Archive of posts tagged defining ministry
“No Pastor can afford to major on preaching to the exclusion of all else”
Pastors, Believe!
This column by Peter Leithart is a powerful call for pastors to believe in the effectiveness of God’s word, to be reminded of the spiritual realities at work in what they do. Leithart specifically is saying pastors need not entering the realm of politics in order to impact the world. This is true, but don’t …
“Your souls, more precious than thousands of worlds”
How should a pastor think of the members of the church he serves? Too often today church members are thought of as customers or potential workers. This is not the scriptural pattern; nor is it the practice of our forebears. Just today I came back to “The Glory and Ornament of a True Gospel‐constituted Church” …
Continue reading ‘“Your souls, more precious than thousands of worlds”’ »
No “Safe Distance” Ministry
A main theme of this blog is the necessity of pastors knowing their people in order to be able really to pastor them. A colleague of mine, Justin Barnard, recently pointed me to Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus as a source making a similar point. The following excerpt is a powerful summary of ministry …
Pastor of a Church vs. Just a Preacher
“He who can only generalize in the pulpit, but has not ability to individualize out of it; who cannot in some measure meet the varieties of religious perplexity, and deal with the various modifications of awakened solicitude; who finds himself disinclined or disabled to guide the troubled conscience through the labyrinths which sometimes meet the …
Praying for a New Pastor in Light of the Lord’s Prayer
This was originally published in our state Baptist paper back in 2005. I’m currently discussing Martin Luther’s booklet, A Simple Way to Pray, with some colleagues and the discussion of praying through the Lord’s Prayer reminded me of this. One of the most important decisions a church makes is the calling of a new pastor. The …
Continue reading ‘Praying for a New Pastor in Light of the Lord’s Prayer’ »
Beza, A Pastor Must Know Each of His People by Name
I have made the point often here that the New Testament portrays pastors knowing their people well, and not just speaking to crowds of unknown people. The command to watch over their souls, knowing God will hold us accountable for this (Heb 13:17), requires this as does a ministry in which we “warn everyone” and …
Continue reading ‘Beza, A Pastor Must Know Each of His People by Name’ »
How Hard is Pastoral Ministry
Carl Trueman has helpfully challenged the common discussion of how hard pastoral ministry is. I encourage you to read his post. Is pastoral ministry difficult? Of course. Life is difficult as a sinner in a fallen world. But the problem comes when anyone begins to talk about their life, their setting, their calling as the …
Jayber Crow to Pastors
In his novel, Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry gives a significant critique which pastors ought to hear. One need not agree with Berry at every point, but we ought to hear our critics to see if there is truth (even partial truth) in what they are saying. The main point here is not the youthfulness of …