What is Your PPK Profile?

In church planting circles, it is popular to identify leaders as prophets, priests, or kings. The prophet is someone whose primary gifting is preaching and teaching. The priest is the true pastor type who naturally expresses empathy and care, listens well, and finds it life-giving to help people work through problematic personal issues. The king […]

The Power We Need

Last week, just after our family finished supper and was transitioning from the dining room into the den to play a board game, without warning the power went out. There was no wind. No severe weather. So, we took it in stride, lit some candles, and started the game. Several hours later, again without warning, […]

A Tribute to My Youngest at Sixteen

Today, my youngest turns sixteen. It is a tradition in the Caston home to take the birthday guy or girl out for a special family dinner. Although two days early, Sarah Wynn’s celebratory meal was on Friday night at the place of her choosing, Tam’s Tupelo, a semi-local restaurant in Cumming, GA, which features cuisine […]

If You Don’t Limp, You Shouldn’t Lead

Jacob’s Story: the Ascent of a Leader Jacob, the Old Testament patriarch of Israel, became a leader in Genesis 32. He didn’t attend a seminar. Years of mentoring didn’t prepare him for his ascent. In fact, what shaped Jacob as a model of biblical leadership wasn’t his ability, knowledge, skill, or competency. He began to […]

Hand-in-Hand

Read Below or Listen Here In 1908, a team of Scottish and Irish Presbyterian missionaries to Manchuria wrote a letter home describing an unexpected but undeniable manifestation of God. You may need to know that northern European Christians are not known for their spiritual exuberance. The same thing was true during the early to mid […]

The Angels’ Song: A Christmas Meditation

Norman Rockwell was an illustrator in the previous century who created covers for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for over fifty years. While he also painted Presidential portraits and engaged with hot-topic social and cultural issues such as the Second World War and the civil rights movement in the 60s, he is best known for capturing what […]

What If Giving Were an Act of Worship?

What Constitutes an Act of Worship? If I were to give you a quiz on what qualifies as an act or expression of worship in a gathered service of believers on a Sunday morning, what would you include in your list? Singing probably would be at the top as an obvious choice. Then, perhaps you […]

What if Jesus Isn’t the Reason for the Season?

Years ago, while walking into a dry cleaner during early December, I noticed a colorful poster in the window that read, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season!” While I understand the motive behind such a statement and commend the shop owner’s desire to challenge the commercialization of the season, if we apply a bit […]

Maybe It’s Time to Be Irresponsibly Generous

The Generosity of a Shoe-Shine Man For over 30 years, Albert Lexie has set up shop in Pittsburgh’s Children Hospital where he buffs and polishes footwear for doctors, administrators, and whomever else is willing to pay $5 for a new shine. Now and then, a satisfied customer will leave a tip. Most give an extra […]

The Rewards of Generosity

The Treasure Principle Until his death in 1976, Maxey Jarman was the longtime president of the Genesco Shoe Company in Nashville. Over his lifetime, he gave away millions. Near the end of his life, our country experienced political upheaval and a financial crisis which led to a drastic reduction in his net worth. In an interview, […]

Thanksgiving Can Be Dangerous

My friend, Dave McCarty, sent an email blast to his friends recently with the heading, “The Thanksgiving holiday is very dangerous.” That is an email I had to open. How could turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, and chocolate chess pie be harmful (except for the obvious caloric impact)? What is the threat of gathering with […]

The Unexpected Path to Contentment

The Miserable Tycoon In his autobiography, Just as I Am, the late Billy Graham tells a story about the time he and his wife, Ruth, were invited to visit with one of the wealthiest men in the world at his vacation home on an island in the Carribean. Graham recalls the lavish accommodations, including a […]

Try Calling Him Jesus

The Old Testament prophesied the coming of an Anointed One, a Deliverer like Moses who would be born to set his people free — not from an oppressive nation-state but from their sinful-state as traitors before the law of God. As Isaiah proclaimed, “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son […]

Every Christian is a Farmer

The Faith It Takes to Farm About fifteen years ago, when I lived in a farming community in Mississippi, an older man once quipped that he couldn’t be a row crop farmer if he were not a Christian. I asked him why. He said it was because farming is such a faith venture where you […]

The Doctrines of Grace Study Guide

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How Can a Pastor Have a Genuine Devotional Life When Being a Christian is His Job?

Professional Christian SyndromeWhile on vacation this summer, I grabbed my Bible in an attempt to read it devotionally. Just one sentence in, I reached for a pen and paper — not to make a note for myself, but in order to outline a sermon. Rather than being in the presence of my Father to listen […]

The Problem Nobody Admits

The Problem No One AdmitsOf all the issues people have brought to me for counseling, I have never had anyone confess to me the sin of greed or materialism.But if there is one issue that represents a tumor of unbelief that produces spiritual gangrene in the soul, it is an idolatrous dependency on money and possessions […]

7 Strands of Grace

The Ordo SalutisIn What is the Gospel: Part 1, we explored the gospel in macro. In part 2, we’ll dig a bit deeper into the micro aspects of God’s grace in order to untangle a variety of strands that have left some believers confused over the years.The tool we will use is called the Ordo Salutis, […]

Transferring Ownership

Is More Money the Solution to My Problems?Other than the kingdom of God, Jesus spoke about money and possessions more than any other topic because he knew that few things have the power to steal joy more than the love of money.But I thought financial abundance was a prerequisite to joy? If only I had […]

6 Warning Signs of Pastoral Burnout

Adrenal FatigueAfter the death of my third child, my family physician told me that clinical depression was the result of accumulated stress that had been allowed to exist and grow over a period of years. My onset had been triggered by the trauma of death and the hormonal symptoms inflicted upon my wife that created […]