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

Instinct #4—Reputation: The Image of a King

Shakespeare described this fourth stage as the professionals. The man now dresses the part, cuts his beard, and says what is expected. By this point in his life, he has achieved some success and with it a reputation, a reputation he cares more and more about protecting.  That instinct is central to the lives of both Saul and David as they struggle to live into the expectations of their throne while remaining honest and true before their God. It is a question of integrity and their ability t...

Instinct #3—Ambition: A Promised Land Lost

 Shakespeare described the third stage of man as a warrior, quick to quarrel, given to strange oaths, and determined to change the world. He is a man of ambition. But ambition can be a perplexing experience. One minute, ambition swells us with a sense of divine calling and optimism, the next it leaves us discouraged and disillusioned. Nowhere is that experience more clear than in the life of Moses. Moses's life was driven by ambition, by both its success and failure. Moses helps us understa...

Instinct #2—Adventure: Cultivating New Eyes

Shakespeare described man’s second stage as the lover. He was describing a romantic view of life that is driven by a need for adventure, quests, and experience. Samson was driven by this romantic need for adventure. Restless and determined to find himself, he constantly wandered off to Philistia.  Through his story, we come to realize how easily we abandon what God is doing looking for our own story. Real adventures are received not achieved. Peter and I discuss how to recognize this instin...

Instinct #1—Sarcasm: The Humor of Our Age

Shakespeare described the first stage as the reluctant schoolboy, dragging himself to school. He is you and immature and perhaps worst doesn't realize it. We find his companion in the story of Cain, the firstborn of creation and equally reluctant to take up God's divine lessons. Sarcasm can be funny but often it serves as a tool to mask contempt. We'll take a closer look at the instinct and how it can be balanced leading to a better character.

Shakespeare and the Instincts

Shakespeare described the world as a stage and pointed out that a man plays many parts throughout his life. Shakespeare's stages helped me start to recognize some of these unique instincts at work in myself and the men I know. But I also began to recognize them in the men of the Bible.  If you read the Biblical stories carefully, it becomes clear that the men of the Bible don't make for great heroes. Their lives are too complicated and messy. They are instead, companions. They expose the co...

Men, Meat, and the Masculine Malaise

In this new 9-part series, we're taking a closer look at The 5 Masculine Instincts. The series will lead us up to the book's launch on March 1, 2022.  In our first conversation, we discuss the question of men and meat, how masculinity has become so controversial, and why men feel a sense of cultural malaise.  If you're interested in the book, you can learn more by visiting the5masculineisntincts.com. There you can find information about pre-ordering as well as some special bonuses includin...

The Release of The 5 Masculine Instincts Book

My Top 10 Books of 2021

Each year, as Christmas comes around, I sit down to make a list of the ten books that most impacted my thinking in the previous year. It’s an interesting exercise for anyone to do. I look through my amazon orders, my bookshelves, and my audible account and I try to recognize the books that impacted me most. In this episode, you'll find a list and explanation of those 10 books. I’d also love to hear what you’ve been reading. Maybe you would create your own list and share it with me. Post it ...

Preston Ulmer — Good-Faith Conversations with Those Who Doubt

Preston Ulmer is the founder and director of the Doubters’ Club, an organization that teaches Christians and atheists to model friendship and pursue truth together.**** Additionally, he serves as the director of network development for the Church Multiplication Network (CMN), the church planting arm of the Assemblies of God. Before joining CMN, he served in ministry for years as a youth pastor, young adult pastor and church planter. Preston has two master’s degrees, one in religion and one...

Tom Nelson — A Better Pastoral Paradigm

Tom Nelson is president of Made to Flourish (MTF), a network that seeks to empower pastors to lead churches that produce human flourishing for the common good. He has also served as senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Leawood, Kansas, for almost thirty years. A council member for The Gospel Coalition, Tom is the author of Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work, Five Smooth Stones: Discovering the Path to Wholeness of Soul, and Ekklesia: Rediscovering God’s Design for...

