Pastoral Theology

What is faithful preaching of God’s word? How does one know whether one has heard, or is hearing on a regular basis faithful preaching of God’s word? The central importance of these questions and their answers hits us when we recognize that the Second Person of the Trinity is identified by the...

Every preacher knows – at least in some sense – that we are called to ‘preach Christ’ as we expound the Scriptures. We heard it in our homiletics classes in Seminary and we’ve been challenged about it in the numerous seminars, conferences and workshops on preaching we attend in the course of our...

I am not sure where I first heard this wisdom, but I have heard it several times: a pastor does not need an office, he needs a study. Spot on. The bulk of pastoral work is not management behind a door labeled “office,” it is bookish work behind a door labeled “study” – reading, research, writing,...

Reformed Preaching: Biblical, Doctrinal, and Practical Joel Beeke is a prolific author, professor, and president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He’s also the pastor of Heritage Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, MI. Beeke recently published Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word...

Union with Christ While James enjoys a vacation, Jonathan has the pleasure of speaking with Ian Hamilton about Union with Christ, one of the topics Ian will be addressing at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in Grand Rapids, MI, March 15th - 17th. Speaking passionately, and quoting a...

For those of us who are pastors, one of our regular responsibilities is to use scripture to minister to the specific needs of our people. This should never merely be spiritual equivalent of offering placebos to those who are struggling – a kind of psycho-spiritual pick-me-up to make them feel...

I just finished preaching through Romans. So, what was my favorite commentary? Which one would I take to a desert island? Well, let me throw up a disclaimer or two. First, I never use a commentary that is, shall we say, more devotional in character, or better, readymade to preach. I did say never...

Commentary Connoisseur Do you know anyone who loves the book of Romans to the point of owning more than 120 commentaries on the epistle? Jonathan and James know one such fan! Rob Ventura is the pastor of Grace Community Baptist Church in North Providence, an author, and blogger for Reformation21 ...

The New Year is a time for lists. Top ten lists of this and top one hundred lists of that! So, at Place for Truth we decided to make our own list of tops. The first is a list of the ten most clicked (and hopefully read!) articles of 2018. The second is a list of the top five podcasts of 2018. Enjoy...

As a Presbyterian, I often find myself in attendance at the examination of our Seminary students. Our denominational seminary lies is within the borders of our presbytery, so we have a good number of students on an ongoing basis. Like most Reformed Seminaries and Presbyterian denominations, we have...