Evangelism as a Journey Instead of a Deal
I’ve been reading quite a few books on evangelism lately for some of my Mdiv work at Trinity. I don’t agree with all that I have read, but one of the things that I think I’m learning is the simple idea that evangelism is less of a “deal” that we must close and more of […]
Three Kinds of Christians Who Should Always Keep Their Cool
I was struck this week as I studied 1 Peter 4:7-11 as part of our Exiles series at church. I was struck particularly by this phrase: “Be self-controlled and sober-minded.” (v 4 ESV). There are differing ways translators have translated this. HCSB says “Be serious and disciplined.” NASB: “of sound judgement and sober spirit.” NLT: […]
What You Don’t Like About Your Church (And why that’s good)
I have this conversation quite often with members of my church and with believers outside of my church. It is usually sparked by a discussion of something this person doesn’t like about our church or about the church they attend. Now, let’s assume the disagreement is not related to doctrinal purity, moral integrity, authoritarian abuse (issues I […]
The Gospel Versus Nostalgia
This summer I had the privilege of travelling to Eastern Europe to attend my brother’s wedding. His wife, Annette, is a native of Krakow, Poland. After the wedding, I continued on to Slovakia to visit missionaries we support near Bratislavia. Jason and Adele Rice and their three young boys have just got to the field […]
The Surprising Fruit of Balance
It would be hard to find a more boring word in ministry circles than “balance.” There is a lot of talk about being “radical”, “edgy”, “relevant”, etc. But balance sounds rather unhip. But I’m finding this word may be the key to lifelong, steady, sustained ministry success. There is a part of all of us […]
When We Add Stuff to the Bible, We Hurt People
Orthodox evangelicals believe in something called a “closed cannon.” In other words, we believe the Bible as it is presently constructed-39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament-are the complete, written, inspired, inerrant Word of God. This matters for lots of reasons, but two big ones: a) we have all […]
How You Can Best Help Your Church
If you’re a Christian, whether you realize it or not, you are called, by God, to be on mission in the world. This is the essence of the gospel call, that you were not simply saved from death but also saved for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10). That purpose is to make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). And the way God has […]
Why You Should Tithe To Your Church
One of the hardest message a pastor is tasked with giving is the message on giving. I don’t like talking about giving at our church. I don’t like urging people to give. But giving is clearly a concept that runs through the Scriptures. And if we don’t talk about, we miss an opportunity to learn […]
If we are all priests, then this is our calling:
Martin Luther, in his commentary on 1 Peter 2, writes this about the implication Peter’s declaration that all believers are priests: A priest must be God’s messenger and must have a command from God to proclaim His Word. You must, says Peter, exercise the chief function of a priest, that is, to proclaim the wonderful […]
What Pastoring Taught Me About Spiritual Growth
As a lifelong Christian, I’ve always known the importance of spiritual growth. But when I became a pastor, suddenly my ideas about this were bigger than simply what was going on in my life. As an undershepherd of God’s people, now the spiritual growth of other people is my concern. You could argue that this […]
5 Ways Pastors Can Encourage Working Men and Women
Yesterday America celebrated Labor Day, the holiday reserved as a tribute to American workers. This is a good time to discuss ways pastors and vocational ministry leaders can encourage working men and women in their congregations. This is an oft-neglected, but essential part of ministry, because most Christians who attend church on Sunday don’t draw […]
What Is Your Thing?
As a pastor I meet a lot of interesting Christians. I have people who attend my church, people who call or stop by to promote their ministry in our church, and/or people who send me information via email or mail. The common theme is that every Christian seems to have a “thing.” That is to […]