If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I could go on a nice vacation! I’m not sure that 24/7 news outlets are a good thing for the world. A few years ago, I had a moment in which I realized I was overstressed, overstimulated, anxious, and always angry. I decided to take a step back from social media and news. I closed most of my social media accounts and ignored the two I didn’t cancel. And I shut off all my news feeds… for a year.

Admittedly, the first few weeks were tough. I went through something akin to withdrawal. But a few months after kicking news and social media out of my life, my anger level decreased significantly. I was less stressed, sleeping better, and didn’t live in a state of constant worry. I felt more present with my family, more hopeful about life, more aware of my neighbors, and more excited about how God was moving in the church I served as a pastor.

I have never really reengaged with social media beyond following a fishing group’s posts every once in a blue moon. However, I eventually reintroduced the news—carefully. I wanted to find a source that I could trust and one that didn’t only report doom and gloom.

I found WORLD. I could tell you about WORLD news, but I will let the organization speak for itself.

“WORLD produces sound journalism, grounded in facts and biblical truth. Through print magazines, online articles, and podcast programs, our trained journalists report on current events both global and national so that readers and listeners can see how God is at work in the world, no matter the headlines.”

I first discovered WORLD through their daily news podcast, The World and Everything In It. Each episode is about 35–40 minutes long and is as professional in quality as any big network news. Major stories from the US and around the world are reported, along with regular special segments on Supreme Court cases, economics, politics, and culture, all from a biblical worldview. Additionally, the podcast frequently has human-interest stories that are inspiring and stir my heart to praise our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. As a parent, one of the most helpful segments is the weekly arts and entertainment review of major movies, shows, and music. If Collin Garbarino, the Arts and Culture Editor, says a movie or show is good, I’ve found it’s almost always worth watching!

The World and Everything In It is a free podcast. And WORLD’s website also has a ton of print stories available free. I listen to WORLD news most mornings. And then I ignore the news for the rest of the day. As for the big networks and subscription-based spinoffs, I’ve found they’re not worth my time—or my money. Where do you get your news?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” —Matthew 28:18

Most people who have been Christians for any length of time have heard these famous words from what we call the Great Commission. Jesus, after his resurrection and just prior to his ascension, commissioned his disciples to go and make more disciples. Since those of us who follow Jesus today are also his disciples, this commission is also ours. But what does it mean?

Hang in there with me. This might get a little nerdy, but it’s worth thinking deeply about this.

When we read this in modern English, we see two verbs: “go” and “make.” And we see two nouns: “disciples” and “nations.” So, it makes sense to understand our commission as a command to go to all the nations and create or make a product—disciples. If I said to you, “Go to the kitchen and make lasagna,” you would understand that I’m telling you to go to a place—the kitchen—and create a product—lasagna (which happens to be my favorite meal).

This way of reading the Great Commission is reinforced by the modern, manufacturing-driven world in which we live. A car is made on an assembly line. A phone is manufactured in a factory. A loaf of bread is baked in an oven. A product is created when it is completed. A friend of mine is currently building a house for his family. I walked through it with him the other day, and there is a lot of work yet to be done. It’s going to be beautiful when it’s finished.

But there’s something interesting about Matthew 28:18 that is a little lost in translation. The original text wasn’t written in English but in Koine Greek. And I was surprised when I read it in Greek to see that the word “disciple” in this verse is not a noun but a verb. A very literal translation reads:

“Going, therefore, disciple all the people groups…”

In the original Greek, there are still two verbs: “going” and “disciple.” And there is only one noun: “people groups.” You might ask why it wasn’t translated this way into English, and the answer is simply a limitation of language. In contemporary English, the word “disciple” is a noun, not a verb. In fact, my grammar checker highlights it as a spelling error every time I use it as a verb. This is why translators naturally render it as “make disciples” even though the Greek verb refers to “discipling.”

This may not seem like much of a difference; however, consider how the verse reads if we use the verbs from the original language. Obviously, we are still called to go. That part doesn’t change. However, the phrase “make a disciple” leads me to think of the end product or destination. The phrase “disciple someone” leads me to think of the path or journey.

