Sedona, AZ; photo by GAC Pastoral ministry involves a dizzying variety of tasks and activities. Some days I go from counseling someone in a difficult personal crisis to untangling some issue in the church’s financial management and bookkeeping, from researching the best interpretation of the Greek of some passage in the New Testament to meeting … Continue reading Pastor Note #111: All Types of Pastor
I suppose you all may be wondering if I had to get a special dispensation from the Commissariat of Public Bible Reading in order to be allowed to read 1 Corinthians 13 at an event that is NOT a wedding. The answer to that question is, “No, I did not.” I’m one of those … Continue reading Pastor Note #110: Nothing But Love–A Sermon for the Installation of a Pastor, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
"The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given … Continue reading Quote of Note #94: Churches and Pastors
"Yes, I believe that the kingdoms of this world, American, Venezuelan, and Chinese, will become the kingdom of our God and Christ, and I believe this new kingdom is already among us. That is why I'm a pastor, to introduce people to the real world and train them to live in it. I learned early … Continue reading Quote of Note #78: Training for a New Kingdom
"I’m one hundred times more passionate about creating Christians and churches that will be faithful, biblical, countercultural, and spiritually minded in a socialist America, in a Muslim America, in a communist America, than I am in preventing a Muslim America or a communist America. That puts me in a very different ballpark than many public … Continue reading Quote of Note #66 — A Pastor’s Vision
In the 1960s it was the Age of Aquarius. (If you’re much younger than I am, you probably don’t understand that reference.) We are now in the Age of Offense. Everybody is offended these days. Everybody has become touchy. We all tend to take everything personally. We have begun to use the things that offend … Continue reading Pastor Note #78: Christian Witness in an Age of Offense
"Ministry is fertile ground for failure, and failure is fertile ground for ministry." J. R. Briggs, Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014, p. 22
DEATH AND THE VICTORY OF CHRIST: Living and Dying Well You are going to die. So am I. This is a fundamental and unavoidable truth for all human beings, and how we deal with that great truth can have a profound impact on how well we live and on how well we die. Sadly, many … Continue reading Pastor Note #69: Death and the Victory of Christ
Our natural and unashamed expectation should be that where the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, healing -- miraculous, supernatural healing -- should be present. Although it is the case that miraculous healings can and do serve as confirmation of the truthfulness of the preaching, that isn't the more important reason why gospel preaching and … Continue reading Sermon #61 — Healing and the Mission of God: The Healing Purpose of God
WHO ARE WE? As I mentioned in a recent sermon, I have been listening to a recording of a series of lectures given by one of my former seminary professors, Dr. Gordon Fee, who has written a great number of wonderfully helpful and insightful books and articles, especially on the New Testament. In one of … Continue reading Pastor Note #58 — One Pastor’s Annual Report to his Congregation in Pursuit of God’s Presence
