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

My son Will is five and my Daughter Charlotte just turned three. One of their favorite games is to endlessly repeat whatever my wife and I say. My daughter will even try to imitate my deeper voice. Every kid plays this game. Mimicking is actually a necessary part of growing up.As Carrie Shrier, writing for Michigan State University, put it:“Infants love to copy facial expressions. In fact, babies as young as just a few hours old can copy an adult who sticks their tongue out. If you smile, they will try to smile back. As babies get older, they get even better at copying your actions. Holding the phone as you do, brushing your hair, mimicking your actions, and copying your words and tone of voice.”Honestly, I find it terrifying. What comes out of my mouth soon comes out of theirs. And watching my son grow up is strangely like looking at some sort of time machine mirror. I constantly catch glimpses of myself. You come to realize just how much you shape their earliest self-identity.But eventually, my son and daughter will learn their own voice, their own vocabulary and experiences, and traits. There will always be something of our family there, a foundation beneath them, but parents want to see their kids grow into their own voice and lives. What’s cute at three seems stunted by if still the same at twenty-three.We often talk about voice when we describe the way a person writes or speaks. It’s more than the sound vibrating vocal cords, we are speaking about the uniqueness of that person's perspective and the way in which they express themselves. Voice is something we all recognize and love about our favorite writers and preachers, but after almost 100 interviews with writers, I’ve met very few who enjoy talking about it. When I ask about voice, it's like I’m asking what their wearing... it's strongly too personal. I feel it too.As critical as it is, having a unique voice, it still sounds awkward and superficial to talk about. Early on as a writer and a pastor, I thought a lot more about it. What I wanted to sound like, what kind of writer I wanted to be. Eventually, though, you come to realize that a voice is not something you can construct but something which must be uncovered, something there but too often shuffled to the back, forced out by more pressing expectations and insecurities. What I mean is, the work of cultivating voice is really a process of subtraction, not addition. You must get all the stuff out of the way.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeremey is the lead campus pastor at Woodside Bible Church's Plymouth Michigan campus where you'll find him preaching most Sundays. He is also the Executive Director for Gospel-Centered Discipleship, a resourcing ministry that exists to help make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus.As a writer, he's been published in several books, as well as writing for publications like He Reads Truth, Christ and Pop Culture,and For The Church. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff Munroe is the executive vice president at Western Theological Seminary, where he also teaches writing. He was a charter member of the advisory board of the Buechner Institute of Faith and Culture, and is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America.He is also the author of 2019 book, Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher. I named the book one of my top reads of 2019. Jeff's book is a wonderful introduction to Buechner's work. Our conversation motivated me to pick up new books and add some Buechner novels to my 2020 reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Philip Yancey worked for 10 years as an Editor and then Publisher for Campus Life magazine.In 1980 he and his wife Janet moved to downtown Chicago where he began a career as a freelance writer.In 1992, they moved to the foothills of Colorado, where Philip continues to write today, now having written over 30 books, most of them still in print.Three of those books he coauthored with Dr. Paul Brand, who he has said influenced him more than any single person.You are no doubt familiar with many of his books including, What's so amazing about Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew, Where's God When It Hurts, Prayer, and his recently released book, Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of bearing God's ImagePhilip describes himself as a pilgrim, still "in recovery" from a bad church upbringing, searching for a faith that makes its followers larger and not smaller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For more than 15 years, J.R. Briggs served in pastoral roles in mega-churches, church plants, and house church networks.In 2011 he started Kairos Partnerships to serve hungry leaders through leadership coaching, consulting, speaking, teaching, equipping and writing. Since starting Kairos Partnerships, JR has served and invested in pastors and kingdom leaders in 28 states and Canada in over 40 denominations.He is the author, co-author or contributor of ten books and Bible studies on a wide variety of topics. He has also published articles in publications including Christianity Today, Huffington Post, Preaching Today, American Bible Society, N.T. Wright Online, Missio Alliance, Relevant Magazine, Outreach Magazine, and Faith & Leadership, among others.He is the co-host of the Monday Morning Pastor podcast.One of the books that is on my must-read list for pastors is one he published in 2014 entitled, Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure. Don't take my word for it, it comes with a foreword by Eugene Peterson.J.R. joins me to talk about the role of failure and how to handle it. How do you know when a challenge is God calling you to persevere faithfully or call it quits? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Darling is the Vice President for Communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (ERLC). Dan is a bestselling author of several books, The Dignity Revolution, The Characters of Christmas and the forthcoming, A Way With Words, releasing in September 2020.Dan is a prolific writer for a wide variety of publications, including contributions to In Touch Magazine, Made to Flourish, Core Christianity, Christianity Today, Facts and Trends, and The Gospel Coalition. His op-eds have appeared in USA Today, CNN, Washington Times, Time, Huffington Post, National Review, Washington Post and First Things. He has also appeared on CNN, FOX and on MSNBC.He hosts the popular weekly podcast, The Way Home, where he interviews Christian leaders, politicians, and journalists.Dan also continues to serve the church. He has served churches in Illinois and Tennessee. He and his wife Angela have four children and reside in the Nashville area. They attend Green Hill Church in Mt. Juliet. There, Dan serves as Pastor of Teaching and Discipleship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael grew up in Brisbane, Australia before joining the Army and serving as a paratrooper, intelligence operator, and then chaplain's assistant. It was during his time in the military that he came to faith from a non-Christian background, and soon felt a call to ministry.He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland and currently serves on the faculty at Ridley as a lecturer in Theology since 2013.As a researcher, Michael has written and edited over thirty books in the fields of Septuagint, Historical Jesus, the Gospels, St Paul, Biblical Theology, and Systematic Theology. Its also worth checking out his blog, euangelion.He joins me to talk about his latest work, a New Testament introduction written with N. T. Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our culture considers a person’s ability to speak their opinion not just a right but a kind of necessity. To not have an opinion is to be dull at best and irrelevant and transparent at worst. If a person chooses not to speak are they even still a person? In the digital age, maybe not.The question is not whether we should speak or not speak, it's, have we cultivated the wisdom to even recognize we have the choice.How do we read James' advice in the age of the internet? "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Curtis Sergeant is an MK (missionary kid) from Asia who served with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board as a missionary among unreached people groups in China and as a global trainer in missions. He has also served as a VP (for Global Strategy) with the IMB before leaving to help start the P.E.A.C.E. Plan at Saddleback Church where he directed their church planting efforts for five years. He served as a VP with e3 Partners Ministry for three years before moving to Alabama. He continues to serve with them as a consultant along with a number of other organizations for which he conducts training.He recently released a new book entitled, <em>The Only One: Living Fully In, By, and For God</em>, which is available for free at theonlyonebook.com.Curtis joins me to talk about his work in global church planting, discipleship movements, and what we can learn from them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices