Laughter Is Good Medicine

This one hits really close to home - both in the way I was raised and some of the things I do with my kids.

Laughter Is Good Medicine

Bill Cosby's stand-up routine in "Himself" is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Now that I have kids, it's even funnier and more truthful than when I first saw it.  If you want proof of this, come to my house anytime. Enjoy!

Connecting to the Gospel

I'm really excited about this book coming out this fall by J. D. Greear.  I heard J. D. talk about it at an Advance the Church Conference this past spring.  It sounds like a much needed clarification about not just defining the gospel, but what it means to live the gospel.  I believe most of the members of my church would benefit from this book.

Adrian Rogers Tribute

One of my heroes of preaching and ministry was the late Adrian Rogers.  I have often said he had the best preaching voice I ever heard.  He also preached with an authority and a compassion I pray that God will birth in me someday.  I found this today on Twitter and wanted to post it here for you.  It's a video tribute from his 2005 memorial service.

I pray that God will bring up in this generation men who preach and lead like this:

Enemies of the Heart - A Book Review

Recently I received a copy of Andy Stanley's new book Enemies of the Heart to review.  This is an updated release of a previous book by Stanley called "It Came From Within".  While I had never read the previous release, I had used the DVD of Andy's sermons on this subject in my small group a couple of years ago.  This was one of the most helpful series of sermons I had ever seen.  Stanley's premise of the book is helping Christians to break free from four deadly emotions that we can inadvertently give control to our lives over.  These four emotions are guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy.  Stanley does an awesome job in this book showing the dangerous effects of these four emotions on the human heart and how destructive they can be to our relationships.

Andy Stanley is a masterful communicator and it shows in this book.  It was developed from a power series of sermons he did on these topics several years ago.  He writes with the heart of a pastor and the wisdom of someone who has walked through these four emotions with a lot of people.  As you read through this book, you can relate to the stories that Stanley shows about the deadly effects of harboring these four emotions.  Stanley also provides very solid, practical advice on a cure.  He shows how each of these emotions can be cured by intentional decisions on our part to release ourselves from their power.  The book is supported throughout by a smattering of Scriptures.  One of the weaknesses of the book is that it is not strong in biblical exposition.  I wish that Andy would do a better job of pointing readers to the sufficiency of God's word and the wealth of wisdom it provides for each of these areas.  There are times where the book reads a little too much like a Christian "self-help" book, something that there is far too much of in the Christian retailing market.  However, while the book has some Scriptural weakness, none of the principles that Stanley suggests are unbiblical.  He draws much of his information from Scriptural principles and years of experience walking through these subjects as a pastor.  As I read this book I found myself several times wishing I had this advice much earlier in my life.  I also had a mental list of at least a dozen people I know that would benefit from reading this book right now.  At the end of the day, Enemies of the Heart is a great book of practical advice that should be followed up by a diet of God's word to help solidify its principles into the new heart of salvation.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Thoughts from Staycation

Most every year my family joins my in-laws for a vacation.  Our destination of choice has usually been Panama City Beach, FL.  This year however, we decided to do a "Stay-cation" at my in-laws house in the metropolis of Decatur, AL.  It's free lodging and they have a pool!  We spent most everyday swimming, hanging around watching TV, and interspersed some shopping trips and movie trips in between.  Basically it was everything we would do at the beach minus the hot sand that sticks to your feet.  We saved lots of money and still had some great memories.  Here were a few pluses from staycation.

1. Money - It was a lot less expensive and we used some of the money we saved to eat good and go to the movies.  It was nice not having to shell out $1500 for a condo.  It was also nice not to have to constantly say "Do we have enough money for that?"
2. Memories - We built some great memories that didn't revolve around the same tourist hype we usually have to deal with.  We also made time each day for a family devotion where each member had the opportunity to share their testimony. 
3. Less Hassle - We didn't have to deal with beach road traffic, long waits at the restaurant, trying to scope out a lounge chair at the pool, or crowding 8 people in a condo.  We didn't have to worry about swimming in a pool with other people we didn't know doing things we didn't know. 

Overall, it was a great deal and one we will probably do again.  (Did I mention my in-laws have a pool?)