The Great Commission is not, “Go and create finished products.” Instead, it is, “Go and lead people on the journey with Christ.” If the commission is to create a finished product, the assignment can never be completed. For all my years serving the Lord, I still have areas of sin in my life. I will never be a “finished product” until Christ returns and completes my sanctification. However, if the commission is to show someone how to really follow Jesus in life, I don’t have to be perfect before I can do that. I don’t have to have all the answers before I begin. Whether you have been following Jesus for decades or days, you can show someone else what you have learned and invite them to follow Jesus with you.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples” is a good translation of ancient Greek into modern English. Just remember that discipleship is about the journey as much as the destination. And making disciples is about teaching people to walk with Jesus, not just creating Bible scholars.

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. —Job 42:3 (ESV)

Recently, the Lord nudged me to read the book of Job. Not to mindlessly check-box my way through it, but to slow down and actually read it. I found myself puzzled by the book. And somewhere along the way, I realized that not understanding it was part of God’s invitation.

At first, I was frustrated by my lack of understanding. I was reading Job and thinking, “What in the world does this mean?” If you’re not familiar with the book, Job was a righteous and wealthy man who served God faithfully. One day, Satan asks God if he can make Job suffer in an attempt to get Job to turn away from God. God gives permission, and Job loses everything—his family, his livestock, his harvest, his employees, even his health. But he doesn’t curse God. As he is sitting in misery, some of his friends come to comfort him. Most of the book records their speeches to Job and his responses. Spoiler alert: In the end, God restores to Job all that was lost and commends Job’s faithfulness, even through suffering.

As I was reading Job, I found that I didn’t want to put it down. What started as a frustration with not understanding it sparked renewed curiosity about the story. It was as though the Lord was showing me that the Bible is so rich and so full that a lifetime of reading it will never plumb its depths.

Most of the time, we don’t reread a book. We read it and put it on the shelf—done. But the Bible was never intended to be read once and checked off the list. It’s meant to be read over and over again. Even though you’ve read the words before, sometimes reading them again can feel like reading them for the first time. And even though you’re familiar with a story, sometimes reading it again reveals new insights that you missed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I’ve read this a hundred times, but I’ve never noticed that before.”

So, when (not if) you’re reading the Bible and find yourself scratching your head, don’t lose heart! It happens to the best of us. Keep reading. Keep asking the Lord, “What does this mean?” Wisdom takes time to develop. But we have all eternity ahead of us!

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. —Matthew 10:37 (ESV)

When I was in college, I wanted to get a tattoo. I asked my dad if he thought this was a good idea, and he asked me why I wanted a tattoo. I said, “I want to be my own person. A tattoo is my own mark on my body. It’s a sign of distinct identity.” My dad then asked if other college students had tattoos, and I let him know that they were very popular on campus. And then, my dad asked a brilliant question: “So, you want to be different from everyone else by doing what everyone else is doing?”

In his book, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Your Life, Os Guinness writes that God’s people “are called by God to be distinctively different, that assimilation may be as disastrous as defeat, and that times of success may be more dangerous to faithfulness than times of rejection and persecution.” This quote and the chapter in which it appears are compelling. As Christians, we must not give in to the twin temptations to compromise our faith or to assimilate into the culture. And that brings up an important question.

What does it mean to be distinctively different?

I’ll be direct. I think most of us have a shallow answer to this question. We define “distinctively different” primarily or even exclusively in moralistic terms. “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.” So, I’ve checked the box to be different, right?

I’m not sure.

When Jesus said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,” I don’t think he was just talking about not drinking more than one beer at a party, not watching R-rated movies, and trying not to cuss when you hit your thumb with a hammer.

At this point, many Christians will say, “Yes! We’re also different because we go to church. My unsaved neighbors don’t do that!” But we often think of going to church as part of our moral performance. Instead of belonging to a church out of love for God and fellow believers, we participate because it’s what we think we’re supposed to do.

What I’m getting at is this: Too often, we Christians define “being different” as “being a good person.” So, we do the things that we think will make us good people: we go to church a couple of times a month, we say grace before supper, we sometimes read the verse of the day that pops up from our Bible App, and we’ve got the local Christian radio station on our car’s list of saved channels.

But Jesus meant something more. Loving family members is far deeper than moralistic performance. When Jesus said his disciples must love him more than they love their own family, he was cutting to the heart of our most deeply held loves and values.

