It has been a super busy few weeks and I thought it would be fun to catch folks up on some of the highlights.

First, Vintage Jesus, the book I wrote with my dear friend Dr. Gerry Breshears, was released by my friends at Crossway. The pre-sales alone far exceeded our expectations and we are very excited about the book. We are also grateful to those people who have helped us get the word out.

Second, last week the Text and Context conference was held at the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church in conjunction with TheResurgence.com. The attendance was over the 1,300-seat capacity of the building so sadly we had to turn away many people who wanted to join us. In all sincerity, it was some of the most helpful teaching I have ever seen and everyone who spoke did a phenomenal job. That includes John Piper, C. J. Mahaney, James Gilmore, and Matt Chandler, plus sessions from the concurrent boot camp for the Acts 29 Church Planting Network by Darrin Patrick and Jeff Vanderstelt. It was an honor to welcome Christian leaders from 46 states and 11 nations. The highlights for me included a session on interpreting culture by James Gilmore, how pastoral ministry influences pulpit ministry by John Piper, and C. J. Mahaney’s message on seeing evidences of God’s grace in our church, which devastated me and is one every Christian leader needs to hear. The staff at TheResurgence.com is working hard to get all of the sessions online for free in audio and video as soon as possible and when they’re all up I will let you know.

At the conference I also had the honor of spending some personal time with John Piper and C. J. Mahaney. They were kind enough to give me some very helpful pastoral counsel that I am grateful for so that I can mature in my service of Jesus and the people I pastor alongside the other elders at Mars Hill Church. Lastly, we set up a video studio and got interviews with Reach Records hip hop artist Lecrae, John Piper, James Gilmore, Matt Chandler, and Eric Mason (of Epiphany Fellowship in Philly). Those interviews were great and will also be given away online at TheResurgence.com.

Third, I got a call from Pastor Rick Warren last week. He called simply to see if there was anything he could do to help. His kindness was humbling and helpful. I asked him how he handled his critics and he had a great insight that in our day criticism has changed. He explained that there was a day when a critic would have to sit down and write a letter and then mail it into a newspaper. With limited space, the paper would then be able to only print a fraction of the letters they received. The printed letters were often not read and quickly became dated. However, Warren said, in our day criticism is marked by the following four factors:

1. Instant
2. Constant
3. Global
4. Permanent

Warren then went on to explain that, as Jesus experienced, the strongest criticism for any Christian leader comes from rigid religious people. When I asked him what someone should do when facing criticism, he gave the following insightful points:

1. Turn your critics into coaches by hearing what they are saying and humbly considering if there is any truth in their criticisms to learn from.
2. Never engage the critics on their terms because it only escalates the conflict and is not productive.
3. Be very careful with firing off emails or leaving voicemails and responding out of anger in a way that you will later regret.
4. Shout louder than your critics to define yourself and do not allow them to define you.

I want to publicly thank Warren for giving me some good advice and taking time out of his busy schedule to speak into my life and ministry. I also pass his wisdom along to other Christian leaders.Fourth, on Thursday of this week I have the privilege of opening the Washington State legislature in prayer and then meeting with some political leaders who love Jesus and want to meet and chat, which will be a great honor.

Lately the pace of work has been great but so has the encouragement and wise counsel from godly Christian leaders who have been gracious enough to pour into my life, which is very welcome and helpful.