
Suffering and Rejoicing with the Body of Christ
After almost two decades of pastoring, I think it’s harder for most believers to rejoice when other parts of the body are honored than to suffer when other parts of the body are suffering.
After almost two decades of pastoring, I think it’s harder for most believers to rejoice when other parts of the body are honored than to suffer when other parts of the body are suffering.
Recently I came across a wonderful quote in AW Pink’s An Exposition of Hebrews.
For years I’ve enjoyed Johnson’s broadcasting style on Inside the NBA. Recently I enjoyed his writing when I read Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments that Make Life Extraordinary.
On a practical level, what would it look like for our churches to embrace the responsibility of sending missionaries and missionary teams to the ends of the earth? I think a church that wants to be a “sending church” must embrace these four responsibilities.
Regular pastors are tempted to chase a number of ministry goals. These goals can include platform building, a strong social media presence, denominational recognition, publishing contracts, speaking invitations, and even quasi-celebrity status.
Any student of the Bible knows the treasure of doctrine that is found on the pages of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. However, Romans also contains a remarkable amount of personal correspondence. While our theological formulations may come from the doctrinal portions of the book, Paul’s personal correspondence offers a beautiful description of Christian ministry.
The landscape of evangelicalism in 2018 seems to be dominated by megachurches. This is in large part a result of social media, national conferences, and multi-campus churches. The largest churches in the country, along with their celebrity pastors, are constantly celebrated and championed in the United States.
Recently I worked through Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. The book is a helpful mix of historical and systematic theology, with much practical application for those engaged in pastoral ministry. One section that I found particularly helpful was Berkhof’s chapter on conversion, which is essentially a chapter about repentance.