What's on my reading list...

I'm headed out Sunday for a week of vacation with the family.  We're going to see my in-laws in Decatur, AL - basically because we have no money and going to Gran-Gran and Papa's means free lodging and a pool!  I hope to get some serious reading in this week.  Here is a list of the books I am taking with me.  I won't finish all of them, but I don't know which ones I will read first.

John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock by Iain Murray - John MacArthur is one of my ministry heroes.  I actually started this book last week and hope to have it finished soon.

Why God Won't Go Away by Alister McGrath - An answer to some of the "new athiests."  I got this book free to review for my blog.

Enemies of the Heart by Andy Stanley - another book I got free to review for my blog.  I love Andy Stanley's teaching.  I actually used the small group DVD for this book with my home group in Birmingham when it was called "It Came From Within."

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan - This is Chan's much-awaited response to some of the controversy stirred up by Rob Bell's book "Love Wins".

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz - This one was recommended to me by my friend Jason.  Fascinating story about some changes Starbucks made a few years ago.

The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation by Jay Elliott - a behind the scenes look at the leadership of Steve Jobs by a guy who worked beside him for many years.

These are a few of the books I hope to get read soon.  What's on your current reading list?

C J Mahaney is taking a "leave of absence"

One of the men that I have had the privilege of connecting to his ministry in the last 5 years or so is C. J. Mahaney.  C.J. is one of the founding pastors of Covenant Life Church outside Washington, D.C.  He led that fellowship for 27 years before handing the reigns to Joshua Harris.  C.J. also helped to start Sovereign Grace Ministries which is a network of like-minded leaders who are committed to establishing gospel-centered churches. 

I have heard C.J. speak personally on a couple of occasions and listened to him online speak at several conferences with godly, gospel-centered men such as Al Mohler, John MacArthur, John Piper, and Mark Dever.  He has shown a strong commitment to biblical exposition and sound theology.  C.J. has written some excellent books including The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing and Humility: True Greatness.  Every time I have read C.J. or heard him speak I am impressed with his graciousness and humility. 

Below is a post from C.J. about his recent decision to take a leave of absence from Sovereign Grace.  As you read this, you will get a sense of the humility and godliness that mark this servant of God.  Be praying for C.J. as he walks this journey over the next few months. 

C.J. Mahaney "Why I Am Taking a Leave of Absence"

My apologies for my absence...

Ok. Let me first admit that my blogging in the last few months has been weak at best.  I have had several blog topics in mind, but ministry responsibilities and the distractions from other things on the internet have often caused me to neglect any writing.  Nevertheless, I am going to try to post more often and post things that are pertinent to my life, my leadership, and my developing theology and missiology.  I am not ruling out the occasional gloat about MS State football or Red Sox baseball or the occasional "I hate the Yankees" post. 

I know that this attention to my blog will be good news to the 8 or so of you who most often read my blog.  I hope that my neglect hasn't caused you severe discomfort and if it has, please accept my apology.  My hope is that posting more often might actually increase my readership.  At any rate, it will give me an outlet to express my thoughts and hopefully keep me better connected to my friends who are interested in what I have to say.  If you get a chance, post a comment every once in a while to let me know you are reading and what you think.

A Few Links to Click

I like to read other blogs because they help me to think more deeply about my own life and theology.  Here are a few that I have read the past week that would be worth your time to read:

The Enemy Next Door by Tim Challies - Challies has become one of the preeminent bloggers in the evangelical world.  This post about our attitude towards unbelievers rings too true in most churches.  God have mercy on us!

The Missional Idea in Scripture by Ed Stetzer - Great post by Ed. He's really on track in helping churches to understand our missional mandate.  I love the reminder that God has always been a "sending" God and that if we are to be faithful to him, we must be on mission as well. 

Vocation: Discerning Your Calling by Tim Keller - I love anything that comes from Keller's pen.  This guy is on target and in the trenches.  He is leading a great church in the heart of the mission field of New York.  Great post on being a steward of your job. This is what missional living is about.

Do You Teach Your Kids the Gospel or the Law? by Elyse Fitzpatrick - another good post related to the messages we send our kids about the gospel.  An important question for every Christian parent that we must constantly return to. 

