Rehoboam stood before the people at Shechem. They had come to make him king. The people who once looked to his father, Solomon, now looked to Rehoboam. Though he suffered decline at the end of his reign, Solomon led the kingdom to heights it had never seen, and Rehoboam now felt the weight of that … Continue reading Going the Way of Rehoboam
Tag: pastoral ministry
The people wanted a king. Or, to be more exact, the people wanted a different king. That's the story of 1 Samuel 8. The Lord formed Israel to be a kingdom under his rule and reign. He was their king, but the nation demanded to have a ruler like all of the other nations. Rather … Continue reading A King like the Nations
I recently finished Arnold Dallimore's biography of Charles Spurgeon, the Baptist preacher known as the "Prince of Preachers." If you're familiar at all with Spurgeon, you've likely heard about how gifted of an orator he was or how effective he was as an evangelist. While those traits certainly did characterize his life and ministry, there … Continue reading Spurgeon’s Humility
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
From Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: I can never forget, in this connection, a man who, whenever I met him, always impressed upon me the fact that he was a great Bible student. I suppose in one sense he was, but his life was unfortunately very far removed from that which … Continue reading A Word to Pastors and Other Students of the Bible
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
