Introverted Pastors, Part 3
In this final post (see part 1 and part 2 of this series), I would like to raise three challenges to the dominance of the extrovert and entrepreneurial ideals for pastoral ministry in the American church. First, the…
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The Sufficiency of Scripture in Decision Making
For the less adventurous among us who don’t like to take many risks, especially big ones, how handy it would be if God would give us a clear, detailed roadmap for our life and a smartphone app that guarantees we…
Whatever You Do, Do It to the Glory of God
The Protestant Reformation declared that the Scriptures displayed four perfections: authority, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency. When we say that the Scriptures are sufficient we mean that God has given us all that we need to know for salvation and life.…
Scripture, Sufficient for What?
When I was young and living under my parent’s tutelage, cleaning my room was a primary chore assigned to me. However, even though I was the chief custodian of my room I was not the boss! After cleaning, my mother…
Ethics for the Common Man
We may well complain that our generation ranks among the most immoral generations of history and that could well be true. But the more sinister issue is the reason that lies behind this tragedy. It is the fact that ours…
Introverted Pastors, Part 1
“Anybody else discouraged today by the pastoral blueprint in the ‘church growth’ movement?” writes Jared Wilson, a pastor from New Hampshire. “The most ‘successful’ types of pastors today,” he continues, “are more of the entrepreneurial type than the pastoral.…
The ‘Cause and Root’ of Adoption
On January 31, 2017, P&R Publishing released David Garner’s new book, Sons in the Son: The Riches and Reach of Adoption in Christ. This excerpt from the first chapter (pp. 3–8) of the book offers a quick glance at themes…
The Doctrines of Grace: When You Have Turned Again
In the midst of the final week of our Lord’s earthly ministry in his estate of humiliation, Jesus has an interesting exchange with Peter about his forthcoming denial. Luke 22:31-34 recounts some of the details of this conversation and they…
Perseverance of the Saints: Receiving in Order to Continue
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is life. There is no life apart from God. For life to be, God must give it and sustain it. There is no such thing as life that God…
A God Thing
Exuberant over an experience, an oh-so-sweet manifestation of divine providence, you delightedly seek to give God praise in telling your story. “It was such a ‘God thing’,” you proclaim. As you see it, God wove together an otherwise inexplicable combination…