Immigration and the Gospel by Russell Moore - a very important post about a very timely issue.  A few weeks ago this topic was a heated conversation on the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention.  It concerns me that many times we let our earthly allegiance to the United States blind us to our heavenly allegiance to the kingdom of God and the advancement of the gospel.  If you are concerned about immigration issues, read this first before you chime in with your opinion. 

"Don't Call It a Comeback" - A Book Review

Ever since the birth of our newest addition Josh 5 months ago, my energy level and reading have been limited.  I still have way too many books that I want to read than I have time for, but I am really feeling the pinch now.  One of the authors I have enjoyed reading recently is Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan.  Kevin is a sharp young leader with a deep theological base.  Last year, I was browsing the racks at Lifeway and saw the book "Don't Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day".  I was intrigued by the title and saw that Kevin had served as the editor.  I bought it and added it to my "Hope to read one day" list.  A few months ago, I threw it in the bag and started reading it one night at my son's baseball practice.  I quickly found it to be one of the most helpful and necessary books I have read in a while. 

Here is the premise of the book.  Kevin and a 17 other pastors and church leaders each contribute a chapter to the book.  Each of these guys are young evangelicals who are solidly committed to sound theology, biblical exposition, and helping transform churches into relevant missional communities.  The idea that birthed the book was an attempt by younger evangelicals to understand and define what the evangelical community looks like historically and what they believe about important topics like the person of Christ, Scripture, the gospel, justification, sanctification, the kingdom of God, social justice, homosexuality, and gender confusion.  The authors identify and admit that there is much confusion in the church today about what constitutes the "evangelical" movement.  The term has become a political identification that has lost grips with the theological roots that bonded the movement together for many years. 

I am 42 years old and have been a Christ-follower for almost 25 years.  I am a graduate of a conservative Baptist seminary.  I have almost 20 years of ministry in church-related vocation.  However, I admit that before reading this book, I had a very blurred picture whenever I heard the term "evangelical".  I believe that my generation and the ones succeeding it have lost all identification with the evangelical movement.  As a matter of fact, in some younger circles the term is avoided for fear that you will have to cover your face and shout "Unclean! Unclean!"  As I read each of these chapters I was encouraged greatly that the theological truths that I hold so dearly are affirmed in a larger circle and are being embraced by men much younger than I.  I am extremely pleased to see a return to biblical fidelity, theological accuracy, and missional relevance in the "younger evangelicals" today.  I am excited that the prophecies a few years ago that spelled "doom" for this next generation have not come to pass.  I believe that God is raising a generation of God-glorifying, gospel-saturated, and missionally-focused leaders that will change the course of much of the evangelical landscape in the next 20 years. 

If you are under 40, I believe this book is a must-read.  If you are a 20-something who has come out of your "youth group" mentality and are now looking for some substance to believe in regarding God, the Bible, and contemporary issues, you need this book! 

"Let's embrace the ends of the earth 'till the end of the age"

I didn't make it to Phoenix last week for the SBC Pastor's Conference or Convention.  However, I watched much of it online.  I am excited about the opportunities facing us as Southern Baptists and especially the focus on much of the convention about engaging unreached people groups.  Here is an excellent message from Ken Whitten that I hope inspires you and I to do more.


ASPIRE Msg: Ken Whitten from Hope Baptist Church, Las Vegas on Vimeo.

Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

This is a powerful and painful video I saw years ago by Casting Crowns.  It's a wake-up call for many that we need to be careful of even seemingly insignificant choices. 

Matt Chandler Update

If you have read my blog in the past, you have seen me post prayer requests and updates for Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Dallas.  God has anointed this man and gifted him to be a leader for this generation.  He was diagnosed in December 2009 with a brain tumor and has chronicled his journey on his church's website.  Here is a link to latest video blog he put up a few days ago.  Great news!

Also be praying for Jonathan Bean, one of the pastors at The Church of Brook Hills.  He was also diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year.  He had some setbacks last week.  Here is a blog where they post updates about him.  Jonathan Bean

I Wish I Was In Phoenix...