Lee Strobel — Journalism, Faith, and The Case for Heaven

Lee Strobel is a former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and a New York Times best-selling author of more than forty books that have sold fourteen million copies in total. He currently serves as Founding Director of the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University. Lee has been described in the Washington Post as “one of the evangelical community’s most popular apologists.” You probably know him best for the Case for Christ. L...

Eric Metaxas — Is Atheism Dead?

ERIC METAXAS is a #1 bestselling author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of a nationally syndicated radio show and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, he is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal. He lives with his family in New York City. He joined me to talk about his new book, Is Atheism Dead?

Eric Metaxas: Is Atheism Dead?

ERIC METAXAS is a #1 bestselling author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of a nationally syndicated radio show and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, he is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal. He lives with his family in New York City. He joined me to talk about his new book, Is Atheism Dead?

Gary Schnittjer — The Old Testament's Use of the Old Testament

Gary Schnittjer teaches biblical Hebrew and Old Testament for the School of Divinity at (CArn) Cairn University. He is the author of the new book, Old Testament Use of Old Testament. It is a reference book for students and ministers of the word with chapters on every book of the Old Testament as well as a chapter on looking “Toward the New Testament.” He is currently doing research for writing projects under contract with Baker Academic, B&H Academic, and Zondervan Academic. He is also fini...

Todd Miles — Christians, Cannabis, and Thinking About Drugs

Todd Miles is Professor of Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches theology, church history, hermeneutics, and ethics. Prior to becoming a seminary professor, he was a nuclear engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He joined me to talk about his new book, Cannabis and the Christian: What the Bible Says about marijuana. 

Ray Ortlund — The Death of Porn and Men of Integrity

Pastor Ray Ortlund was ordained into the Christian ministry in 1975.  He taught Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School from 1989 to 1998.  His primary ministry, for 28 years, has been as a pastor in California, Oregon, Georgia and Tennessee. In addition to numerous essays and articles, Pastor Ortlund has published eight books. Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel, was named “2017 Christian Book of the Year” in the category Bible Study. He also served a...

Alan Bandy — Writing An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul

Alan Bandy a Professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Previously, he was the Assistant Director of the Ph.D. program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and an Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at Louisiana College. Alan's area of expertise is the New Testament with a specialization in The Apocalypse of John. He has published The Prophetic Lawsuit in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Monograph Series. He co-authored a boo...

Kevin Weaver — Afghanistan and the Challenges Our Warriors Face

Kevin Weaver is the President and Co-Founder of The Warrior’s Journey. The Warrior's Journey recognizes that the military creates a set of unique challenges that most people don’t understand. They have worked to build a team of veterans to triage and help our warriors create a personal plan to navigate those challenges so they can experience strength and resilience. Kevin is a former pastor and also a US Air Force veteran. He served in the USAF Security Forces at the 24th SPS and in the Of...

Joel Kilpatrick — Ghostwriting, Humor, and Faithfulness in Writing

Joel Kilpatrick is an award-winning journalist and author whose work has been featured in Time magazine, the Washington Post, USA Today, CBS Radio, the Dallas Morning News. He has authored and ghostwritten more than 40 books, including a New York Times bestseller. He has reported from disaster zones and civil wars in seventeen countries and received numerous prizes for writing and reporting. Joel has worked with many leading ministries including Rick Warren, Michael Hyatt, TBN, Nancy Alcorn...

Jon Tyson — The Intentional Father & Questions of Masculinity

Jon Tyson is a pastor and church planter in New York City. He is originally from Australia and moved to the United States over two decades ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. He is the author of Sacred Roots, A Creative Minority, The Burden is Light, and Beautiful Resistance. But he joins me to talk about his soon-to-be-released book, The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character. Jon lives in Manhattan with his wife an...

154. Robert Wolgemuth — Writing for Men and Facing the Final Lap of Life

Robert Wolgemuth has been in the media business for more than forty years. A former president of Thomas Nelson Publishers, he is the founder of Wolgemuth & Associates a literary agency exclusively representing the writing work of more than one hundred authors. Among his professional accomplishments, he has served two terms as the Chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He is a speaker and best-selling author of over twenty books. His books include, She Calls Me Daddy,...

