In this space I have written several essays attempting to help Christians think biblically, in light of the Reformed confession of the faith, about the institution of the church and about the office of pastor. Easy Cases, Hard Cases Some of the . . . Continue reading →
In the course of catching up with goings on in the evangelical world, there was a striking confluence of news stories about men who are no longer pastors, if they ever were. As we scan and digest these stories we should draw . . . Continue reading →
We were walking out of chapel after our weekly prayer group and a student said to me, about a sermon he had recently heard, “It was a law-sandwich.” That might not have been the first time I had ever heard that expression . . . Continue reading →
A considerable percentage of church planting in the USA is done under the influence of a model that is likely to lead to congregations that are not Reformed in their practice and perhaps not in their theology and piety. That model says, . . . Continue reading →
The past two-and-a-half years of COVID-19 fears, restrictions, and dissensions have led to strenuous circumstances for many professions and vocations. The callings of pastors and ministers have been no exception. It has been especially difficult for sessions, consistories, diaconates, and congregations in . . . Continue reading →
Previously began a discussion about parachurch ministries in relation to the church. The point was to raise a concern about how, frequently, parachurch ministries implicitly, if (perhaps) unintentionally, try to usurp the visible, institutional church’s primary role in God’s plan to save . . . Continue reading →
Jesus is the Great Physician, and the church is his hospital. It is a place for sinners—and those who have been wounded by the sins of others—to heal. Justin Holcomb describes in his speaking and writing how the heartbreaking statistics on abuse . . . Continue reading →
The church has a mission and purpose, received directly from Christ’s appointment. Despite her imperfections, Scripture does not seem to suggest that Jesus thought the church would need support from further external organizations. Rather, the Bible indicates that the church would perform . . . Continue reading →
Who knows what the social and spiritual outcome of the Covid regime will be but
In 1643, George Gillespie traveled to London as one of the eleven Scots chosen to participate in the Westminster Assembly. Initially tasked by Parliament to revise the 39 Articles of the Church of England, one of the most contentious topics of the . . . Continue reading →
Since first being credentialed by a presbytery in 2014, several topics have occupied my thoughts for extended periods of time regarding how best to preach and to pastor people wrestling with difficult issues, but none so much as the matter of mental . . . Continue reading →
In the best of times pastoral ministry is a challenging vocation. After all, one of the first duties of a faithful minister is to announce bad news in public. Pastors are among the first to hear when something has gone wrong in the congregation, when someone has become seriously ill or died. Ministry has become even more difficult during the Covid pandemic. Continue reading →
I am catching up Christianity Today’s podcast series, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The August 30, 2021 episode, “Questioning the Origin Myth: A Rise and Fall Short Story,” centered around what, in Reformed theology, piety, and practice, we call the internal call to ministry. In our understanding of Scripture and its outworking in the life of the church there are two aspects to the call to ministry, the internal and the external. Continue reading →
Years ago I remember hearing an elder say that if my sermon could be accepted in a Jewish synagogue then it is not a distinctively Christian sermon. I’ve thought a lot about that over the years. What makes Christian sermons distinctively Christian? . . . Continue reading →
For all that I learned and tried one aspect of the church-growth movement, perhaps the most fundamental aspect, always made me uneasy and makes me uneasy to this day: the church-growth model was a theology of glory and it turned ministers, who should be theologians of the cross, into theologians of glory. The selling point of the various methods and mentalities was numerical success: look at this congregation. Their pastor and leadership adopted this model and look how many people came. Congregation after congregation was shown to be growing and exciting and influential. Why could we not do the same thing? The possibility was very attractive and it was easily clothed in the pious language of “reaching the lost.” I did want to reach the lost but I also wanted to be “successful.” Continue reading →
…A new megachurch in Lynden was drawing out the boomers from classic Reformed churches by the thousands. This church purchased the local shopping mall and created the closest thing as they could achieve, in appearance and message, to Rick Warren’s Saddleback church, . . . Continue reading →
Mondays can be difficult days for pastors. My seminary did not hold classes on Mondays so that students and professors, who were filling pulpits on the Sabbath, would not have to travel on the Sabbath. The idea was (and remains) that they . . . Continue reading →
This week I was chatting with someone who curiously asked me: “What does a pastor do?” Unsurprisingly, it’s a question I get from people inside and outside of the church. Sometimes it’s asked with a note of interested inquisitiveness, and other times . . . 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 →
If you must apologize to retain market share, Continue reading