Right now I am sitting in my office with a cup of coffee and a messy desk from two busy weeks of ministry.  I am critiquing my sermons from yesterday (not feeling real good about them) and preparing a sermon plan for the next few months.  I have a Doctor of Ministry proposal that is way too far overdue and I have little motivation right now to get it done.  My wife's car is in the shop with an electrical problem and I am dreading the final bill.

At the same time, the Southern Baptist Convention is taking place in Phoenix, AZ.  I had planned to go this year, but several circumstances have kept me from doing so.  I attended my first SBC since becoming a pastor last year in Orlando.  It was my first time attending since 1996.  As a pastor now, I definitely had a different perspective.  I also was interested to see first-hand the discussion and debate surround the Great Commission Resurgence.  It was a large topic of conversation in my local association and in my State Convention in the days leading up to the '09 SBC.  I enjoyed the whole process and felt like while the SBC has a number of issues that we need to address, it is nice to know that I can be a part of the process and hopefully part of the solution.

There has been a trend for a long time of many younger Southern Baptist leaders to ignore and avoid the convention politics.  I am 42.  Most of my friends and colleagues my age and younger have been frustrated over the convention and have viewed it as a bunch of power-hungry pastors fighting over crumbs instead of aligning the convention for the future.  I don't think that it's coincidence that the issues of declining baptisms convention-wide, detachment of younger SBC leaders, turnover in the convention entities, and the call for a refocus on the Great Commission are all aligning at the same time.  I am happy to see from social media that a growing number of younger SBC evangelicals are starting to check back in.  The rise of groups like Baptist21 and Advance the Church show some promise that positive change is attainable in the near future for our SBC family. 

From my observation, most of the people in our churches have no idea what the SBC is, what it does, how it operates, and why it may be the last hope for conservative evangelicalism on a denominational level.  We know the names of Lottie and Annie and pass the plates to support them.  We have been a convention of churches with pastors who have a hard time cooperating with anybody or anything other than the Cooperative Program.  We have created a false sense of health in our churches by using a methodology that inflates our numbers so we can answer that question "How many are you running?" while filling our pews with unconverted believers who have never been told that following Jesus will cost them everything.  As a result we have a large State and National bureaucracy that is hard to define and harder to unite.

Do I know all the answers? Certainly not.  I do have some opinions.  Do I accurately understand all the issues?  Not really, but I am trying to learn.  Nevertheless, I wish I was in Phoenix so that I can remind myself that my church in rural Alabama is part of a wonderful family of churches that have the potential significantly impact the Great Commission.  I want to be there to be part of the process instead of sitting in my office critiquing things without being part of the solution.  I want to be part of a generation that takes the baton from a faithful generation that has run the race before me and hand it off to a powerful generation that is coming behind me.  I want to be part of the generation that can stand soon and report that baptisms on a national level are increasing.  I want to be a part of a generation that can report hundreds of new church plants in pioneering areas and list unreached people groups that now have disciples of Jesus and access to the gospel message.  This is why I wish I was in Phoenix.

Here are some helpful links I have read today and recently by some much smarter bloggers than me about the SBC and the future:
Ten Thoughts About the SBC - A very helpful post from Timmy Brister about some of our issues.
Again. From Decline to Decision - An appropriate post by Ed Stetzer who is a gift to Southern Baptists.  We need to heed some of his warnings.

Piper and the Prosperity Gospel

I love these words by John Piper about the dangerous prosperity gospel that has been a staple of American Christianity for some time.  

Book Review - Max on Life

One of my favorite Christian writers is Max Lucado.  As a new Christian, my life and walk with Jesus was significantly impacted by the book Six Hours, One Friday.  For many years I have gobbled up Max's new books and read through them.  Max's writing is devotional in nature.  He has taught me how to see and appreciate the grace and love of God on a much deeper level.  Max is a pastor and writes profound truths in a simple, poetic style.

