Bert Wilson

I was working up firewood the other day — splitting rounds that had been cut and stacked awhile — when the thought hit me that sharing the Gospel isn’t all that different. Firewood doesn’t start out ready to warm a home. It comes in heavy, rough sections that look fine on the outside but aren’t much use until you put in some work. The same can be said for people. Most folks I meet already carry plenty of weight — past hurts, doubts, pride, fear — and while they may look solid on the outside,...

I turned 64 this fall, and I have kept 44 Advents as a pastor. Every year the season returns like an old, unflinching friend who refuses to let me lie to myself about the state of my soul. Advent is not a gentle ramp into Christmas. It is four weeks of deliberate darkness, a sanctuary built for telling the truth when every other voice in the culture is urging us to hurry up and feel merry. The nights grow longer, the year’s failures settle in the corners, and the church—stubborn old ark that...

With more than three decades in the Presbyterian pulpit, I’ve had countless conversations with people tiptoeing toward Christianity. Some are curious. Some are hurting. Some are simply trying to understand what Christians actually believe, separate from what they’ve heard secondhand. And almost every time, I make the same recommendation: “Start with the Gospel of John.” People are often surprised. They expect I might point them to the beginning—Genesis—or perhaps to the shortest Gospel, Mark....