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

Dr. Leland Ryken (PhD, University of Oregon) is Professor of English at Wheaton College. He has authored or edited several books, including The Word of God in English, The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, and The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible . He is a frequent speaker at the Evangelical Theological Society and served as literary stylist for The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. He joine...

Pastor Rob Ketterling founded River Valley Church in an elementary school in 1995. It has since grown into a thriving church in and around Minneapolis. He is the author of the books such as Change Before You Have To,   Front Row Leadership, Fix It, and his latest release, The Speed of Unity. In addition to leading River Valley, he also serves on several organizational boards including the Lead Tea...

Dr. James Emory White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina; President of Serious Times, a ministry that explores the intersection of faith and culture and he hosts the website and, ChurchAndCulture.org. He is a ranked adjunct professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth presi...

Nate Pickowicz is pastor of Harvest Bible Church in New Hampshire. He is the author and editor of several books including Reviving New England, Why We're Protestant , and The American Puritans. He has also written for Tabletalk and Credo, and is one of the founding members of Reformada, a ministry to promote sound doctrine. He recently released a new book entitled How to Eat Your Bible: A Sim...

Dr. Chapman is the senior associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. He holds several academic degrees including a Ph. D. in adult education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s also an international public speaker and the best-selling author of numerous books including The Five Love Languages which has sold more than 12 million copies and has been translated...

Mark Buchanan is a professor, a former pastor, and an award-winning author of several books including Your God is Too Safe, The Rest of God, and Spiritual Rhythm . He has a new book out, this past summer, entitled, God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul . In it, Mark asks a simple question, what if the Bible's command to walk in the Spirit is also literal. Mark explores one of the Bible&a...

John Starke is lead pastor at Apostles Church Uptown in New York City. He is the coeditor (with Bruce Ware) of One God in Three Persons. In 2020, he published The Possibility of Prayer: Finding Stillness With God in a Restless World. John lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children. In our conversation, we discuss why prayer feels difficult, how we should go about developing a deeper prayer...

John opens his gospel account with a prologue. In a brilliant literary move, he opens his tale of Christ's life and ministry with an epic image. He was the word of God. With God. He was God. John makes sure that we read the story of Jesus in the fullness of the story. As we anticipate the start of a new year, what are the stakes of our own story? What are we in on that 2020, has kept us from...

The end of the year is almost upon us. Come January, the Pastor Writer podcast will be three years old. That’s hard for me to believe. I want to say a big thank you to so many listeners who have made it an incredible experience. It’s become such a part of my weekly routine I can’t imagine life without out. I’m really excited about the upcoming year. I’ve got some big announcements coming up, some...

Ethan is a writer and storyteller and is convinced baseball helps tell some of the best stories. His baseball stories have landed him an invitation to the White House for the Kansas City Royals World Series celebration, a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to read his baseball poetry, as a background ballplayer in an Emmy-award winning documentary First Boys of Spring, and a brief appearan...

Barb Roose is a popular speaker and author. Since 2005, she has been speaking to audiences in the US and abroad, including national platforms such as the Aspire Women’s Events, She Speaks Conference, and the UMC Leadership Institute. She is also the author of multiple books including a Surrendered: 40 Days to Help You Let Go and Live Like Jesus Devotional,  Winning the Worry Battle: Life Lessons f...

Visit logos.com/pastorwriter for a special listener discount. I use Logos Bible Software just about every day. I can't imagine pastoring without it. I can't imagine writing without it. And more than ever before, it's a tool I believe every believer would benefit from owning. Logos recently released version nine with some amazing new features. In this week's episode, I'm jo...

Angela Perritt is the founder and director of Love God Greatly, a nonprofit online Bible study ministry reaching thousands of women in over two hundred countries around the world. Started in 2014, Love God Greatly has published more than 37 studies in over 30 languages. Angela is passionate about God’s Word and believes one woman in God’s Word can change a family, community and ultimately a nation...

Eric is the founding pastor of Colbert Presbyterian Church in Eastern Washington where he has served since 1997. His first book, Wade in the Water, represents a pastoral perspective on the power of baptism. He joins me to talk about two books he recently released: Letters to a Young Congregation and Letters to a Young Pastor a collection of letters written by Eric's father, Eugene Peterson.

Together, Jeff and Terra have co-founded the counseling and organizational development firm Living Wholehearted and also a grass-roots movement, Courageous Girls that helps moms walk with their daughters in every stage of their growing years.  Jeff is an executive coach and organizational development specialist. Terra a licensed marriage & family therapist. The two host the Living Wholehearted...

Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. The church also owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, The Miracle Theatre, as well as the DC Dream Center. Mark holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times best-selling author of 18 books including, The Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase an...

Harold Senkbeil was a parish pastor for 31 years prior to accepting a position as Associate Professor of Ministry and Mission at Concordia Theological Seminary. Since 2008 he has served as Executive Director and Emeritus Director for Spiritual Care for DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel and spends his time teaching and encouraging pastors to hone their skills in the ancie...

Dane Ortlund is the former chief publishing officer and Bible publisher at Crossway. Recently, he has left Crossway, receiving a call to full-time pastoral ministry. He has served as an editor for the Knowing the Bible series and the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series and is the author of several books, including Edwards on the Christian Life and a book I recently finished reading: Gentle a...

Brandon O'Brien is Director of Content Development and Distribution for Redeemer City to City, an organization that supports church planting in global cities. Brandon is the author of several books, including a recently released book entitled Writing for LIfe & Ministry: A Practical Guide to the Writing Process for Teachers & preachers. He lives with his wife, Amy, and two children in...

Adam Griffin is the lead pastor of Eastside Community Church in East Dallas, Texas. He previously served as an elder and spiritual formation pastor at the Village Church. This month he released a book he co-authored with Matt Chandler entitled, "Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home through Time, Moments, and Milestones." He joined me to talk about how the book came about and how parent...

Eugene Cho is the director of Bread for the World, a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision-makers to end hunger at home and abroad. He is also the founder and former Senior Pastor of Quest Church – an urban, multi-cultural and multigenerational church in Seattle, Washington. Eugene has been featured in multiple news outlets including The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Christi...

As a pastor and a parent, I know personally how hard it is to keep up with the culture my kids are consuming. I also know the impulse to ignore it and pretend it’s all ok. But the world isn’t that simple. Culture is a complicated mix of opportunities and risks. We have little chance of guiding our kids through that landscape without learning to discern a way first for ourselves. The Pop Culture Pa...

A few weeks ago I announced I had signed a publishing contract with Zondervan. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the manuscript and due to have it completed by the end of the year. Unfortunately, this past week we received some bad news about the project. 

Karen Stiller is a freelance editor and writer. You can read her writing in Reader's Digest Canada, The Walrus, and Christianity Today. She is a senior editor of Faith Today (Canada's Christian magazine) and host of the Evangelical Fellowship fo Canada podcast. She lives in Ottawa with her husband Brent who serves as an Anglican priest. She joins me to talk about her new book, The Minist...

We so easily occupy ourselves with things too great for us. Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm, a kind of soul pruning for our hearts and eyes. The psalm teaches us to have hope in God, a kind of hope that leads us to a deeper rest and contentment in him. It is a lesson many of us need to be reminded of. As the world seems to unravel, we focus our hearts and eyes on what matters most. Psalm 131 brin...