His new book, Max on Life, is a much different read from his previous ones.  In this book, Max answers 172 questions from the thousands that have been posed to him by readers and church members in the last 25+ years.  These are real questions from real people who have real struggles with life and faith.  Max opens the book by helping the reader to understand that life is full of questions - real, important, and challenging questions.  These questions radically impact our theology of God and our pursuit of Him.  This may Max's most pastoral book so far.  He shows the tenderness of a pastor and the craft of a theologian to provide honest, readable answers to real struggles.  As you read this book, you are hit with the subject of the depth of God's forgiveness, the reality of pain and God's purpose in it, the reliability of Scripture, the personal struggle of prayer, reconciling the pain of broken relationships, balancing work, money, and the church, assurance of life after death, and how to grieve lost loved ones. 

Overall, Max on Life is a very good book.  It's written in such a way that someone can search through the questions to find one that they have been dealing with very easily.  In most situations, Max provides very biblical and helpful advice.  One of the strengths of the book is that it is extremely practical and deals with many of the questions that people are asking.  The book's weakness is that it doesn't go into detail to really deal with some of the theological issues regarding sin, salvation, evil, suffering, etc.  In an attempt to deal with questions in a timely way and within the space of one page Lucado skims the surface without providing a theological bedrock from which to make sense of these real-life issues.  It may have been helpful if he would have offered some "For Extra Reading" recommendations for people interested in studying deeper.  However, anyone familiar with Max's books will know that he writes from a devotional, pastoral style.  He stays true to form in this book.  That is what makes his books so endearing and helpful to so many people.  I think Max on Life is a welcomed addition to most any layperson's library.  Almost anyone would resonate with several questions and find themselves saying "That's a question I have had."  It reads like having a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop and asking one of the most influential pastors some of life's most pressing questions.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What Front Porches Are For

Right now I am hanging out at my mom's house on her front porch.  We've been here in Mississippi for about 4 days visiting family while my kids are on Spring Break.  Whenever we are here, the central meeting point is the front porch.  It's been that way for years.  My mom's house is almost 40 years old.  It's what I called "home" from 4th grade until I married and established my own home at age 28.  It's a unique house in that there is a long front porch that runs most of the length of the front of the house with five columns that support it. For dozens of years it has been the central meeting point for the family.  It's adorned with all kinds of plants in front, planter boxes, wind chimes, hummingbird feeders, two porch swings and three rockers.  They don't make houses with porches like this anymore.  Now, houses are made with large "great rooms" where the television set is the central point for the family.

The porch and front yard are one of the things that make visits home so special.  This front yard has witnessed dozens of football games, times playing catch, and wrestling matches.  From this porch my stepdad and my sons look for planes that we hear flying overhead.  My mom and I had dozens of conversations about life, faith, and the future in these rockers.  It's a place that makes you face your neighbors when they drive up and down the road.  Now, we don't even know what our neighbors look like, much less their names.

Perhaps one of the reasons we have so many problems in families today can be traced to a lack of front porches.  Perhaps one of the reasons why teens struggle so much with the issues they face can be the fact that their parents were more concerned with the "man-cave" than the front porch.  I have read dozens of studies about the fact that children and teens who engage in weekly conversations about life are much less likely to engage in destructive behaviors.  Maybe they should do a survey about the lifestyle choices of teens who grew up in a home with a front porch and how much time they spent on it with their parents.

I know my theory isn't full-proof.  I know that a front porch doesn't insure good choices.  I am fully aware that my brother and I made plenty of bad decisions and suffered the consequences for it.  I just wonder how many more we would have made if we'd have spent more time in the den and not on the porch.  Just a thought.

"Children Of God" by Third Day

I have always loved Third Day. It's probably the Southern boy in me that resonates with the music. Here is one of their new songs that I think is awesome and also promotes the cause of adoption.

"What Bible Should I Use?"

As a pastor, this is one of the questions I get asked a lot over the years.  It usually comes up when someone is looking to buy a Bible for someone in their family or when someone who's been using King James since childhood finally decides to try something else.  Honestly, it was not a question I gave a lot of thought to for the first 10+ years of my ministry.  I would usually answer with "New International Version" because it was the most popular and every preacher I knew used it.  However, sometime around 2004 I picked up a copy of Leland Ryken's The Word of God in English from a recommendation at John MacArthur's Shepherd's Conference.  It was the first time I began to seriously investigate the issue of Bible translation and why it's so important.

