I suspect, if the Holy Spirit blesses us with another awakening, our churches will look more like what Tim Keller envisioned—where grace will once more find a way through the tangles of intolerant secularism and tribalistic religion.
You can now pre-order my book coming next spring from
@ZReflective
. It's been a life-changing 3 years of studying the spiritual and intellectual influences on
@timkellernyc
. I'm grateful to Tim and Kathy and their friends along this journey of discovery.
I met my hero, Tim Keller.
Tim’s death leaves a void I can never fill. I’ll miss his encouragement. I’ll miss his teaching. I’ll miss the books he never got to write. I’ll miss his friendship, the long conversations about anything and everything in ministry.
For many in my generation, even if they only grew up listening to his sermons or reading his books, Tim Keller became a spiritual father.
I’m sad for us. But I can’t be sad for him. Now, he sees his Savior face to face.
Unfortunately, a neighbor boy snuck into our yard, stole the rest of our peaches, and smashed them on rocks. On the plus side, I’m praying we have a budding Augustine next door.
I'm hearing seriously scary stuff from my doctor friends in the hospitals. Let's join together to pray for all our health-care workers and the many who are suffering and dying.
Apparently there's a "special place in hell" reserved for me, my friends, fellow church members, and family in Alabama. Because many of us don't support Donald Trump and Roy Moore. This is the Republican Party today. For how much longer?
Winston Churchill rejected Christianity. So did Abraham Lincoln. Dietrich Bonhoeffer held some decidedly non-evangelical views. All of them heroes to me and many others. But when I see them cited, I don't see anything like the vitriol directed toward Martin Luther King Jr.
I’ve come to expect that many will lie about what I say and think. It’s part of the job for me and life for all of us in this fallen world. I don’t quite know what to make of the fact that almost all of the lying comes from professing Christians who know the truth.
Confession: As a pastor in rural America, something I’m realizing is this underlying sense of deep shame I feel that people in OUR church have bought fully into conspiracy theories and have seemingly lost interest in the gospel we’ve held out week after week for almost 12 years.
It doesn’t look like much. But if you know the book about
@timkellernyc
, this is the attic apartment where he told his best friend in 1970 about his commitment to follow Christ wholeheartedly.
With similar pastors’ conferences nearly every month around the country, we may not need T4G any longer. But I’ll still miss seeing my friends. And I’ll mourn the reasons so many friendships have strained, or even broken.
First Reformed preacher I ventured across Chicago as a college freshman to see? R. C. Sproul. First book I remember that introduced me to Reformed theology? His 'Willing to Believe.' Changed my life, by God's grace.
Published 1 year ago today. Thank you for all the messages, all the encouragement, and all the stories you've shared with me about
@timkellernyc
and his influence on your life. You have helped me through a hard year as together we have grieved Tim's loss.
I'm grateful to
@MikeCosper
giving me a chance last August to talk through some painful history. The episode released today, and I hope others can learn from my mistakes.
Maybe I'm weird, but I like sports because you don't always get justice. The good guy doesn't always win. You have to cope with pain (hey fellow Chiefs fans). It's like real life. We want justice, but we can't always find it in this life or in this world.
Latest episode of
#gospelbound
: talking to
@JohnPiper
about his new book, 'Coronavirus and Christ.' We discussed N. T. Wright and Kenneth Copeland, but more than anything else I just appreciated his biblical wisdom and counsel for these tough times.
I'm honored to work with such gifted and dedicated colleagues, and eager to see what God has in store for
@TGC
in the years ahead.
Though the days may be dark, we'll keep trusting God to renew the contemporary church in the ancient gospel of Christ.
I don't suppose Twitter is the place to safely confess sadness at Pizza Hut closing down in the town near where I grew up. I'll gladly be the object of your jokes. I'm just grateful for the community and joy that can be found even in a simple chain restaurant in a small town.
