Matthew 11:28–30 has become one of my favorite passages in Scripture. There is something in the tone of Jesus’ words that exposes my Pharisaical heart, and it might expose yours, too. It shows how easily we slip into a mindset where we live as if His favor could be earned through our human efforts. Over […]

A Calling You Can Blink Past I’m not sure I’ll ever stop asking where I’m meant to go or what purpose I’m called to serve. Over the years, I’ve learned it’s best to view a calling as content-specific rather than location-specific. For me, it’s never been about the age group I teach, the city I […]

For years, I believed Jesus reserved His loving kindness for the obviously broken: the prodigals, the tax collectors, the sinners who knew they were lost. But then I read Mark 10. In Mark 10, the rich young ruler comes to Jesus sincerely, respectfully, and with remarkable confidence in his own obedience. “All these [laws] I […]

Editor’s note: Midwestern Seminary is highlighting doctoral studies this February, and this article offers an encouraging look at the rigor, heart, and faithfulness such work requires. Doctoral studies is a journey, one which only a small percentage of the world completes. In America alone, census data shows that only 2% of the country holds a […]

Over twenty years ago, I read Let the Nations Be Glad, and something awakened in me. The beauty of God’s glory going forth among the nations captured my heart. I was gripped by the wonder of the gospel advancing to every tribe and tongue. Over time, that passion faded quietly into the background—buried beneath the […]

I worked out today for the first time in four years. Yes, you read that right—four years. I’ve walked and done a few small things along the way, but today was the first time I stepped foot in a gym. As a former college athlete, my life used to revolve around getting faster, stronger, and […]

Our kiddos have firmly planted themselves in the “why” era. You know the season—Why are we going to church? Why are we eating dinner? Why aren’t we having pizza? Why are we having pizza? Why are you going to work? (If you think I included too many examples here, you’re getting the point.) And inevitably, […]

As I approach the end of my final year in seminary, the reality of applying to ministry jobs can feel like a consuming fire. Instead of reading for class, catching up with family, or recovering lost sleep, I am drawn to the ministry job boards. The pressure to apply my seminary learning in the right […]

The Christian faith is a singing faith. A singing saint brings deep joy to the heart of God. There is not a chapter and verse in Scripture that explicitly states this, but when you consider the sum of singing commands and the role singing plays at so many critical points in redemptive history, we easily […]

Discipleship is both taught and caught. We need faithful teachers who open the Scriptures for us and living examples who show us what it looks like to follow Jesus. In Philippians 3:17, Paul exhorts the church, “Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example […]