What should I do to be successful in following Christ?

A. W. Tozer wrote "Every soul belongs to God, and exists by His pleasure. God being who and what He is and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full Lordship on His part and complete submission on ours."

Psalm 1 says this:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers [Paraphrase: Blessed is the man who does not so abide in his culture that the ways of his culture abide ...

Some Thoughts about Fathering (and Grand-fathering)

With Father's Day upon us, I was asked to share some advice about being a dad. Much of it applies to being a grandpa too; which is why all of my grandchildren's pictures are included in this blog.

Fatherhood's an incredible privilege, one we should thank God for every day, but which too easily we grow accustomed to and take for granted and, if we're not careful, occasionally resent. (For instance, after weeks without having a good sleep.)

Hunger, Thirst and Craving God (Longing Part 2)

Blog before last I started a series on longing. I’ll pick up here where that left off.

Scripture often describes our longing for God as a deep hunger or thirst. Hunger and thirst are basic drives in our bodies, and there is also a hunger and thirst of the soul. This fallen world, with its fallen people, can never satisfy our fallen selves. But we keep going back to it, as if it can. We set our sights on the objects of a thousand different desires, none of which give us the lasting pleasure we long for.

Passages like ...

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

I spoke Sunday at Gresham Bible Church, a recently-formed fellowship with lots of “former-kids” in their mid-twenties. It was Father’s Day, and my daughter Angela introduced me. Her kind words brought tears to my eyes. (No matter who says what about my books or my life, I always care most what my wife and daughters think, because next to God they know best who I really am.)

As I spoke, I looked out at these people thinking how thirty years ago Nanci and I were in the brand new Good Shepherd Community Church (in Boring, Oregon, believe it or ...