To be distinctively different means not only to act differently but to love differently.

Even though we claim to follow Jesus, we often simply accept the values of the world around us. We’re quick to ask, “Is this the right thing to do?” but we forget to ask, “Is this the right thing to think?” Society today tells us the good life is found in living for self, pursuing our own happiness, casting off any restraint that keeps us from running our own lives, making more money, owning more things, having more sex, getting more followers, and buying the latest device.

As Christians, we must stop and ask whether the world’s definition of the good life is correct. If we blindly accept the idea that the good life is found in individualistic self-fulfillment, then we’re not really any different than anyone else in society. We might pursue that end through different means (e.g., moralism instead of hedonism), but at the end of the day, we’re all just chasing the same thing because we all love the same thing: self-actualization.

To be distincitvely different means to reject the world’s definition of the good life. We love Jesus more than we love anything else—even good things like our own family members. We don’t love the way the world loves. We don’t think the way the world thinks. We don’t see the way the world sees. We don’t value what the world values in the same order or priority. And because we are distinctively different at the deepest level, we don’t live the way the world lives.

For many Christians, our morals differ, but our loves are the same as the world’s. And thus, one has only to scratch the surface to find that our lives are essentially the same as those of our unsaved neighbors. But when our loves are different, our lives will be different, and so—by the way—will our morals.

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.

—Job 1:21, NIV

I love J. R. R. Tolkien’s books. I recently started reading The Hobbit aloud with my youngest son and noticed the poetry anew. At various points throughout the story, the characters sing. Sometimes the songs are silly, and sometimes they have important contextual clues to the storyline. I’ll be honest, most of the time I’m tempted to skip the poetry and get on with the story. But, not this time!

Authors use poetry in a narrative for a variety of reasons. It could be comic relief, foreshadowing, context, or an expression of the scene's emotion. Biblical authors use poetry in similar ways. It’s especially important to pay attention to poetry in the Bible when it pops up in the middle of a story.

When the human authors were writing Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they had no real way to use formatting to emphasize their point. Today, you might read something in bold and know that the word or sentence is significant. In the Bible, before such formatting was invented, authors had to be more creative. They emphasized important things through repetition, style, and pattern.

Much of the Bible is written in story form, with poetry sprinkled throughout the narratives, not unlike the songs that appear from time to time in The Hobbit. In most modern English translations, sections of poetry will be offset in some way. Usually, they’re indented with shorter lines and clear stanzas, like the way the NIV formats Job 1:21.

When you’re reading a story, and it pauses for a poem, don’t skip it to get on with the story! That poem is a break in the pattern. It might add context, foreshadow, build suspense, heighten emotion, or even provide comic relief. And it could very well reveal the main point of the story, or at least of that part of the story. So, when you find a poem in the middle of a story, ask what the poem is doing. What effect does it have on the story? What effect does it have on you?

Whether the poem is the point or serving some other purpose, you’ll benefit by pausing to pay attention to the poetry.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

What is prayer? Is it talking to God? What about listening to God? Is it 30 minutes at the beginning of the day, in your quiet time? Is it taking notice of God in moments throughout the day?

If prayer is talking to God, what happens when you run out of things to say? It might surprise you to hear that I’m not typically a big talker (even though, as a pastor, I talk for a living). I’ve always been impressed by people who have a lot to say in their prayers. I’ve often wished I could think of all those things to ask God for my kids/wife/neighbor/etc.

If prayer is listening to God, what happens when God is silent? Did I pray? Was God there? Did he want me to talk—is that why he was quiet? Was that last thought mine, or was God speaking? If God isn’t talking during my listening prayer, does that mean I’ve offended him in some way? Is there a sin I forgot to confess? Is this listening prayer even working?

If prayer happens in your quiet time, does that mean you don’t need to pray the rest of the day? Surely not. But why do pastors frequently encourage people to have a quiet time if prayer should happen throughout the day? Can I pray while I’m working on something, or do I need to stop whatever else I’m doing, close my eyes, and bow my head?

And that brings up another question. What is the right posture for prayer? Should I kneel, sit, or stand? I’ve read in the Bible about people lying facedown on the ground in prayer… is that what I should do? Can I prayer-walk? What about prayer-running? Prayer-calisthenics? Can I check off two boxes at once: daily prayer and exercise? Am I supposed to fold my hands, or not? Should I bow my head, or does it matter? Should I pray aloud or silently? Eyes open or closed?

