I’m continuing to glean from the reading of George Herbert’s The Temple, an amazing collection of poems describing the Christian life. His poem, “Aaron,” is a compelling, honest portrayal of the challenge of pastoral ministry. Herbert poses the problem of the reality of the preacher’s sinfulness and the holiness of God. How can a sinful …
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I have enjoyed reading through the poems of George Herbert with my sons the last week or so. They are rich, full of the struggles of life and conscience and full of hope. I was struck by how often the word “mirth” appeared. My poem of the week this week has been his poem titled, …
One key point I have sought to make here and elsewhere is that Paul models a pattern of ministry which is attuned to each individual in the church and not just to a corporate mass. He conceives of ministry as serving particular people not simply people in the abstract. I think his language bears this …
Next to my enjoyment of puns themselves is the delight in finding so many worthies of the past extolling the virtue of puns. I should have been collecting these statements along the way, but here is one recently sent to me by Greg Wills. John Broadus, whom Spurgeon deemed the “greatest of living preachers,” second …
My friend, Greg Thornbury, mentioned this poem recently, and it grabbed me as a fitting poetic prayer for our time. So, this poem from Chesterton is on my door as the poem of the week. “O God of Earth and Altar” by G.K. CHESTERTON O God of earth and altar, Bow down and hear our cry, …
Home Again: A Civil War Novel, Michael Kenneth Smith (Create Space, 2015), pb., 251 pp. List $13.95 paperback I was attracted to this book because it is primarily set in Tennessee and deals with the Battle of Shiloh. So, when I was offered a review copy I took it. The story centers on two boys …
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A lesser known contribution from Augustus Toplady is my poem of the week this week. It is a wonderful reflection on the comfort and assurance of the fact that in Christ the Almighty is our Protector. The bedrock truth of God’s sovereign care over his people rooted in his covenant love is ever the foundation …
This past week Justin Wainscott sent to me and several others the following excerpt from James Stalker, which is a beautiful, powerful portrait of pastoral ministry. If you have read Eugene Peterson on pastoral ministry you will have seen him echoing many of these images from Stalker. There is so much good here: the …
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“Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are”- 1 John 3:1 If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. …
In his classic biography of Martin Luther, Here I Stand, Roland Bainton records Luther’s hymn, “In Devil’s Dungeon Chained I Lay.” What a beautiful, poetic proclamation of the gospel! How I need to be reminded that God “turned to me his father heart” and then to hear the Lord Jesus say, “Hold thou to me, …
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