In his first sermon on 2 Timothy John Calvin discusses God’s aim in preaching and his gracious desires for his people. God only speaks for our profit. He wants his love, his mercy, is infinite goodness, to be laid out before us. He wants us to be assured of our salvation. He wants us to …
This is a powerful portrait of preaching from Thomas Foxcroft’s book, The Gospel Ministry. Note his combination of close study and earnest, clear exposition. “They must endeavor for as thorough an understanding and penetration into the mysteries of godliness as they can, and labor to draw the images thereof in their sermons as near as …
My poem of the week this week is “Last Lines,” by Anne Brontë. John Starke cited a portion of this poem last week on Twitter which sent me looking for the full poem. The message of the poem fits very well with 2 Cor 1 which we discussed in class this morning. This is a …
I have finally plugged one more gap in my education by reading Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine. As is often noted, this English title might cause people to think it is a survey of doctrine. In fact it is a handbook on biblical interpretation (Books 1-3) and proclamation (Book 4). At the end of the book …
Due to some technical problems I have not been able to post at PastoralEpistles.com for a good while. However, we have worked out the issues and the overhauled site is now being hosted by the good folks at Logos Bible Software. I am grateful to Logos for making this possible and especially to Rick Brannan …
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My poem of the week this week is a strong call to perseverance from Robert Service. Service is not a guide to theology but is at his best calling for us to live life to the fullest and not give up. “Carry On!” It’s easy to fight when everything’s right, And you’re mad with thrill …
“When ministers study to be florid rather than solid, and labor continually for lofty phrases and great swelling words of vanity, they are only spinning a spider’s web. The prater perhaps may win applause, but the minister in the meantime may not win a soul, the divine end of preaching. They must follow the example …
My poem of the week for my office door this week came from Adoniram Judson. It is a powerful statement of mission zeal- realistic, cost counted, hopeful because of the future promises. I had assumed it was a piece from a larger poem but was unable to find any more of the poem. Perhaps this …
Since I heard about N. T. Wright’s new book on the Psalms I have been waiting for it to come out. While I have my differences with Wright, I am glad to hear him speaking on this important issue. He recently did an interview with Christianity Today on the topic of the Psalms which is …
Recently the first ever press interview with Christopher Tolkien, son of J. R. R. Tolkien and the official executor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate, was published (the link takes you to an even more recent translation of the interview into English). The headline makes much of Christopher Tolkien’s displeasure with Peter Jackson’s movie interpretations, but what …