And at the end of it all, perhaps the greatest question: Does praying even work? What does it mean to say that prayer works? If prayer does work, how?

These are all important questions. I have long held that prayer is as fundamental to the Christian’s spiritual life as breathing is to the physical life. But before we ask about the how of prayer, we need to know the what. What is prayer?

The best definition of prayer I’ve found is from Thomas Green, a spiritual director.

Prayer is opening your heart and mind to God.

It sounds simple, but it’s not easy. Our hearts and minds are so full of other things (movies, podcasts, Substack posts, work, family, news, social media, music, etc., etc., etc.) that it’s hard to make room for God. Don’t get me wrong, not all those things are bad. But the busyness and hurried pace at which we live makes opening our hearts and minds to God a difficult task, especially at the beginning.

I’ll write more later. For now, set a three-minute timer, and sit quietly until it goes off. Focus your heart and mind on the Lord. It might help to read something from the Gospels first, so you have something specific to focus on. Try Matthew 1:18-25, if you want a suggestion.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…” (John 14:16–17, ESV)

Let’s just cut through the fluff and get right to the point: I think many Christians today are either scared of the Spirit, unaware of the Spirit, or confused about the Spirit. Our Pentecostal and Charismatic brothers and sisters tend to be among the most comfortable with the Holy Spirit. But, to put it bluntly, they often seem to be a little off base (I say that with love as a former Pentecostal). Some of the excesses and questionable biblical theology within Pentecostalism have raised red flags among other branches of the Church.

As a result, many Christians are scared of the Spirit’s work. They tend to minimize the Holy Spirit to avoid the problematic practices in Charismatic churches. Usually, these believers place a very high value on Scripture, to the point where, as one pastor put it, “Our functional Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Bible. We’ve completely missed the Spirit.” While I commend their commitment to God’s Word, I must say that it’s rarely a good idea to make decisions out of fear. We should not be afraid of growing in our relationship with God!

Others who follow Jesus may not be scared of the Spirit, but they are almost completely unaware of the Spirit. They might be pursuing God in a church or denomination that has little, if any, teaching on the Spirit. They know God is Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But beyond hearing that when someone gets baptized, they never learn much of anything about the Spirit. For these faithful Christians, the work of the Spirit is largely relegated to the unseen realm, quietly invisible in their lives, in their churches, and in the world today. When the Spirit does work in them, they are unaware.

A third group of believers, perhaps the largest group, is confused about the Spirit. Who is he? What does he do? How does the Spirit relate to my life as a believer? What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and how is it different from being filled with the Holy Spirit? How can I be filled with the Spirit? What are spiritual gifts? How do I know what my gifts are? Do people still speak in tongues? What is that? Should I believe the YouTube video claiming to be a prophecy, or the person from my small group who said those things don’t happen anymore? These people want to walk faithfully with the Lord, drink deeply of the Spirit, and remain faithful to the Scriptures. But, they just don’t know how.

So, let me share with you a brief Bible reading list to help us understand him better. I’d encourage you to spend some time reading and reflecting on these passages.

• Gen 1:1-2, the Spirit in Creation

• Ps 104:24-30, the Spirit creates life

• Ezek 34:25-27, the Spirit as part of God’s plan of redemption

• Luke 3:21-22, the Spirit descends on Jesus at his baptism

• Luke 4:1-21, Jesus is led and empowered by the Spirit

• John 1:29-34, Jesus will baptize God’s people with the Spirit

• John 14:15-27, the Spirit is our Helper and Teacher

• John 15:26-27; 16:5-15, the Spirit testifies about Jesus

• Acts 1-2, the Spirit is promised and poured out

• Rom 8:1-17, the Spirit gives life and freedom

• Gal 5:16-26, the Spirit produces the character of Christ in us

• 1 Cor 12-13, the Spirit empowers believers to love and good works

• Eph 4:1-16, the Spirit produces unity and maturity

• Eph 5:15-21, believers should live filled with the Spirit

• 2 Cor 3:7-18, the Spirit transforms believers in glory

• Jude 20-21, believers should pray in the Spirit