A few days ago I commented here on the need for Bible teachers in our churches. Aiding the growth of such teachers is at the heart of the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies here at Union University. As we say, we exist to encourage and enable sound biblical interpretation and application. One of the ways …
Last week after one of the services where I was preaching, an older man came up to talk with me. One of the joys of these situations for me is the opportunity to hear from such saints who have walked with the Lord for many decades. This man was 89 and told me how he …
The following lengthy quote is from J. I. Packer’s introduction to Richard Baxter’s Christian Directory.. The task of writing an encyclopedia entry on Baxter has given me opportunity to delve some more into the man who in the eyes of many embodies the oversight of souls. This quote provides a great contrast between the pastoral …
I found this post still in draft form from last June. The point still holds, so I decided to go ahead and publish it. There has of course been much talk about the Da Vinci Code- errors, distortions, how to respond, etc. However, I have not seen enough about what I think is the real …
This week in one of our church’s Wednesday night classes we covered J. I. Packer’s chapter on Jonathan Edwards in his book, A Quest for Godliness. It is a great chapter, but one line especially stood out to me concerning pastoral ministry. It was this description of Edwards from Packer: “All his life he fed …
The conference went well last week and it was pleasure to meet the people who came to my session on Bible material for children. I will post my complete handout on my Union page soon (it is too long to post in it’s entirety here). In the meantime I will post portions from it in …
I have recently been sent the following quote from Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership by Gary Bredfeldt: “We have been hoodwinked. We have come to accept a standard for leadership that actually robs the church of great leaders. The standing-status-success standard is not a biblical standard: it is the world’s …