Pastoral Ministry

When Pastors Do Not Pay Attention

by on April 2, 2025 | 61 Comments

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 →

Political Sermons From The Past: The Mediatorial Kingdom and Glories of Jesus Christ By Samuel Davies

by on December 4, 2024 | 1 Comment

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

by on November 30, 2024

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)

by on November 14, 2024 | 14 Comments

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 →

Review: Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda By Megan Basham (Part 1)

by on October 31, 2024 | 8 Comments

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 →

Political Sermons From The Past: The Essential Rights And Liberties Of Protestants by Elisha Williams

by on October 9, 2024 | 1 Comment

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 →

Political Sermons From The Past: Unlimited Submission And Non-Resistance To The Higher Powers By Jonathan Mayhew

by on September 25, 2024 | 3 Comments

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 →

Political Sermons From The Past: A Sermon On The Anniversary Of The Independence Of America by Samuel Miller

by on September 18, 2024

On January 18, 2016 at Liberty University, a presidential candidate referred to a Bible passage1 in his talk, advising that Christianity was under siege. While such remarks may stir one’s passions, two centuries earlier, another speaker referred to that same passage with an entire sermon devoted to it. Continue reading →