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Weak Shepherds and Hirelings
The church today is confused, and that confusion is deep and profound. There may be many reasons as to why this is so, but it is true that in this generation, self-doubt, division, and weakness mark the church, even the …Read More
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Church Shopping
Dear Stolas, You ask in your letter about the key to undermining the church as quickly as possible. This is scarcely rocket science, but, as you ask, we will try to enlighten you. At the heart of Christianity is the …Read More
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Congregational Counseling
Premarital counseling can be an entertaining exercise for an older couple offering guidance to a younger couple. Across from them sit two individuals eager to wed. Apart from occasional disagreements about planning the ceremony, the soon-to-be-newlyweds are prone to think …Read More
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High Crimes and Misdemeanors
Some years ago I caused no little consternation when I was invited to speak at a church on the nature of ministry and started my lecture by declaring that it really did not matter if the pastor was an adulterer …Read More
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In Season an Out of Season
Observers of American church life have noted a striking phenomenon — the high levels of lay involvement in evangelical churches. Against the backdrop of decline and membership losses in the more liberal denominations, trends related to attendance, giving, and active participation …Read More
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Marching Orders
Q. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and …Read More
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Character Qualifications
The composition of the typical Presbyterian session is familiar enough. Professionals, prosperous businessmen, and community leaders predominate. Some are devout, some less so. Most were chosen, truth be known, because of their prominence in endeavors outside the realm of the …Read More
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No Sacrifice Too Great
In the final letter that we have from the apostle Paul, written in a lonely prison cell in Rome while he was expecting death for the sake of the gospel, he reminded his closest friend Timothy of the utter necessity …Read More
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We Don’t Need Supermen
In chapter two of Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, Paul David Tripp relates a story of a church member who called the pastor to get him to help a man. Tripp’s comment to the member was, “Isn’t …Read More
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To the Young Pastor
Being a pastor has been the most humbling, challenging, fulfilling, and wonderful calling of my life. It was in the pastoral ministry that I learned — and still am learning — that true success is not measured by the size of your …Read More
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Apostolic Anxiety
Second Corinthians 11:28 always seemed like a strange verse to me — until I became a pastor. Here’s Paul, rattling off all the ways he’s been beat up for Jesus — imprisonments, lashes, rods, stonings, shipwrecks, drifting at sea …Read More
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The Church and Idolatry
“Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God” (1 Chron. 22:19). All sin is idolatry because every sin is an exercise in trust of something or someone other than the one true God to satisfy …Read More
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The High Call of Service
The heroine of My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle, captured the sentiment of most of us when she complained, “Words, words, words — I am so sick of words. I get words all day through, first from him, now from you. Is …Read More
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Listening and the Pastor
Pastors sense deeply the frustration of trying to get our message through to our people. Almost daily, our mailboxes are filled with flyers offering seminars on how we can tailor our sermons and use social media more effectively to “break …Read More
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Elders for the Church
Over the past decade I’ve engaged a wide-range of Christians on the subject of elders. Some, in desperation, want to change dysfunctional church leadership structures. Others have grown tired of side-stepping the biblical teaching on elders. Some long to …Read More
