophetic preaching, but it must be given with a sober, self-controlled tone–is that not what Paul tells Timothy here? We are to point people to the Word and say, “God is sovereign over history, over what is happening today and what will happen tomorrow. Live by faith, not by fear.” Sadly, fear sells more books than faith, but good pastors lead their people with a cool head.

3) Church members Titus 2:1-6 gives instruction  four kinds of church members: Old men, young men, old women, young women. This pretty much covers all kinds of people you’d find in a church. And what undergirds all of his instruction is the same idea used by Peter in 1 Peter 4: Sobriety. Self-control. Maturity. It seems that one of the signs of a growing believers is this very underrated trait.

At times I wil hear Christians say things like, “Well, Dan, you have to think that way because you are the pastor.” And by 1 Timothy 3:2 standards, yes, they are right. I must be sober, etc. But according to Paul’s words to Titus, the church members are not exempt from displaying spiritual maturity either. So, therefore, it does matter when you send that half-truth conspiracy email or you post some outlandish thing on Facebook or when you live every day by fear of the headlines. Apparently that’s wrong for the church members as well as the pastor.

Summary: The point of all this is the inspired Words of God as written by the Apostle Peter: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” 1 Peter 4:7 (ESV). How do you live in view of the end? Keep your cool. Be sober. Pray.

Friday Five: Tyler Ellis

Today I’m pleased to welcome my friend Tyler Ellis to the blog. Tyler serves as a Campus Minister at the University of Delaware. Tyler also partners with One Verse and the Seed Company which translates the Bible into new languages. Tyler and his family live in Newark, DE.

Tyler has a just-released book, Question Everything. The book comes with endorsements from some very prominent Christian leaders. This is such an intriguing approach to Bible study that I asked Tyler to stop by and answer a few questions:

This is a unique concept – providing a question for every verse of the New Testament – what spurred the idea?


The idea to write a question for every verse in the New Testament was spurred in the spring of my sixth year as a Campus Minister in Arizona.Our student organization on the university campus was composed of students from a variety of backgrounds.  These students were Christians, atheists and agnostics.  Some had grown up in the church, while some were new believers.  We also had a number of international students.With every cup of coffee I shared with a student, I noticed a common thread being confirmed over and over.  It was something I observed first in students, but have since seen it to be true in all types of people.
People often have strong opinions about the Bible without ever having read the Bible.It is this observation that compelled me – as the subtitle of the book says – to be on the lookout for a “fresh way to read” the Bible.  I wanted to offer a new approach that made Bible reading more engaging.  That’s why I was thrilled to discover the art of inquiry.



You talk a lot about “Bible poverty”.  What do you mean by this? We usually associate the word “poverty” with people who lack money, food and water, housing, education, medicine, etc., but what about those who lack the Word of God? We can be spiritually starved as well as be physically starved.I’m not sure who coined the phrase, but I first heard about “Bible poverty” at a Catalyst conference in 2010.  One of the booths that caught my eye was for The Seed Company who are a division of Wycliffe Bible Translators.  As I read through the packet they gave me, I was shocked by two sobering statistics.  First, that more than 350 million people in the world still don’t have one verse of the Bible translated into their language.  The second statistic is that 66% of U.S. Christians rarely or never read the Bible.

The mission of The Seed Company and of my book, Question Everything, is summed up by the Twitter hashtag, #EndBiblePoverty.  That’s why I’m excited to see that 10% of the book’s royalties go to The Seed Company and sponsor Bible translation.



Christians are often afraid to ask questions about the Bible.  Does this hamper spiritual growth?

Asking questions and growing spiritually is definitely related.  In fact, Jesus provides the perfect example of this.  In Luke 2:41-52, we read the account of Jesus at the age of twelve.  Verse 46 says he was, “In the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.”  And in verse 52, it says that, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”

Questions and doubts are a fact of life.  We all have them from time to time.  But I think we underestimate the way questions have the potential to be the best or the worst thing that ever happened to us.  The difference maker is how we respond to questions.

When people are afraid to ask their questions, they take a step in the direction of “blind faith” or even losing faith altogether.

But when people allow their questions to launch them on a quest for truth, they take a step in the direction of good faith, as they grow in confidence and own their beliefs.

That’s one of the benefits of reading Question Everything hand-in-hand with the Bible.  It doesn’t tell you what to believe, but invites you to go to the source for yourself.

This is sort of a new way to read the Bible.  How can these questions help discipleship?

Reading God’s Word is essential to following God’s Son.  Jesus was emphatic about this when he said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

To “abide” in the words of Jesus means to live out his teachings; to continue in it; to hold to it; to accept it; to obey it; and to be faithful to it.

While Question Everything is a great resource for students in High School and college; couples and families; new believers and old believers; homeschoolers and seminarians; it’s particularly ideal for discipleship groups looking for a practical tool to encourage Bible reading.

In addition to the 7,958 questions I wrote for every verse in the New Testament, the book also includes a Life Application page after each chapter.  I almost left this part out since it added another 260 pages to the book, but I decided to keep it because I wanted the book to be more than an academic exercise.  These questions help us to be doers of the Word rather than hearers only.

What do you think are some of the most important Bible-related questions?

I can think of a lot of questions regarding the Bible that people would do well to investigate for themselves.

• “Are the books of the Bible reliable history?”  Just as people who’ve never read the Bible often have opinions about what the Bible says, there are people with opinions about whether the Bible is reliable history, who have never held it up to the laws of histiography in order to test it in same the manner as other classical literature.

• “What if the Bible had never been written?”  This question invites us to explore the often overlooked impact the Bible has made in our lives, both generally and personally.  We take many things for granted – like law and morality, art and music, science and exploration, and hospitals and universities – that are hard to imagine life without.  Yet aspects of life such as these would not be the same had not the Bible influenced them.

• “Hypothetically, if the message of the Bible was shown to be true, would you give your life to follow Jesus?  This may very well be the most important question anyone ever asks themselves in regarding God, the Bible and Jesus.  To answer with a “Yes”, shows humility and a willingness to go wherever truth leads.  To answer with a “No”, exposes a deeper issue of rebellion.  If someone admits that they would not take the Bible seriously even if it was proven to be true (hypothetically), then they’d be wasting time to ask any other question.  May we all have humble hearts that desire to know truth at all cost!

Question Everything Book Trailer: