In the medieval and Reformation periods the West had an agrarian economy. In the Modern period we had an industrial-manufacturing economy. By the 1980s we had a service economy. Today, according to Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine (Strategic Horizons LLP), we live . . . Continue reading →
Remember this, at least — the things in which the world is now interested are the things that are seen; but the things that are seen are temporal, and the things that are not seen are eternal. You, as ministers of Christ, . . . Continue reading →
One of the dirtiest little secrets about preaching is that many preachers are using what we used to call in radio “a service.” There are, or at least there used to be, businesses that sell jokes and one liners and gags and . . . Continue reading →
Sean writes (in response to another post) raising the question implicitly of cynicism about the visible, institutional church. My response is below. I understand disappointment with the discipline process. I’m disappointed when a consistory places people under discipline and those who’ve been . . . Continue reading →
David Strain is Minister of Teaching and Mission at First Presbyterian Church (PCA), Jackson, MS. At the time we recorded this interview, he was recently Senior Pastor at Main Street PCA, Columbus, MS. He has also served a Free Church congregation in . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation is not only a doctrine and a piety. It is those two things but it is also a practice. It entails change in the life of the congregation, not for its own sake but for the sake of bringing that . . . Continue reading →
The uniqueness and centrality of the official preaching of the Word is diminished when we equivocate between the official, public, ordained administration of the Word and the unofficial witness to the gospel by the laity. The tendency among evangelical is to describe all . . . Continue reading →
I just got an email request from my internet service provider asking me to rate the service call I received yesterday. As far as I know he did a good job but only time will tell whether the problem is fixed. These . . . Continue reading →
The other day I was talking with a student at a local coffeehouse in beautiful downtown Escondido. He was telling me about his experience in seminary. He said he began at another seminary, even though his pastor recommended WSC, because he was . . . Continue reading →
Time was that church historians also taught church polity and what is sometimes called pastoral theology. This was, I suppose, because we used to recognize that the study of the history of the practice of the church gives a certain insight into . . . Continue reading →
Seminary students and future seminary students frequently ask how to discover whether one is called to pastoral ministry. It’s a challenging discussion because there are two aspects to the call to ministry, internal and external, and both take time to discover and . . . Continue reading →
The post, “What Pastors Shouldn’t Tell Their Wives” is now available for Czech readers.
[First published on the HB in June 2007] This is a sensitive topic. People don’t always think rationally or biblically or confessionally about the office of pastor. Many folk don’t understand what ministers do and most people who are involved in the . . . Continue reading →
Wisdom from Escondido URC pastor Chris Gordon: The peril of self-promotion in the Christian ministry is nothing new. Jesus himself had to deal with this problem on numerous occasions in his own disciples. The Son of God became a servant to seek . . . Continue reading →
Martin Hedman is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California and he’s a PCA church planter in the LA metro. He’s also had significant training as an “industrial engineer.” These, he says, are the “efficiency experts.” As a pastor, church planter, and a . . . Continue reading →
At Feeding on Christ (HT: Nick Batzig)
Part 1 Thinking through the business of candidating as a seminary student, recent graduate, first-time pastor or a pastor currently without a call is less difficult than the matter of calling a pastor who is currently serving a congregation. The most obvious reason the . . . Continue reading →
After the post on calling a minister someone wrote to ask if I would comment about the process of calling a minister from the candidate’s perspective.
This is a sensitive topic. People don’t always think rationally or biblically or confessionally about the office of pastor. Many folk don’t understand what ministers do and most people who are involved in the pastoral search process are well-meaning but inexperienced. Most . . . Continue reading →
CT has the story.