Convicting words from William Still's The Work of the Pastor:
Tag: ministry
Aspiration and imitation are a natural part of life. Little boys and girls aspire to run or shoot like their favorite athletes. Writers aspire to craft sentences like their favorite authors. Young preachers aspire to exposit Scripture like the pastors streaming on their smartphone. It’s only natural that people emulate those who perform some skill … Continue reading So You Want to be the next Charles Spurgeon?
A sobering quote from Eugene Peterson's Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity: I don't know of any other profession in which it is quite easy to fake it as in ours. By adopting a reverential demeanor, cultivating a stained-glass voice, slipping occasional words like "eschatology" into conversation and heilsgeschichte into our discourse—not often enough actually … Continue reading The Danger of Faking Pastoral Ministry
What is it that defines success in pastoral ministry? While some would point to membership growth or baptism numbers, many would rightly point to one trait as the sole indicator of success: biblical fidelity—faithfulness to the Word of God in one's life and ministry. Fundamentally, pastors are called to a life of faithfulness to the … Continue reading Faithfulness for Future Ministers
Here's a beautiful description from Jared Wilson's book The Pastor's Justification on what a church with a culture of grace looks like: I remind myself and my church often that a message of grace may attract people, but a culture of grace will keep them. They want to know—we want to know, the Lord wants … Continue reading A Culture of Grace
There are some days that I feel worthless as a minister. It's on those days that all of my shortcomings seem to be glaring brighter than the sun. Those boring sermons I've delivered. The students who have left the church for the things of this world. My neglected duties as a husband. The weight is … Continue reading Down in the Ministry Dumps
If you happened to be traveling through Louisville, KY this week, you would find thousands of pastors walking down the streets with stack of books in their arms and the look of a giddy schoolgirl on their faces. Why? Because this is the week of Together for the Gospel. T4G is an event that takes … Continue reading Together for the Gospel 2012
Cody A. Cunningham 