Pastoral Ministry

Jeremy Pierre | “God With Us”

A pastor’s job is not to dismiss personal experience, but rather to help people see it differently—specifically, to see it according to who God is and the chief purpose of his design for human life.

Pastors are sinners dealing with sinners, so criticism is inevitable while ministering in a fallen world.

In our fallen world, sin knows no boundaries, sheep bite, wolves creep into churches, and life is hard.

One day every shepherd will give an accounting to the Chief Shepherd. May we be able to offer a good report from every stage.

Jonathan T. Pennington discusses his new book, Small Preaching: 25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Make You a Better Preacher.

Author Interview

The battle against sin is lost when the pastor thinks he is in a separate class, impervious from the spiritual warfare faced by all believers. First and foremost, he must see himself as a Christian who must endure to the end.

God communicated to us through a book, through the written word, and, therefore, he expects us to read.

When I consider many of the pastors in our region today, I see men who have become dear friends and I see brothers who are on the same team. It’s so much harder to walk away from that.

The Holy Spirit works through the preaching of the Word to accomplish far more than a pastor will ever know, even in opposition.

Like a good doctor, pastors must strive to present difficult truths in a clear, kind, compassionate manner. May we guard against our tendency to allow the tone of our message from hindering the truth from being heard.

Until heaven, our motives will never be as pure as they should be. But how can we know if they are carnal unless we first know ourselves?

The enemy would love God’s people chasing abstract and far-fetched untruths rather than sharing the good news of the gospel with their neighbors.

Isolation and loneliness are common struggles for even the most extroverted pastors, and they remind us that those called to shepherd God’s flock need ministry too.

I hope my journey’s biblical, theological, historical, and practical reflections will serve pastors for years to come.

If you wouldn’t put the would-be missionary on your church staff—assuming you had the funds to do so—don’t put them on a plane.

We should all be Timothy and Paul. That is the Kingdom of God. Disciples making disciples and the faithful learning from the faithful.