“Behold the Throne of Grace”

At church this evening we sang a John Newton hymn, which I don’t remember ever singing before- “Behold the Throne of Grace”. I enjoyed it immensely so I looked it up once I got home, and have pasted the full poem in below. This is great example of a poetic exposition of scripture with pastoral application. …

Continue reading ‘“Behold the Throne of Grace”’ »

Forgiveness of Sin, Sermon on 1 John 1:8-2:2

I had the opportunity this past Sunday to preach at First Baptist, Jackson, TN, where my family and I are members. We are currently in a series through 1 John so my text was 1:8-2:2, a beautiful passage which describes the reality of the hope for forgiveness of sins. You can watch the sermon here: …

Continue reading ‘Forgiveness of Sin, Sermon on 1 John 1:8-2:2’ »

A Godly Pastor is a Grace-filled Pastor

I’m really enjoying Sinclair Ferguson’s book, The Whole Christ. Among other things, it is a very helpful exposition of grace and the free call of the gospel to all people. In the section below Ferguson is discussing the trouble of legalism and pastoral ministry. I think it is a wonderful portrayal of a pastor. This will …

Continue reading ‘A Godly Pastor is a Grace-filled Pastor’ »

The Ultimate Aim of Pastoral Overisght

In any task one must keep in view the ultimate end or purpose. This is true for pastoral ministry as well. In the final assignment for my pastoral ministry class I always ask students to state the ultimate aim of pastoral ministry. Richard Baxter provides a good answer to this question: “The ultimate end of …

Continue reading ‘The Ultimate Aim of Pastoral Overisght’ »

The Center for Baptist Renewal, directed by Matt Emerson and Luke Stamps, posted today a brief piece I wrote on the value of having confession of sin as a distinct piece of our corporate worship. You can read the piece here.