Robert Wolgemuth — Writing for Men and Facing the Final Lap of Life

Robert Wolgemuth has been in the media business for more than forty years. A former president of Thomas Nelson Publishers, he is the founder of Wolgemuth & Associates a literary agency exclusively representing the writing work of more than one hundred authors. Among his professional accomplishments, he has served two terms as the Chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He is a speaker and best-selling author of over twenty books. His books include, She Calls Me Daddy,...

Brad Lomenick — Catalyst, Leadership, & Why the Future is Curation

Brad Lomenick is passionate about raising up great leaders around the globe. He is a business entrepreneur, speaker, sought-after leadership advisor, author and longtime president of Catalyst, largely credited with growing the organization into one of the largest and most recognized leadership brands and gatherings of young leaders in the US. Prior to running Catalyst, Brad spent several years working for legendary leadership author John Maxwell, as well as executive producing large simulca...

Jared C. Wilson — What A Novel Can Do That Non-Fiction Can't

Jared C. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Author in Residence at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, General Editor of For The Church (and host of the FTC Podcast), and Director of The Pastoral Training Centerat Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. He also co-hosts The Art of Pastoring Podcast published by Christianity Today. Jared is not a catalytic "agent of change" or a visionary anything. He is a failed church planter and once made a mess of his marriage...

Matt Morton — Discerning when to Persevere and When to Pivot

Matt Morton is a teaching pastor at Grace Bible Church in College Station, Texas. Prior to his current role, he has served as a worship leader, a college pastor, and a communications pastor. He has a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry. He is the co-author of the Ordinary Greatness Bible study series (NavPress, 2012). He has written for Relevant, Bible Study Magazine, and bible.org.He also writes a monthly religion colum...

Paul Batura — Writing, Adopting, and Focus on the Family

Paul Batura is vice president of communications for Focus on the Family. In his role, Paul is responsible for media and guest relations. He has more than two decades of experience in the news media, broadcast journalism, publishing, and non-profit administration. Paul has been with Focus on the Family since 1998. Prior to serving in his current capacity, he served as a top writer and adviser to both Focus’ founder, Dr. James C. Dobson, and its current president, Jim Daly. He’s authored boo...

Tom Dean — The Writer and Marketer

With 30 years of experience in book and Bible publishing, Tom Dean is a publishing insider who helps authors smoothly navigate the often confusing process of publishing a book and marketing it. Tom spent almost two decades with Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins in marketing, product development, and acquisitions roles - including six years as Vice President of Marketing for Zondervan Books. He has worked with a number of New York Times bestselling authors and multiple music, entertainm...

Chase Replogle — Bread and Games: Why the Next 12 Months are the Greater Risk

According to ancient historians, most of the Jewish families sitting on that Galilean hillside listening to Jesus teach would spend every day of their lives on the edge of hunger and starvation. Some days were better than others, but they never escaped hunger for long. By some estimations, as much as 85% of a Galilean’s wages/time went toward acquiring food. By comparison, the average US family spends 9.5% of their annual budget on food. The gospel writer, John, records that there were 5,00...

Kurt Willems — Podcasting, Writing, and Pastoral Side Projects

Kurt Willems is a pastor, writer, and spiritual director. After several years in student and adult church ministry in Central California, he partnered with the Brethren in Christ to plant a Christian community in Seattle called Pangea Church.  Kurt maintains a resource website, which hosts articles and podcasts, called Theology Curator (formerly called, The Paulcast). He is passionate about taking dense ideas and communicating them in ways that are empowering for people in all walks of life...

Cory Verner — The Rise of Audio Books

Cory Verner began in the audiobook industry in 2003 when the market was 90% cassettes. In 2004, he founded christianaudio, a niche audiobook publisher focused on thoughtful Christian audio content. christianaudio's first sale was a download on christianaudio.com, one of the initial few audiobook download sites. He and his wife Crissy began an audiobook production company in 2005 – Ver-ity Audio Productions – which works with all of the major publishing houses as well as niche Christian comp...

