My Friend Lee, A True Shepherd

A few days ago, I learned that my friend Lee Eclov went home to be with the Lord suddenly at the age of 75. My friend Drew Dyck posted the sad news. Lee was a pastor’s pastor. A 40-year pastor in the Evangelical Free Church denomination, Lee embodied, studied, and taught the art of shepherding God’s people. He wrote two incredible books, Pastoral Graces and Feels Like Home.

I first met Lee in the early 2,000’s in the pages of Leadership Journal, the magazine for pastors that Christianity Today used to publish. He was an inspiration, both as an emerging writer and as a shepherd of souls. Then, when I began writing for Leadership Journal as I began my first pastorate, I met Lee. Drew, who had been publishing him for years and now took a chance on me, introduced us.

I would meet Lee in his office and seek pastoral advice. I pastored near Gurnee, IL, and he pastored near Libertyville, so we were not that far away. He also taught at Trinity, where I attended for a year. It was a season in my life where I was in need of godly mentors. Lee was a man born to do this. I often sent him troubled, but seeking folks who were looking for a father figure in their lives.

Over the years, we didn’t stay in touch as often as I moved to Nashville to work for the ERLC. At our last meeting, before we left town, he pleaded with me to stay in the pastorate. I felt a real sense of God’s call, and as I look back, I don’t have regrets. However, there is a piece of my heart that hears Lee’s words and wishes I were pastoring. WE continued to talk from time to time, and as I’d visit, I’d check in on him. I remember him telling me about his pending retirement a few years ago. He honored me by asking me to endorse his last book.

Leaders like Lee are rare. He was one of those men who, when you were with him, you felt you were meeting the real version of him. He was gentle, but convincing, eloquent with his words, yet simple in his application. Lee would not step over people to accumulate power. He wasn’t looking over your shoulder for someone more important to meet. He was a pastor for worn-out souls. I will miss him. I pray God raises more like him.

Notes:

My first piece for The Daily Wire was published a few days ago. It’s a reflective piece on the pro-life movement after Dobbs. I retrace the history of men like Francis Schaeffer, who awakened the pro-life conscience of the evangelical movement. I think we need a new version of this:

The consistent Catholic conviction and the work of men such as Schaeffer birthed the enduring and effective pro-life movement. Today, nearly a half-century later, it is one of the most powerful movements in American politics. Roe is gone, many states outlaw abortion, and pregnancy resource centers dot the American landscape, offering help and hope to young mothers in crisis. This justice movement has introduced a moral vocabulary into American life — that even the most vulnerable Americans are worthy of dignity and respect — to the point that its most bitter foes co-opt this language to accuse us of being inconsistently pro-life.

So often the pro-life position is on the defensive. We are told that our position is anti-women. We are asked for our five-point plans on poverty reduction and health care. Pro-life champions should have thoughtful answers on these important issues. And yet we should also be willing to ask the question of those who oppose the sanctity of life: Do you believe in the humanity of the unborn child? Do you believe there is a baby there? If so, why would you be in favor of ending that life for the crime of existing?

Pro-lifers must return to the art of persuasion. We cannot assume our fellow Americans and even many of our fellow Christians understand the issue. And we should do it in a way designed to generate converts, not in ways that push folks away from our side. The small but loud cohort of internet activists who fantasize about throwing women in jail and repealing the 19th Amendment may seem courageous to their text threads, but they are not moving public opinion and in fact may be doing the work of those who seek to expand abortion.

Courage requires the fortitude to stand up for what is right, even when it’s unpopular. But it also requires the wisdom to make arguments that expand the movement. In a democracy, this is the only way to make change. Many of the activists in the movement use moral language, but we need to urge our political leaders to do this as well. Too often, with the exception of folks such as Senator James Lankford, who routinely speaks on the Senate floor about the value of human life, many of our pro-life politicians, when asked about the issue, either mumble about exceptions or stare at their shoes. They rarely give an eloquent defense of the unborn.

We should defend the sanctity of life in the public square by appealing both to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and to our founding principles in the Declaration. This is how successful social activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. helped build a movement that saw real civil rights victories in the 20th century. He appealed to America’s uniquely Christian character by talking about the God-given dignity of black people. And he appealed to the words in our founding documents that declare “all men are created equal.”

Two hundred and fifty years after this grand experiment in human government was formed, we have come much closer to realizing the reality of those words. And yet, as long as unborn children are treated as less than human, we have so much further to go. While we strategize and support pro-life candidates as we should, let’s return once again to appealing to the moral imagination of our fellow citizens. And perhaps, several decades from now, we might look back at this moment as the influential second chapter in the long pro-life struggle.

You can read it all here.

I’m also working on several projects, including a piece on politics and Christianity for Modern Reformation.

I’m starting the writing process on a new Christmas book for Moody Publishers. This will release Christmas, 2027.

Next month, as you know, my everyday ethics book, Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Life, is out with B&H. I’m very excited about this. I was recently in Nashville for some meetings and shot a couple of promotional videos for social media. You’ll see those soon.

And as America celebrates her 250th birthday, I’m doing interviews and speaking engagements for In Defense of Christian Patriotism. I’ll also be doing a four-part Wednesday night series at my church, Travis Avenue Baptist in Fort Worth.

This all as we finish up yet another great semester at Texas Baptist College and celebrate my son Daniel’s high-school graduation. A full, but rich season for which I’m thankful.