The pastor need not be surprised if he finds troublers in his church. The discovery of such persons among the professed people of God sometimes shocks ministers, especially inexperienced ones, and discourages them, and sometimes leads them unwisely to give up their . . . Continue reading →
Pastoral Ministry
Paul Wooley And Meredith Kline On The Spiritual Mission Of The Visible Church
The undersigned dissent from the decisions of the Committee on Foreign Missions to appoint medical specialists as members of the staff of the Eritrean Mission and from its decision to establish a hospital as part of that Mission. Our dissent is necessitated by the following convictions: 1. There is no . . . Continue reading →
Harrison Perkins—The Non-Insistent Pastor: Conscience And Submission In History, Theology, And Churchmanship (2)
This talk is part two of Westminster Seminary California’s Student Association 2025 Spring Convocation. RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play Browse the Heidelshop! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The . . . Continue reading →
Machen Opposed Fosdick’s Christian Nationalism
Harry Emerson Fosdick’s provocative sermon, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?,” delivered on May 21, 1922, is as good a date as any to locate the start of the controversy between conservatives and liberals in the Presbyterian Church. It did prompt conservative reactions and . . . Continue reading →
Harrison Perkins—The Non-Insistent Pastor: Conscience And Submission In History, Theology, And Churchmanship (1)
This talk is part one of Westminster Seminary California’s Student Association 2025 Spring Convocation. RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play Browse the Heidelshop! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The . . . Continue reading →
Video: Relying On The Means of Grace
Christ builds His church through the ordinary means of grace: the Word, sacraments, and prayer. Continue reading →
O Canada: An American’s Reflections On Ministering In A “Foreign” Land
As a follow up to Dr. Brian Lee’s recent post on Pastoral Openings in the URCNA, I was asked to share my personal reflections as an American on moving to and ministering in Canada.1 When I began my seminary studies, I had . . . Continue reading →
When Pastors Do Not Pay Attention
Remarkably, after two decades of controversy over the self-described Federal Vision movement, there are pastors and teachers who do not seem to understand it.1 One can see why one might have been confused in the early days of the discussion, but now, . . . Continue reading →
Pastoral Openings In The URCNA
A few years ago, the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) began regularly posting a list of pastoral openings on our website.1 This week I searched for the list to share with a young seminarian in our congregation, and I was . . . Continue reading →
The Pastor And The Free Offer Of The Gospel Part 2: Personal Evangelism
In this two-part essay, we are considering the articulation between the pastoral ministry and the free offer of the gospel. In part 1, we took a look at the free offer of the gospel and how it impacts preaching. In this second . . . Continue reading →
The Pastor And The Free Offer Of The Gospel Part 1: The Pulpit
There has been much interest in recent years on the subject of the free offer of the gospel and several helpful books have been written on the subject.1 This research has helped further clarify that Calvinism is not the same thing as hyper-Calvinism, . . . Continue reading →
Political Sermons From The Past: The Mediatorial Kingdom and Glories of Jesus Christ By Samuel Davies
Allusions to Reformation themes abounded in early American sermons. The Waldensians, the eradication of the French Huguenots, Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli were all referred to in Samuel Davies’ 1756 sermon, “The Mediatorial Kingdom and Glories of Jesus Christ.” Continue reading →
A SoCal Pastor Called To The Thumb
Scott, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Bad Axe, and his wife Vicki decided to make the Thumb their home a few years ago when it came time for Scott to choose an assignment. The church is part of the Presbyterian Church . . . Continue reading →
Review: Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda By Megan Basham (Part 2)
In the responses to Part 1 of this review, many comments pointed out that I had not engaged much with the negative aspects of Shepherds for Sale. In this second part, I will include reflections on the less precise and more unhelpful . . . Continue reading →
Political Sermons From The Past: The Church’s Flight Into The Wilderness By Samuel Sherwood
An American sermon . . . on a choice morsel from the book of Revelation . . . associating corruption with hierarchies . . . and warning the church to resist sycophantic governments in league with that . . . Continue reading →
Review: Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda By Megan Basham (Part 1)
The controversy surrounding Megan Basham’s Shepherds for Sale has somewhat died down by now, but the fault lines it has clarified in the Christian media world are still clear. There are those whose suspicions about progressive influences in Christian institutions have been . . . Continue reading →
Historical Sermons From The Past: Divine Judgments Upon Tyrants By Jacob Cushing
What is God’s view on certain political matters or events? That is a question often asked, and often mocked. Continue reading →
Political Sermons From The Past: The Essential Rights And Liberties Of Protestants by Elisha Williams
The great grandson of several New England families (John Cotton’s among them), Elisha Williams (1694–1755) graduated from Harvard in 1711. After a brief career of teaching and tutoring in 1722 he became the pastor of a congregational church in Wethersfield, Connecticut, prior to serving as the Yale rector from 1726–39. Continue reading →
The Heart Of The Matter
This is now the third essay to address the problem of falling pastors. In the first two attempts I focused on the importance of pastoral wisdom as they seek to serve and protect the sheep.1 In the second I pointed to the . . . Continue reading →
Political Sermons From The Past: Unlimited Submission And Non-Resistance To The Higher Powers By Jonathan Mayhew
Introduction Colonial thinkers Samuel Adams and Rev. Jonathan Mayhew argued against the innate goodness of man with implicit reference to King George III: “Ambition and lust for power,” they claimed, “are predominant passions in the breasts of most men. . . . . . . Continue reading →