HB Charles — Preaching and Writing

Dr. HB Charles is the Pastor-Teacher at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville and Orange Park, Florida, where he has served since 2008. Prior to joining the Shiloh Church, he led the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles for almost eighteen years. Succeeding his late father, he began pastoring at Mt. Sinai at the age of seventeen – a senior in high school. He is a regular speaker at churches, conferences, and conventions around the country. He is also the aut...

Winn Collier — Writing the Biography of Eugene Peterson

Win Collier was a  Pastor for twenty-five years, founding All Souls Charlottesville. He now serves at Western Theological Seminary as Director of The Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination & Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where his work centered on the intersection of literary fiction and religion, particularly the sacramental landscape of Wendell Berry’s fictional town of Port William. This m...

Thomas Umstattd — Author Branding and Cancel Culture

Thomas Umstattd, Jr. is an author, speaker, and consultant helping authors better market their writing. He provides online tools and advice through his company Author Media. He has worked with numerous publishers on marketing strategies and also worked as a literary agent. Thomas is the host of the Novel Marketing Podcast and the Christian Publishing Show podcast. It’s one of the writing podcasts I listen to weekly. He is a friend of the podcast making his second appearance to talk with me...

K.J. Ramsey — The Witness of Suffering and Writing About It

K.J. Ramsey is a licensed professional counselor and writer. Her writing has been published in Christianity Today, RELEVANT, The Huffington Post, Fathom Magazine, Health Central, and more on the integration of theology, psychology, and spiritual formation. Last year she released the book This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers. She joined me to talk about her own suffering, how suffering can be a witness to God's grace, and also about writing. How can you use your own sto...

Leland Ryken — Teaching Literature and the Bible as Literature

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 joined me to talk about teaching literature, the Bible as literature, and his new book, Recovering th...

Rob Ketterling — Unity and Generosity of Writing

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 Team of the Association of Related Churches (ARC) and speaks at events and conferences around the ...

James Emory White — The Crisis of Character in Church Leadership

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 president. He is the author of more than twenty books that have been translated into ten languages. ...

Nate Pickowicz — A Seven Year Reading Plan and Studying the Bible

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 Simple Approach to Learning and Loving the Word of God. He joins me to talk about studying the Bible an...

Dr. Gary Chapman — Love Languages and Screen Time with Kids

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 into 50 languages. He joins me to discuss the five love languages and a newly released book, ...

Mark Buchanan — Christianity and the Centrality of Walking

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's most recurring things: walking.  

John Starke — The Impossible Possibility of Prayer

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 life, and why recognizing that the possibility of prayer is good news frees us to pray in new ...

A Prologue to a New Year

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 fully realizing.  In this week's episode, I want to encourage you to recognize and experience more ...

A Prologue to a New Year

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 fully realizing.  In this week's episode, I want to encourage you to recognize and experience more ...

My Top 10 Books of 2020

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 new opportunities for you as listeners, and already some amazing guests scheduled for the new y...

Ethan Bryan — 365 Days of Playing Catch and Writing About It

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 appearance in an ESPN 30-for-30. Ethan played catch every single day of 2018, traveling more than 12,00...

Barb Roose — Publishing and the Role of an Agent

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 from the Book of Joshua and Enough Already: Winning Your Ugly Struggle with Beauty. Recently be...

Scott Lindsey — Logos 9 for Pastors, Writers, and Everyone Else (Listener Discount)

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 joined by Scott Lindsey to talk all things Logos. Scott Lindsey is the Executive Director of Faithlife, the parent compan...

Angela Perritt — Bible Studies and Reaching the World Through Writing

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. She has degrees from Baldwin Wallace University and Bowling Green State University. She's al...

Eric E Peterson — Letters with Eugene Peterson

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.

Jeff & Terra Mattson — Shrinking the Integrity Gap

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 Podcast and are coauthors of the recently released book, Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What...