First, you need to know that the leading factor driving most of the Bible translation market is "what sells."  Most (not all) Bible publishers only want to produce what they can sell.  Marketing is the master.  This is why you see versions like the New International Version and the New Living Translation advertised so much.  It's not because they are better translations.  It's because they sell well, the publishers can put slick covers on them, and those names are familiar.  Most publishers are not primarily concerned with delivering a faithful and true text of Scripture.  What good does it do to have an accurate translation if you can't sell it?  This is why the New American Standard Bible (probably the most accurate) still only encompases about 2% of Bible sales every year.  John MacArthur tried to publish his first edition of the MacArthur Study Bible in NASB because that is what he preaches out of.  His publisher denied it because NASB doesn't sell.  It was only after he sold hundreds of thousands of NKJV editions that they agreed to release it in NASB.

The issue of Bible translation really comes down to understanding what drives translators.  Basically there are two historic schools of Bible translation.  One is the "formal equivalent" (FE) crowd which tries to be more "word-for-word" when translating.  The other is the "dynamic equivalent" (DE) crowd which tries to be more "thought-for-thought."  The FE crowd desires to get the most accurate translation to what the author says as possible.  The DE crowd desires to interpret what the author was saying and then put it in more modern, understandable terms.  Both of these ideas are difficult because of the syntax of the Greek language.  Greek sentence structure makes a "word-for-word" translation difficult to read.  However, trying to alter the text to fit a nice English structure can lose much of the author's meaning.  The basic historical formal equivalent translations are King James Version, New King James, Revised Standard Version, and New American Standard.  The basic dynamic equivalents are Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, The Message, and the New Living Translation.  The New International Version claims to be an balance between the two, but leans heavily towards dynamic equivalence in my opinion. 

I have come to the conclusion that I want to have as accurate a translation as possible for both my personal study and for my preaching.  I do have several versions that would be dynamic equivalence that I look at sometimes to see an alternative way to say a text.  However, I think not having an accurate translation hinders people from being grounded in the sufficiency of God's word.  There are deep theological truths buried deep within the greek words and structure.  I don't think that a group of translators can accurately understand or convey what Paul or Peter were thinking enough to put it in modern terms.  I think that DE translations have helped foster the rampant biblical illiteracy we have in the American church.  We have more Bible translations than any culture at any time in history.  At the same time, we have more ignorance to what God's word says and alignment with it than at any time.

A few years ago a group of scholars released a new FE translation called the English Standard Version.  Crossway, a major publisher, has put a lot of money into marketing this very good text of Scripture.  Several well-known scholars were brought in to work on the project and many strong expositors and preachers have endorsed it.  Their website, esv.org, is an excellent one.  You can read the Bible on there.  You can work through a Bible reading plan.  This is the Bible I preach from every week and will continue to do so for a long time.  Here are some reasons why:

1. It's extremely accurate to the Greek text.  I don't know Hebrew, so I can't comment on that.  However, when I have translated and compared to ESV, I find it to be strong.
2. It's very readable.  Although it is a FE text, it is not as difficult to read as KJV or NASB.  It reads a lot like the more popular New International Version but stays much more true to the text.
3. It's affordable.  Crossway has done a good job of keeping these translations where people can buy them.  The Bible I preach from each week is a thinline version that can be bought on Amazon for about $20.  The ESV Study Bible is one of the best I have ever seen and can be bought in hardback for about $30.  
4. It's popular.  Most of the guys I like to listen to preach are now using ESV.  Men like Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, Mark Driscoll, David Platt, John Piper, and James MacDonald use it.  These men are diligent, faithful theologians and scholars with a deep pastoral heart.  

Here is a great video to watch with some endorsements:

ESV Trusted By Leaders from Crossway on Vimeo.

I would recommend to every one of my church members to get a copy of the ESV and dive deep into it.  Memorize Scripture from it.  Rest in the fact that you can read it and know that you are reading a faithful text written much like the Apostles wrote.  The issue of Bible translation is not a matter of taste.  Not every version of the Bible says the same thing.  It does matter what you read and what version shapes your theology and ultimately your obedience.

Here is a vimeo website by Crossway with other important videos on the ESV and Bible translations.  There are some great interviews on there.