pastoral ministry What Does a Pastor Do? April 01, 2021 “What does a pastor do?” Unsurprisingly, it’s a question I get a lot from people inside and outside of the church. Sometimes it’s asked with a note of interested inquisitiveness, and other times with a hint of jaded cynicism.
sexual abuse What If They Had Known? March 05, 2021 The church should be a pasture where the littlest lambs are loved and protected, safe and comfortable. It should be a place that mimics the tender and gentle watchfulness of Jesus, and where our youngest members feel as cared for by Christians as they are by Jesus. It shouldn't be hunting grounds.
3 John Diotrephes and the Fracturing of the Church March 04, 2021 Often the worst fracturing is done by arrogance, wicked speech, and divisiveness slowly seeping into the fellowship of the church and breaking it apart.
Lent Lent: Glitter or Gold? February 16, 2021 Just because someone wants something to promote a good and godly end, doesn’t mean it will. So, does Lent have the appearance without the power: the glitter without the gold?
social media iGeneration and iDentity February 12, 2021 My childhood was filled with significant and meaningful relationships that were important to my development. Like many kids my age I had normal community interactions at home, school, sports, and church. Whether it
Lord's Day The NFL's "Holy Day" February 04, 2021 He’s commanded one day where those other things, good as they are on those six days, take a back seat to things of first importance. On the Lord’s Day — the very day that bears Jesus’ name — he shouldn’t have to compete for our attention and time.
Current Events When gods Fail January 06, 2021 Let the politics and politicians fail. Let the elections go as the will. Let the gods stumble and fall so that our hearts – by any means necessary – are pried from the soul killing sin of vain confidence in men
Church Abuse A Parable from the Dead January 01, 2021 In death, Ravi Zacharias bears his deserved shame and what that means only the Judge of all the earth knows, and he will do right. But let every church and congregation take heed unless He who holds the seven stars in his hand should remove the lampstand from its place.
John Calvin A Godly Citizen: Help From the Past December 15, 2020 How can I be a godly citizen? In answering that question even among Christians there’s been over-the-top rhetoric about tyranny, a brutish need to self-assert "rights," a cowering in fear and anxiety, and a general lack of a wise and discerning spirit.
Christmas Away With The Manger December 10, 2020 The fact that the Jesus, the Word of God, was made man doesn’t entitle us to make pictures of him scenic as the nativity set may be. To do so actually detracts from the true meaning — not of Christmas — but of the incarnation.
Carl Trueman Jumping Into the Rabbit-Hole November 24, 2020 It’s not simply the LGBTQ+ community, or progressive liberals who have been influenced. We may not be eating the same apples but we’re eating from the same tree. Too much has been yielded to the modern self by Christians who, equipped with their Bibles, should know better.
pastoral ministry Managing Expectations September 25, 2020 Rumor has it William Shakespeare once said: “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” I don’t actually know if he said it, but things always sound better when you slap a reputable
wisdom The Blessing of "No Men" September 15, 2020 But those that have done me the best good in my life are those friends who can loving challenge and object. Again, as Solomon said: “Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue” (Proverbs 28:23). We need more “No Men” in our lives.
Impartiality Peeking Past the Blindfold September 11, 2020 As we hold our faith in the Lord of glory and are controlled and influenced by his interests and purpose our eyes are veiled to the face of man and impartiality becomes our blindfold.
Memory John H. Tweed | An Ordinary Pastor May 25, 2020 Inevitably, the time comes when in faith you must give them up for it is the singular honor of the Great Shepherd who alone can pass through that gate with his sheep. Today, Jesus has tended another one of his sheep through the pasture of this life and into eternity.
Civil Disobedience Some Thoughts on Christian Civil Disobedience April 18, 2020 There are times when as Christians we need to disobey our governing authorities. But it is only when they require us to be disobedient to God — when the only way we can obey them is to be unfaithful to God.
Public Worship To Exiled Congregations April 15, 2020 This is a letter that I sent to my congregation last week. In the state of Kansas, until Saturday, April 11th churches were exempt from the restrictions placed on public gatherings. Our Governor
Ashbel Green Pestilence and Pastoral Ministry March 20, 2020 Each of us in our own place and vocation have challenges to face and obstacles to overcome. I'm a pastor and so I feel the unique burdens that this pandemic brings for the pastorate.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Readalong March 19, 2020 My office has a window facing north that opens to miles and miles of fields. As I sit looking out that window I see dreary skies, rain puddles, and the promise of more storms on the horizon. In some ways it's a metaphor of where society finds itself these days as we endure the COVID-19 pandemic.
alcohol The Dominion of Drunkenness February 14, 2020 God is saying that one of humanity’s purposes is to make use of this earth — all of its vast resources — for producing, researching, discovering, inventing, and advancing. That includes using plants to bring forth wine to gladden the heart. Drunkenness turns that upside down.
Implications of the incarnation Confessing the Incarnation December 24, 2019 The incarnation of Jesus isn’t something we can take for granted. It’s central, it’s true, it’s specific, and it’s effective. What is necessary is that the church confess this truth every day of the year: God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
John Calvin Wouldn't Wear a Necktie December 19, 2019 The point of this is to simply conclude: when you collect the biblical evidence there isn’t, in my estimation, a hint of what we call the “Sunday best.”
presbyterianism We the People of the Presbyterian Church December 12, 2019 Jesus himself has given it as a right and privilege, more precious than gold, that the membership select for themselves those for leadership who meet the biblical qualifications.
Sabbath Day Reclaiming Sabbath Rest November 21, 2019 We weren’t created to give ourselves to a non-stop cycle of our worldly employments and enjoyments. Instead, we’ve been created to stop the cycle one day a week.
Writing To Write, or Not to Write, That is the Question October 18, 2019 “To write the holy things of God, is to take on us, to tell what God thinks, and what is His will, which is a most concerning thing; especially to do it solemnly in writ, lest it prove, at least, a taking of God's Name in vain.”
