I really appreciated this excerpt from Spurgeon, finding that it both challenged and encouraged me personally and expressed what I am aiming for in teaching and preaching. It is so easy to become the overly cautious person he rebukes here. I think he is exactly right that the failure to be loving and gracious often …
As we approach the anniversary of John Calvin’s last sermon (February 6, 1564) I am posting comments from his sermons on 1 Timothy. In the section below, from a sermon on 1 Tim 6:12-14, Calvin provides powerful encouragement for those times of discouragement, opposition and despair. Appropriately, Calvin points us to God drawing especially on …
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“Upon what condition has God called us to his service? Is it for one deed or two, and then give us leave every man to rest? No, no; but that we should dedicate ourselves to him, both to live and to die, and to be his, for good and all.” – John Calvin, sermon on …
“If men through vain ambition are so set on fire that they spare not their very lives, what shall we do? What cowardliness is it and how can it be excused if any may spare himself, when God sets not before us any temporal wages, any piece of silver, and fleeting and brittle possession, but …
At this time of year, among other things I’m often thinking of what I might read over the holidays, and I typically have in mind more books than I can possibly get to. So I thought I’d share the books recently purchased or received (often due to the generosity of my colleague, Ben Mitchell) which …
Pastors often talk about the challenge of preaching on Christmas once they have done so several years in one place. This is a real issue, and I think a key answer is awareness of biblical theology- seeing that Christmas is not simply one event in the Bible but is the culmination of the hopes and …
[from The Children’s Hour] A colleague recently asked me for some recommendations for books for boys, so I thought I’d post my list and reflections here. Many more no doubt could or should be listed, but below are some books my boys and I have enjoyed. I compiled the list by giving a quick look …
Reading and praying Psalm 90 recently, verses 14, 16-17 particularly caught me as expressing so much of what I want to pray for myself and my family. For the last little while I have made it a regular part of my morning prayer. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may …
“Stories organize our lives, and the stories that won’t or can’t do that are false stories. The stories that orient us, that place us back where we should have been, the stories that bring redemption, are called true stories. They go by other names if you listen to the teller of false stories- legends, lies, …
Commenting on Paul’s statement that he cared for the Thessalonians as a father (1 Thess 2:11), Calvin articulates an important aspect of pastoral ministry. unquestionably, no one will ever be a good pastor, unless he shows himself to be a father to the Church that is committed to him. Nor does he merely declare himself …
Continue reading ‘Pastors as Fathers, Caring for Each Member’ »