One of the privileges I’ve enjoyed as a young person growing up in a Baptist church was the steady stream of opportunities to interact with the missionaries our church supported. These men and their wives are heroes, full stop. They serve on the front lines of gospel advance and face some of the most difficult, dangerous, and exhausting circumstances you could imagine....

As men, we often have plans but struggle to carry them out. Life is overwhelming. It comes at you fast and fills up any extra moments like a creek rising in a rainstorm. Before you know it, you’ve been thinking about taking a step of spiritual leadership in your family for six months without actually making any changes! Men, what we need is a vision for our family....

A week from Sunday, on October 11, the annual meeting of the Palo Pinto Baptist Association (PPBA) will take place at the First Baptist Church of Gordon, Texas. I haven’t placed much emphasis on the fact that Indian Creek participates in the PPBA. But it is an important part of our history and identity. ...

In less than two weeks, we’ll hold a vote on whether to move forward with planting a church under the leadership of our Associate Pastor Jamie Kinman. You’ve received a lot of information about this project, so I thought it might help to provide a summary of what has taken place....

Last week, Sammy Poynor and I had the privilege to attend the 10th annual Sing! Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The “worship wars” that have shaped the conversation about music in church over the last several decades seem—for the most part—to have run their course. I don’t hear very often about churches splitting over the topic of music. However, it seems as ...

Jamie Kinman's vision for a new church plant in Mineral Wells....

Last week, Mandy and I watched the shocking documentary, "Death of the Pastor’s Wife." I was angered by a man who used his position as a pastor to prey on his wife. Sadly, I can see how this happened in an evangelical church. Too often, churches make space for wolves to devour the innocent. I’ve watched it happen. But it doesn’t have to be like this. ...

I started out in full-time ministry in 2007, just a few months after graduating from college. Children’s ministry became my primary area of oversight until I left that position in 2014. One thing I learned: kids are human beings. Duh, right? But I observed that many adults in the church were treating the children as if they were a different species altogether. ...

Grumbling is like a wet blanket squelching any flame of hope or gratitude. It is infectious, spreading from one person to another faster than any virus. It is universal; kids and grown-ups alike struggle with grumbling....

Several days ago, The Gospel Coalition published a couple of articles explaining that as a rule, they will not publish any content that is produced with the assistance of AI. I’ve always been slow to adapt to new technology, so I was a little surprised that they felt the need to create this policy. I had assumed that serious, published authors would be against the use of...