Religious liberty implies a recognition that individuals make conscientious decisions to participate in group associations that have different requirements and different callings than the rest of society and the state. In my view, these truths lead one inside the walls of a Baptist church.
The church needs a clear definition of its nature before it determines and actualizes its functions and activities.
Being liked is the currency of our social relationships, seen in everything from the unspoken gravitation toward one person over another at a party to the digitized tokens of attention we exchange on social media.
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.
When we fail to be kind to brothers and sisters in Christ, we are failing to trust God in some way, perhaps his power to change hearts or the sufficiency of his Word.
If you’re someone who loves old books—because you love church history and want others to share your enthusiasm—group Bible study can seem like a balancing act between trying to be helpful on one hand and appearing prideful on the other.
Disputed and disdained though it may be, predestination and its sibling, election, are plainly taught in Scripture and every exegete must make peace with it.
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.
If the social pressures against historic Christianity do increase—as I expect they will—pastors and ministers will need a deeper doctrinal foundation, one that enables them to effectively catechize and instruct congregations embedded in a neo-pagan West.
We should all be Timothy and Paul. That is the Kingdom of God. Disciples making disciples and the faithful learning from the faithful.
In life we can be confused about many issues and not know many things, but to be confused about who Jesus is and what he has done and to not know him as Lord and Savior is a life and death issue.
The short answer is that it identifies only two offices and categorically limits the pastoral office to qualified men. The basis of this limitation is not arbitrary but based on God’s design as it is revealed in Scripture.
It requires patience to lead a congregation to see itself as body, family, temple, and bride—not an optional religious organization to make them feel better about themselves.
There is no greater need for the church today than to think rightly about Jesus.
We look forward to the day when decisions about short-term trips are made comparatively simply, but we’re not there yet, so we need wisdom.
“I know of no other couple in Christian history who loved one another more demonstratively than Charles and Susie Spurgeon.”
In theology, we are seeking to grow in our knowledge of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is not merely abstract knowledge.
