I really enjoyed this New York Times story about Gonzaga University basketball coach Mark Few. Few has had outrageous success at the Catholic school in Spokane, Washington, winning 80% of all games coached and a stunning 89% of conference games. Look for Gonzaga to be formidable in a few weeks, when March Madness tips off. What’s even [...]
Eugene Peterson on Pastoring: Vocation, Not Job
February 23, 2013 By
I’m reading through Eugene Peterson’s pastoral memoir, The Pastor (HarperOne, 2011). He offers some great insights and scriptural reflections on the work of the pastorate throughout the text. I don’t agree with some of Peterson’s theology, to be sure, but I have found myself resonating deeply with his conception of the Christian pastor–and work more broadly. [...]
Deep Mind and Impassioned Heart: On the Writing Pastor
December 6, 2012 By 2 Comments
The new issue of Themelios, the academic theological journal of the Gospel Coalition, is just out. It looks terrific. Here’s an essay by D. A. Carson that should be typically helpful. I did a largely appreciative review of David Platt’s Radical Together that might stir some pots on the issue of wealth and stewardship. There’s much more. [...]
Interview with Eugene Peterson on Reading Rich Literature
April 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Recently in Manhattan I had the opportunity to sit down with venerable pastor and author Eugene Peterson and interview him. Peterson has championed a rich reading life on the part of pastors over the years, and I had the chance to talk with him about how to cultivate such a life. Not everyone will agree [...]
Shaka Smart & How Athletic Coaching Is Like Pastoring
March 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
Shaka Smart is the basketball coach of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. For two years in a row, his teams have made it to the national tournament and overachieved. He’s coveted now by many larger schools who can pay him a great deal more money than VCU. But he just surprised the college basketball [...]
Linsanity, “Hero Ball,” and Why Christians Can’t Play it
March 15, 2012 By 6 Comments
Happy March Madness season, everyone. Let there be compulsive score-checking for all. I have Baylor losing to UNC in the final (What can I say? I’m partial to Baptists). In the recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, Henry Abbott wrote a devastating critique of Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and what Abbott called “hero ball.” Hero [...]
Is The Gospel Coalition a Good Thing? Is Harold Ockenga Like John Piper?
May 26, 2011 By 2 Comments
You can find scintillating answers to these and a number of other questions in an interview (part one, part two) I just did with historical theologian Nathan Finn. Nathan graciously asked me several questions following the release of the book I edited with David Mathis of Desiring God, The Pastor as Scholar, the Scholar as [...]
John Piper, Don Carson, and Transformed Pastors and Scholars
May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
There’s a great deal of interest right now in what some have called the pastor-theologian and theologian-pastor movement. John Piper and D. A. Carson are two of the more prominent faces of each of these enhanced ministerial vocations. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dustin Neeley of Church Planting for the Rest [...]
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