The Importance of Ministerial Preparation, Gregory the Great

Gregory the Great, in his book, Pastoral Care (written in AD 590), speaks well to the importance of training for the significant task of guarding and guiding souls. “No one ventured to teach any art unless he has learned it after deep thought. With what rashness, then, would the pastoral office be undertaken by the …

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David King, 10 Points on Pastoral Ministry

Recently David King, pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Chattanooga, visited my pastoral ministry class and shared ten key reflections on pastoral ministry. I asked David to come because he is a great example of faithful, patient ministry, holding fast to the Word and really loving his people. We all benefited greatly from David’s comments, …

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Spurgeon, When We Need to be Made Weak

Terence Peter Crosby has done us a favor by compiling and editing C.H. Spurgeon’s Forgotten Prayer Meeting Addresses (Day One Publications, 2011), a collection of addresses on prayer which were not included in the massive collections of Spurgeon’s sermons. This is a gem for anyone who appreciates Spurgeon- and who can’t use encouragement in prayer? …

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Select Practical Writings of John Knox

I have enjoyed perusing Banner of Truth’s republished edition of The Select Practical Writings of John Knox.  When this volume was originally published in 1844 it was part of an effort to make available to “every family” the “good old theological literature of Scotland,” particularly “those venerable treatises of practical theology and personal religion” which …

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Practical Ecclesiology from Conrad Mbewe

Conrad Mbewe, Foundations for the Flock: Truths About the Church for All the Saints (Granted Ministries Press, 2012), hb., 338 pp. Here is a valuable, recent book you may not have heard about. Conrad Mbewe, often called “the Spurgeon of Africa,” led the planting of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia about 25 years ago and …

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