Just a quick note to say two things about Preaching at the Crossroads, a book on preaching that I’ve just had published: 1) A huge thanks to the folks at Fortress Press who did such a wonderful job shepherding the project through to publication and are now promoting it: Will Bergkamp, Marissa Wold, Olga Lobasenko, Mark Christianson, and Joe Riley (and Emily Varner of the Somersault Group) – thank you! 2) To those interested, you can watch Nadia Bolz-Weber, Luke Powry, Sam Alexander, Deborah Arca, and I discuss the book and preaching more generally at the YouTube channel for the the Patheos online book club. And (okay, so this is a third...

For the last several days, I have been participating in the Toronto Preaching Festival, sponsored by the Lester Randall Preaching Fellowship and a number of local congregations. It’s been a marvelous event, and I highly recommend it to folks both north and south of the 49th parallel. One of the speakers yesterday mentioned Frederick Buechner, the Presbyterian minister and author who wrote what I still think is the finest book on preaching ever written. Titled simply Telling the Truth, it’s subtitle is as telling as it is evocative: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale. It’s a remarkable book, who lyrical prose, deep insights,...

This past weekend, I listened to an interview of Ian Knauer, author of The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food. Knauer got his start in the “food business” by testing recipes for Gourmet Magazine. What was interesting was that Gourmet hired him not for what he knew about cooking, but what he didn’t know. As Knauer explains: I had not been to culinary school, which is the reason I got the job. I was an avid home cook — I loved to cook from magazines and cookbooks — but I wasn’t trained. That was important to them because they wanted someone who would cook like a home cook.   The reason that I was...

You know that feeling when something you’ve been planning for, working on, and waiting for finally arrives? Maybe it’s a surprise party for a friend. Maybe it’s a project at work? Maybe it’s a vacation you’ve been arranging for your family or the wedding you’ve been helping to plan with one your kids? Whatever it is, that feeling of anticipation edging finally over into consummation is incredibly sweet. I had that feeling last night when the all new Working Preacher website was debuted. What, you may be thinking, all this excitement about a website? Well, as a matter of fact – yes! 🙂 About seven years or so ago I had...

When is the last time you heard a sermon on depression? Or for that matter heard anything about depression or other mental illnesses even mentioned in a sermon? I ask because I read this morning of the death of Rick and Kay Warren’s son Matthew of an apparent suicide. Matthew, 27 years old, had long suffered from bi-polar disorder and, as part of that, suffered from intense periods of depression that included suicidal impulses. The Warrens’ response to this heart-breaking tragedy has been forthright and faithful at a time when most of us would want only to huddle together in grief. My heart breaks for them even as I admire their grace...