Posts Tagged ‘Pastoral Ministry’

As Christians, we are called to share our faith, but we are also called to keep it. Like the Apostle Paul, every believer should aspire to the epitaph, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

Perhaps no one in Baptist history better kept the faith than the illustrious Charles Spurgeon—especially as seen through the prism of the Downgrade Controversy.

I own the original six-page manuscript Spurgeon wrote that day in 1887. It is fascinating to review his words, penned in his hand, with his markings, alterations and emphases. It radiates the spirit of Paul and the urgency of keeping the faith. The first paragraph especially has taken on immortality: Read more

What constitutes an expository sermon? Better yet, how might the preacher know if he has preached an expository sermon, and how might the congregation know if they’ve heard one? Much preaching gets crammed under the heading “expository preaching,” though it bears little resemblance to classical exposition.

A consensus definition of expository preaching proves stubbornly elusive, but there are three essential marks that are supported by Scripture and consistent within most classical definitions of the term. Consider how Alistair Begg, Haddon Robinson, and Bryan Chappel define expository preaching.
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One book that merits an annual reread is John Stott’s Between Two Worlds. In this classic, Stott depicts the preacher as a man positioned between two civilizations—tasked to bridge both the ancient world to the modern world and the ancient text to modern hearers. Read more

“How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). With airtight logic, the Apostle Paul sets forth the indispensable human link in fulfilling the Great Commission—the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In so doing, he instructs us in the way of the kingdom, that in every generation God is calling out preachers to serve His church.

Paul’s timeless question is especially relevant for the twenty-first-century church. Evangelical churches are in the midst of a massive generational transition, with vacant pastorates and empty pulpits dotting the landscape. Read more

For me, pronouncing the word “no” did not come naturally. When pushed, I could spit it out, but I preferred to steer clear of it. I was equipped to say “no” over issues of doctrine, conviction, or morality, but I was much less capable of saying “no” over more subjective, less consequential issues—especially when asked by someone I knew and loved, like church members. Read more