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

Scott Kedersha serves as the Director of Marriage Ministry at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas. He writes about marriage, family, leadership, and ministry, and is the author of Ready or Knot? 12 Conversations Every Couple Needs to Have before Marriage.Writing is long and hard work. It requires time, attention, and often money. But few of us write with unlimited quantities of those categories. We take up this new work in the context of relationships and pre-existing responsibilities. Important writing—even Christian writing—is no excuse for sacrificing our greater priorities. Scott joins me to discusses how to approach writing within these relationships. 

Andrew Peterson is a recording artist, songwriter, producer, filmmaker, publisher and award-winning author of The Wingfeather Saga.He is also the founder and president of The Rabbit Room, which fosters Christ-centered community and spiritual formation through music, story and art.Peterson has also been named “one of the foremost singer/songwriters around” and has received multiple “best album of the year” nods from critics along with two Dove Award nominations.Taking his hits and fan favorites on the road, Peterson’s touring draws capacity crowds at venues around the world, including several sold-out events at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.I had a chance to review an advance copy of his soon to be released book, Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making. Andrew joins me to talk about creativity, community, writing, and the mystery of making.

Frank Viola is a speaker, blogger, and bestselling author. You might be familiar with his books, Pagan Christianity, Insurgence, From Eternity to Here. His blog—frankviola.org—is regularly ranked in the top 5 of all Christian blogs on the Web and his podcast - Christ is All - has ranked #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA on iTunes.He is committed to helping serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact.Viola's writing is characterized by boldness and a passion for changing conventions. In our conversation, we talk about how he approaches his writing and how he knows when he has an idea worth writing about.

Dr. Jim Denison is the CEO of Denison Forum. His Daily Article and podcast globally reach over 160,000 subscribers. Dr. Denison guides readers to discern today’s news—biblically. He is the author of multiple books and has taught on the philosophy of religion and apologetics at several seminaries.Prior to launching Denison Forum in 2009, he pastored churches in Texas and Georgia. He holds a Ph.D and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.He joins me to talk about writing to culture and his process for producing a daily article. For more than two decades, Dr. Denison has been using his writing to shape culture. I hope our conversation helps you think about how your writing might do the same.

Jared C. Wilson is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction. He is an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Spurgeon College and is an Author in Residence at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also services General Editor of For The Church.Jared joins me to talk about his career in writing and pastoral ministry. We discuss the role of writers in the work of the church and how writers can sustain the work even against a complicated and overwhelming publishing process. 

As a part of our summer reading series, Alisse Goldsmith-Wissman joined me to talk about her role at InterVarsity Press and some of their upcoming releases. In addition to new releases, Alisse also shares some of her favorite IVP books.I've been extremely impressed with IVP's work and added several new books to my list based on this conversation.

Tommy Brown is a pastor and a published author, having published the book, Seven Money Types, with Zondervan in 2017. Tommy joins me to talk about how his idea developed into a publishing contract and a best-selling book. If you have ever thought about publishing a book, there is a lot of helpful advice and perspective in this episode. We talk about the significance of a book's concept and how that concept can even help overcome a limited platform. Tommy was candid and honest about the process and it will be helpful for so many of you.

Dr. Andrew Root is a professor at Luther Seminary since 2005. He is often mentioned as one of the leading scholars in youth ministry and practical theology in the world. His first book, Revisiting Relational Ministry (IVP, 2007) presented a new trajectory for youth ministry, offering the field one of the first robust theological projects. Since then, he has published sixteen books.His latest project is a three-volume series with Baker Academic called “Ministry in a Secular Age.” Volume one was released as *Faith Formation in a Secular Age* in October 2017. Volume two, titled The Pastor in a Secular Age released this past Spring 2019, with volume three to follow.In this series Dr. Root uses Charles Taylor’s thought to explore the challenges of ministry, offering a theological and ministerial response.

Can you imagine Ron Swanson waking up to discover he was suddenly allergic to meat? No steaks, no brats, no bacon, no cheeseburgers. Can you imagine his reaction? It would have made a great episode, but maybe it sounds too far fetched. Believe it or not, a meat allergy is a real thing, and I was as horrified to discover I had it as Ron Swanson would have been.Two years ago, I developed what I thought was strep throat. I found myself with a cough and having trouble swallowing. Quickly it worsened into headaches and then dizziness and then the hives—hives on my chest, back, arms, and face.The doctor was confident it was an anaphylactic reaction, but we couldn’t determine to what. I had never been allergic to anything, not even poison ivy. I didn’t even know what hives looked liked until I had them. We tried everything. I changed soap, and laundry detergent, and vitamins, but for three weeks, I continued to deteriorate. Each afternoon I would lay under a fan in my underwear, dizzy, short of breath, and miserable with hives. But things would get much worse.Read the Article

Patrick Shcreiner teaches New Testament at Western Seminary in Portland Oregon. His Ph.D. work was on spatial theories and their relationship to the kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew.In addition to his dissertation work, he is also the author of, The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross(A part of the crossway Short Studies in Biblical Theology Series), and the soon to be released Matthew, Disciple and Scribe: The First Gospel and Its Portrait of Jesus.I was interested in talking with Patrick about ongoing study. How do pastors and writers continue to learn and study seriously outside of the seminary or academic setting?We also discussed his writing process and how writers can find their own personal ways to stay organized, knock out drafts, and produce better edits.