Pastor Writer: Conversations on Reading, Writing, and the Christian Life

"We are not machines; we are living things. And the church is not a factory; it is a garden." What are the images that shape your ministry? For many leaders, the dominant metaphors are often corporate or industrial—efficiency, scale, and production. But as the cultural landscape shifts, many pastors are finding these images are no longer sufficient for the soul-work of the local church....

Every year at this time, I go back through my Amazon orders, my Audible subscription, and my bookshelf to reflect on everything I’ve read. It is a fantastic exercise to see what has occupied your mind over the past twelve months. Reviewing also helps me form a loose plan for what I want to dive into in the coming year—focusing more on the topics I’d like to explore further. This review always help...

Doug Basler is married to his wife, Katie, and is the father of Addie, Jackson, and Isaac. He currently serves as pastor of Union Park Presbyterian Church in Des Moines and First Presbyterian Church of Grimes. His pastoral ministry has also taken him to congregations in Aberdeen, Washington, and Cooke City, Montana. Doug recently completed a Doctor of Ministry in the Sacred Art of Writing at Weste...

Author Tommy Brown joins me to talk about his new book, The Speed of Soul: Four Rhythms for a Quiet Life. We explore what it means to love deeply, live quietly, mind our own affairs, and work with our hands. We all feel like the speed of life is accelerating, but how does the Bible call us to a different way of living? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Janet Kobobel Grant is the President and Founder of Books & Such Literary management. She is also an experienced writer and has experience within top publishing positions. Janet and I have had the privilege of working together on several publishing projects. She joins me on the podcast to talk about developing a great book proposal and why the hook is so important to publishers. She also share...

From the Graveyard of the Pacific to the paradise of the Polynesian Islands…This is the true story of a journey with real people, real places, and the adventures that inevitably follow. Katherine and Andrés leave lucrative jobs and a stable life to accomplish his dream of sailing the world. She worries what awaits them beyond the horizon: Failure? Pirates? Poverty? Will they make it to the South P...

These days, brokenness feels more comfortable to discuss than holiness. It’s easier to say that we are messy than holy, that healing is a long way off. To say that we are holy seems like one step away from holier than thou, and no one ever wants to be that. Holiness Here offers practical and inspiring ways to transform your life by helping you see the holiness within your ordinary, everyday life....

From Life in the Negative World:Learning how to live in today's new social and cultural environment will require examination, trial and error, and adaptation over time. But there are ways to live with integrity and follow Christ today, even in a negative world. From a peak in church attendance in the mid-20th century, Christianity has been on a trajectory of decline in the United States. Once...

As we close out the year and finish our Christmas shopping amidst a flurry of holiday parties, I took a moment to reflect on my reading over the past twelve months. Each year, I enjoy compiling a list of my reads, as it helps me appreciate the work and thoughts that have shaped my year. I reviewed the shelves in my office, scrolled through my Audible purchases, and checked my Amazon cart history....

The Judeo-Christian faith has long been formed by books and reading. From synagogue scrolls to circulating letters, believers have been nurtured, disciplined, and matured through ongoing conversations in the form of written words. We are people of The Book, and alongside it is an ever-growing shelf of more books. I am a reader, in large part, because I am a believer. From the literature of the Sec...

Mike Blackaby is a pastor and church planter in Victoria, BC, Canada. He earned a PhD in worldview and apologetics from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and was formerly a pastor to young adults and current church planter. Daniel Blackaby earned a PhD in Christianity and the arts and a Masters in philosophy, apologetics, and worldview from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He run...

Justin Gravitt is a disciple making leader and writer. Justin has served with The Navigators since 2000 and is the founder and executive director of the Dayton Disciple Makers Network, as well as the host of the popular Practitioners’ Podcast. He’s an avid Reds fan, loves the beach, and Dad-joking his kids. He lives in Dayton, Ohio, with his wife, Kristen, and their four children. Learn more about...

I'm excited for today to be the official release of A Sharp Compassion. It's now available wherever books are sold. In our episode today, I'm reading from the final pages of the book and suggesting a couple of ways you can help with sharing the book. A big thanks to everyone who has already pre-ordered it. It means so much to me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Over the last few weeks, I've be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its been a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com. It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy. Learn mo...

Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com. It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy. Learn more ab...

Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com. It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy. Learn more ab...

On September 10th, I’m releasing a new book entitled A Sharp Compassion: 7 Hard Words to Heal Our Insecurities and Free Us from Offense. I think it’s an important conversation for learning to recognize the insecurity within our culture and in our own lives. It would mean a lot to me if you would consider buying a copy and recommending it to friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...

Author of more than 200 books with sales of over 70 million copies, including the best-selling Left Behind series, Jerry Jenkins is the former vice president for publishing and former chairman of the board of trustees for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Jerry's writing has appeared in Time, Reader's Digest, Parade, Guideposts, and dozens of Christian periodicals. Twenty-one of his...

Jared  Wilson is an award-winning author of over 20 books and a popular speaker at churches and conferences around the world. A 30-year ministry veteran, he is especially known for his passionate gospel-centered teaching. Jared serves as Pastor for Preaching and the Director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri and as an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Min...

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com. He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials. Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast, The Church Lobby: Conversations on...

Patrick Schreiner is an associate professor of New Testament and Biblical theology at Midwestern baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an elder at Emmaus Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author numerous books, including Matthew, Discipels and Scribe; a commentary on Acts , The Ascension of Christ; and The Kigndom of God and the Glory of the Cross. Patrick joins me on today's epis...

Brian Croft is the former Senior Pastor of Au-burn-dale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky and is the Founder of Practical Shepherding. He is also Senior Fellow for the Mathena Center for Church Revitalization and an Adjunct Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ronnie Martin is founder and lead pastor of Substance Church (EFCA) in Ashland, Ohio. Before pastoral ministry, Ron...

Ryan Rush, serves as pastor of Kingsland Baptist Church, in Katy, Texas. He has spent more than 20 years working in ministry, and during that time, he has been on a mission to connect church and home life, becoming a national voice for the “Faith at Home” movement. In over a decade serving as Adjunct Professor at Liberty University, he has taught more than 1,500 students the course he helped to de...

David Kaywood is a senior pastor at Eastside Community Church in Jacksonville, Florida. He is the author of A Call to Contentment: Pursuing Godly Satisfaction in a Restless World . He is the founder of gospelrelevance.com and a contributor to The Gospel Coalition. He lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida with his wife and two children. In our conversation, we explore the Christian call to contentme...

I'm joined on today's podcast by Editor Todd Hains and Illustrator Natasha Kennedy. Together, they have been working on Lexham's new series of children's books, known as the FatCat series. We discuss the current state of Christian children's literature, Catechism, and Classical Education, and how we can be intentional about teaching our children the language and the theolo...