How to Make People Feel “Seen” Rather than “Watched”
As the tributes to Tim Keller continue to pour in, I was struck by a comment my wife Melissa made recently in a podcast with Collin Hansen. As they discussed Tim’s ministry, she made the observation that Tim had the ability to make a person feel ‘seen’ rather than ‘watched’ (starting at 19:33).
I thought that insight was so profound, and so critical for ministry, that I wanted to offer my own reflections on it. In fact, I think the “see” vs. “watch” framework can be a shorthand way to capture two very different approaches to ministry. So, here are a few diagnostic questions for Christian leaders (myself included) … Continue reading...
My Tribute to Tim Keller
By now, you have heard the sad news. Tim Keller has just passed away.
I still remember the first time I heard a Tim Keller sermon. It was the mid-90’s, and I happened to be in New York City. Having just graduated from seminary, I had heard all the buzz about this new pastor in Manhattan who had (incredibly) built a thriving, growing church in the midst of one of the world’s most liberal cities. Since it was a Sunday, I figured I would go have a listen.
The church was meeting in an auditorium (part of a local college, if I remember). The stage was very plain, with a … Continue reading...
Here’s Why I Wrote My New Book, “Bully Pulpit”
Since the release of my new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Zondervan, 2022), I have done a ton of podcasts. Some of the most enjoyable have been with Collin Hansen at Gospelbound podcast, Warren Cole Smith at World Magazine, and Sean McDowell and Scott Rae at Think Biblically podcast.
But in nearly all these podcasts, the first question I get is: “Why in the world did you, as a NT scholar, write a book about spiritual abuse?” And that’s a fair question. Nearly all my prior publications have been fairly academic and mostly on text/canon issues.
So, here’s a video giving … Continue reading...
A Forgotten Fact about the Earliest Christian Movement
The lovable Disney film Moana, tells the story of a young girl who lives on a Polynesian island and is the daughter of the chief. Like many fathers, the chief is overly protective of his daughter, and also of the people he rules.
As a result, the people of Moana’s village are in a bit of a rut. They are rather uninspired and somewhat in-grown, not sure of their purpose or destiny. And Moana feels the same unrest. The core of the movie catalogs her struggle to discover her identity and calling.
But here’s the key. While she is curious about what her future should be, her breakthrough comes … Continue reading...
“Bully Pulpit” Wins Book of the Year
The Gospel Coalition released it’s annual Book of the Year Awards today, and I was so pleased to see that my new book, Bully Pulpit, won Book of the Year for the ministry category.
The reviewers wrote: “Michael Kruger’s Bully Pulpit confronts this widespread problem with the beauty and transforming power of the gospel . . . He succeeds in creating a work that will be a change agent in our time and should live well beyond it.”
[UPDATE: I recently learned that Bully Pulpit was also one of the winners for the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Book of the Year Awards, and a runner-up for the … Continue reading...