A couple of years ago I sat through a seminar where a seminary professor lectured on the value of telling stories in the pulpit without necessarily explaining their meaning. He said that we could trust the people to draw the appropriate conclusion and make the necessary application. His lecture mirrors the advice I read somewhere […]
The droplet said: “I am not happy with what I am. I wish I was a puddle.” So the droplet tried real hard to make himself more than he was, spread himself too thin, and evaporated. The puddle said: “I am not happy with what I am. I wish I was a pool.” So the […]
I was curious about the origin of the word minister and so I went online to dictionary.com and found the following etymology. Origin: 1250-1300; (noun) derived from the Latin minister, servant, equivalent to minis – (variant of minus, a lesser amount…) Did you catch that? MINUS – a lesser amount. I guess minister could be […]
Please allow me to introduce what I want to say about a certain leadership style by way of analogy. I tell pre-marital couples, during the lesson on sexual intimacy, that basically anything goes in their sexual relationship except that which violates the other’s conscience or sense of propriety. If he wants her to do something […]
I was keeping them in Your Name…I guarded them John 17:12 This is the fourth essential practice of the pastoral ministry – to guard the flock. Jesus said to His Father, “I was keeping them in Your Name…” One of the meanings of the word ‘keep’ is to guard a prisoner to prevent escape. The […]
In John 17:4 Jesus refers to the work He has already accomplished. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Suffering a sacrificial death and rising in power were not the only assignments given to Jesus. In John 17:6-13 He lists out the work He accomplished before going to the cross. These […]
In John 17:4 Jesus refers to the work He has already accomplished. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Suffering a sacrificial death and rising in power were not the only assignments given to Jesus. In John 17:6-13 He lists out the work He accomplished before going to the cross. These […]
In John 17:4 Jesus refers to the work He has already accomplished. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Suffering a sacrificial death and rising in power were not the only assignments given to Jesus. In John 17:6-13 He lists out the work He accomplished before going […]
Without controversy, the greatest work accomplished by Jesus Christ was His death and resurrection. Yet these two events don’t exhaust the full scope of the assignment given to Him by His Father. They are the pinnacle of His life, but there’s a lot of mountain underneath. Though the essence of His mission was redemptive, we […]
I was raised in the congregational rule of the Christian Church. I later scuttled that model for the more Scriptural model of presbyterian rule – a collegial model. I easily dismissed the Episcopal model as being too open to abuse by aberrant personalities. I was dismayed when Pastor Chuck Smith outlined an episcopal ecclesiology (please […]