About Rob

I am an award-winning journalist, editor-at-large with Christianity Today, and author of The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come. I have written for The Wall Street Journal, Dow Theory Forecasts, Books & Culture and Leadership. I won’t pretend that I make a living as a writer of books. I do make a living as communications officer to the president at World Vision, a wonderful organization that deserves your support.

You can contact me via email.

I write to make faith real and practical in ordinary life. That’s why I have spent a lot of time writing about finance and economics for places like The Wall Street Journal and Faith and Leadership and about giving for Christianity Today. It’s one thing to say that your faith impacts all of your life. I want to show people how it’s done in numbers and in dollars.

Writing about end of life issues is another example of how I try to take abstract theology and make it meaningful. What we say we believe, what we say we value will be confirmed–or not–on our deathbed, lived out when it really matters. Several years ago, while many Christians were clamoring over extreme bioethical and political debates, I wondered how ordinary Christians should consider death. What values should we bring to the table when considering treatment options for a loved one or whether to enter a nursing home? So, while loud voices debated, I discovered the ancient tradition of ars moriendi, the art of dying which is more valuable today, perhaps, than it ever was. In The Art of Dying I tried to take the wisdom of ancient Christians who practiced that tradition and apply them today.

In my next book, I’ll be investigating how are bodies are physically designed to love God and serve our neighbors. Our brains are equipped to connect to God, and when we do we’re stimulated to be more compassionate, more loving, and more caring. It’s as if we’re designed to fulfill what Jesus said were the two great commandments to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The research explaining this phenomena shows that our spiritual lives are also deeply physical. Just as smiling makes us happy, kneeling to pray makes us reverent. When we follow God’s bodily design for our spiritual lives, we will be healthier, happier people living as God intended.

Finally, I apologize for not being much of a blogger. In fact, I’m not a blogger at all, except that maintaining a blog site is so much cheaper than having one designed. Truthfully, if I blogged, I couldn’t write books. I hope you agree that the latter is more beneficial. Please, though, do follow me on Twitter, where I engage with readers and where you’ll find out what I’m thinking about and what I’m reading.