Pre-order by February 6 to get the bonus content:
- Access to the first 3 chapters of the book (audio and ebook)
- 2 booklists (from
@timkellernyc
and myself)
- Exclusive video with global church leaders
- Invitation to a Q&A with me about the book
Visit
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” John 5:21
It’s true of the empty tomb. And it’s true of the fruitful womb. Lauren and I are excited to welcome a baby boy in July. Praise God for new life!
Today begins the first writing leave of my career, when I'll focus on my two most ambitious projects to date. I plan to return after Labor Day. I'm grateful to
@TGC
for this time and would really appreciate your prayer for God's favor on my writing and research.
Tomorrow we celebrate 10 years with our beloved colleague
@MattSmethurst
at
@TGC
. He is the godly, encouraging, dedicated, funny, creative man you know him to be from Twitter. I’m blessed to call him a friend. Richmond, you’re lucky to have him.
'Young pastors today are often cool, impressive, and popular. But the pastoral ministry that has borne eternal fruit down through the centuries has been something deeper, grander and more resilient.'
@rayortlund
It would compound the tragedy of 50 years ago if we failed to learn the lessons for our own blind spots. That's why we hosted
#MLK50conference
. Learn more about the event and find all video and audio from every session.
You don’t need to stretch your imagination far to see how the following scenario could play out on election night. My review of
@DavidAFrench
's new book on the secession threat.
What Happens When an Evangelical Pundit, Armed Only with 58K Twitter Followers and a Reference to the Bebbington Quadrilateral, Takes on a Historian | the way of improvement leads home
Can we just agree to give all the awards to 'The Crown' for 'Aberfan'? Got this hereditary Welsh Methodist in tears for building the episode around 'Jesus Lover of My Soul' set to the tune of 'Aberystwyth.' Gonna sing it for devotions while hugging the kids tight tomorrow night.
I thought God wanted me to be a pastor. During seminary I had no ambitions beyond the local church. I only hope that in some small ways my work encourages and otherwise helps the shepherds God has called to tend his flock. They are my heroes.
'The real culture war is taking place inside our own disordered hearts, wracked by inordinate desires for things that control us, that lead us to feel superior and exclude those without them, and that fail to satisfy us even when we get them.'
@timkellernyc
What an exciting day for
@TGC
as we welcome
@mevanshill
to our editorial staff and promote senior writer
@sarahezylstra
to full-time work training feature writers and overseeing our faith/work section.
I could suggest many reasons you'll want to listen to this interview with
@timkellernyc
for
@LBEpodcast
.
But really you should just listen to hear how God's working in his life through cancer. We can all learn from his perspective.
I'm excited to share with you today the first fruits of a project many months in the making. I've been honored most of the last 10 years to host
@TGC
Podcast. I've interviewed many friends, mentors, colleagues, and teachers who inspire me to find firm faith in an anxious age.
It might be my greatest fear. What if I’m so busy in evangelical activity that I forget Jesus Christ and the purpose behind it all? What if I’m just spinning up religious projects covered in religious language, but there’s no Spirit behind these works?
'Polemics are sometimes necessary—but they are medicine, not food. You can’t live on medicine. In the long run constant polemics are exhausting and they don’t build us up spiritually.'
The crazy thing about these Twitter controversies is that the mobs don’t learn from error. If anything the judgments are quicker, more fierce. And a lot of folks trained to know better, paid to know better, gleefully lead the way. Don’t we all know we’re the next target?
I talked with
@drmoore
on
#Gospelbound
about why he’s willing to lose his job, how to lead when it seems no one is following, and how to tell when your conviction is just ambition in disguise.
What joy! We just opened our first full
@TGC
conference since 2019. It’s our largest crowd ever in person and also overall watching online around the world.
@melissabkruger
is teaching on God’s judgment and grace in the ark of Genesis 6-9.
Some bittersweet news. First, the sweet: this past Sunday, Aug. 29th, the saints of Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama, called me to be their lead pastor! The Adams are headed south, and we’re so excited! Here’s a pic from when I preached in view of a call at ICC. (1/4)