My Top 10 Books of 2019

NASHVILLE—Many years ago, when I was a young pastor, I heard someone say that if you want to think great thoughts, you must first read great thoughts. I can’t remember who said that, but I have found it to be true. I never fail to think new and great thought when I...

Dug Down Deep: Thoughts on Joshua Harris

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to address this surprising and sad development. After speaking with my son William, who grew up reading Joshua Harris’ books, I asked him to write a guest blog reflecting on Harris’ recent announcement. — STEVE I had just arrived at...

Faith Takes Risks

NASHVILLE—Two weeks ago, churches and campus ministries all over the Every Nation world joined together for a powerful week of Prayer, Fasting, & Consecration. During the fast, at one of Every Nation Nashville’s office prayer meetings, my son William shared a...

Praying for the Impossible

NASHVILLE —Today, churches and campus ministries all over the Every Nation world are beginning 2019 with a week of prayer, fasting, and consecration. The theme for this year’s fast is “Great Faith.” As I’ve been thinking and recording my prayer list for 2019 (in...

My Top Ten Books of 2018

NASHVILLE—It’s that time of the year, when I force myself to pick the Top 10 books that I've read in the past twelve months. Those of you who read a lot know the difficulty of this task. (Here’s last year’s list.) Before I present my Top 10 List, I’ll start with a few...

Singing at Christmas

NASHVILLE—Last weekend, my entire family kicked off the Christmas season with a trip to Cheekwood, an old mansion in Nashville that's been turned into a beautiful botanical garden and art museum. For my five-year-old granddaughter, Josephine, Cheekwood is one of the...

Who Are We Voting For?

MANILA—Today, millions of Americans will vote in another “high stakes” and bitterly partisan election. As always, this election will be billed as “the most important mid-term election in our lifetime,” and it will seem as if the future of life as we know it hangs in...

Three Leadership Lessons from Korean Megachurches

SEOUL—This week, I am in Seoul, Korea, for the third and final residency period of my Asbury Theological Seminary doctoral program. It’s good to be back with my cohort (and the "Asbury Eight"), and it’s good to spend some face-to-face time with our professors, some of...

Painting or Palette? Thoughts on Suicide and the Meaning of Life

NASHVILLE—A few years ago, when my youngest son Jonathan was in high school, I came home and found him painting in our garage. As usual, he was covered in paint, as were several large canvases. I noticed a smaller one that looked like an abstract painting. The colors...

The Pain of Prophetic Preaching

NASHVILLE—Because I live in two nations, I get to be part of two local churches, one in Manila and one in Nashville. For obvious reasons, Victory Manila is 99% Filipino. For reasons that are not as obvious, Bethel is approximately 55% black (African American and...

Whoever Strikes First

LONDON—Deborah and I are in London this week for our annual Every Nation International Apostolic Team (IAT) meeting and Every Nation's Build Conference for Europe. Every year, our regional team leaders from every region of the world gather together to fellowship,...

Should the Church be More Inclusive or Exclusive?

NASHVILLE—One of the biggest challenges that Christians face today is reconciling the seemingly exclusive claims of Jesus with the postmodern cultural value of inclusivity. Whether you are at a Starbucks or a law firm, a university campus or a preschool, inclusivity...

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