How to Lose a Pastor in 10 Years
I don’t want us to lose any more pastors.
It’s painful when a pastor leaves a pulpit in question or disgrace. There is no side, despite what the news reports. There is a circular pain without an exit ramp. No Jesus follower wants the kingdom of God to be tarnished, and maybe that’s the only thing any of us can agree on, but at... Continue Reading
Defending the Faith; Denying the Image – 19th Century American Confessional Calvinism in Faithfulness and Failure
How 19th century Presbyterians simultaneously faithfully defended historic Christian orthodoxy against Enlightenment rationalistic anti-supernaturalism, and accommodated (indeed undergirded) America’s original sin: race-based chattel slavery (and later segregation).
In Old School Presbyterianism, especially in the South, theological orthodoxy was deliberately wedded to the culture’s socio-economic structure, indeed, theological orthodoxy became its main proponent and defender, so that, as the twentieth century dawned and theologians looked for ways to break the link between the Presbyterian Church and segregation and Jim Crow, they felt they... Continue Reading
Rosaria Butterfield: Christian Hospitality Is Radically Different from ‘Southern Hospitality’
It has nothing to do with entertainment—and everything to do with addressing the crisis of unbelief.
Entertainment is about impressing people and keeping them at arm’s length. Hospitality is about opening up your heart and your home, just as you are, and being willing to invite Jesus into the conversation, not to stop the conversation but to deepen it. Hospitality is fundamentally an act of missional evangelism. And I wouldn’t know... Continue Reading
The Moral of Moral Failings of Christian Leaders
The character of Christian leaders is in question. We need to ask why and work for change.
Christ is purifying his church, and it hurts. And, there is more to go. It pains us to know that too many have been victims at the hands of those in power—the very ones who should have been the protectors of the marginalized and the vulnerable. Silence that many have kept for months, years, sometimes... Continue Reading
4 Reasons Why Pastoral Honeymoons Are Shrinking
“Pastoral honeymoon” refers to the period of time after a new pastor arrives to his new church; it appears to be shrinking.
One of the great strengths in some churches has been a high percentage of people in Bible study groups or Sunday School classes. The depth of relationships fostered a deeper commitment to the church. And as the number of people in relationships with one another has waned in some churches, transitions can be bumpier, and... Continue Reading
15 Things Seminary Teaches Me that My Busy Pastor(ate) Can’t
Working in day-to-day ministry engender a kind of myopia in terms of how to ‘do’ church
“As a seminary professor and a churchman, I fully understand that seminaries don’t ‘make’ pastors, nor do they equip would-be pastors, missionaries, etc. with everything they need to thrive in ministry. Neither do medical schools, law schools, and so forth.” Friends over at The Gospel Coalition have been promoting a new book, 15 Things Seminary Couldn’t... Continue Reading
Christian Colleges Provide Over $60 Billion in Impact to US Economy Each Year, Study Finds
CCCU institutions are responsible for an economic output of about $166 million per day
Coming at a time when a “value proposition” of higher education is being scrutinized, CCCU believes that the findings from the survey — sponsored by America’s Christian Credit Union with support from Fieldstead and Company — indicate that Christian higher education is a benefit to the national economy and the lives of students nationwide. ... Continue Reading
3 Ways to Deny the Resurrection (Without Being a Liberal)
Since you likely would not deny the resurrection on a theological exam, let’s make sure you do not deny it in the lab, either.
In this brief article, I want to provide three ways that you might be unwittingly denying the resurrection by how you live. I’ll get at them by way of question. The goal is not to make you feel bad, but rather to provide a diagnostic to help you evaluate your life and make proper adjustments.... Continue Reading
Expository Preaching and the Use of Commentaries
The expository preacher must learn to use commentaries in a way that supplements and enhances his own exegesis of the biblical text without allowing them to replace his own personal study.
To use biblical commentaries most effectively, the preacher must turn to these resources with specific objectives in mind. More specifically, he should use the commentaries to confirm, correct, clarify, or supplement his interpretation of the passage. He should also use them to wrestle with exegetical questions that are still unanswered and interpretive problems that are... Continue Reading
Private and Personal or Public and Ecclesial?
God calls His people to be truth-loving and truth-speaking people--which is why it's disheartening to see many self-professed Calvinistic and Reformed ministers downplay doctrinal teaching, preaching and transparency.
The best way for us to go forward in carrying out our doctrinal commitments in public and ecclesial ways is to go back to the Scripture and see the way in which God always calls His church to hold fast to the pattern of sound words in Scripture (2 Tim. 1:13). The consistent expositional, doctrinal and exegetical preaching of... Continue Reading
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