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Legalism always produces two kinds of people: Those who know they do not measure up to God’s standards; and those who pretend that they measure up to God’s standards.

Unlike the words of David and Jeremiah in Scripture, no believer’s writings today are divinely inspired. But the example of the biblical authors in writing their prayers, meditations, questions, etc., provides scriptural validation for Christians today to do the same.

I’m confident many useful books for pastors will roll off the presses in 2019, but as we close out the old year and usher in the new, here are several of the best ministry-related books I read in 2018.

What can quickly be forgotten in this rush toward online education is that the Scriptures and our theological confessions should shape not only the content of our courses but also their design and delivery.

Our responses flow from somewhere — from the deeper realities of the hearts we’re stewards of. We are stewards of the deeper realities just as much as we are of the surface expressions.

Love and mercy will reign forever when hate is cast away into outer darkness.

If you are a pastor, criticism comes with the territory.

A hunger to learn the Word of God, the ways of God, and the will of God expresses a hunger for God himself.

As Christians, we must attempt to look at history as it was — not simply as we are.

We should always sit at the feet of older, more seasoned pastors, and learn from their mistakes. Often, the implications of a wedding don’t show up for years, sometimes even decades.

If a leader has all of the following seven traits, it is likely that leader will lead the congregation to greater health.

Don’t respond to opposition with that toxic blend of fear and anger. Respond with grace and truth.

We will probably never see another Billy Graham. We may never even see another ministry like his was.

When ethical and moral imperatives are proclaimed as sufficient, even abstracted from Jesus, the result is a crossless Christianity in which the central message becomes an exhortation to live according to God’s rules.

We must be willing to suffer, to give our all for Christ, to persevere until the end in order to obtain the final reward.

Every serious pastor labors under a heavy weight. This is not belly-aching or an embellishment, but rather this is the reality of being a pastor.

There’s never a “good” time to plant. You’ll always find valid, even logical reasons for putting it off.