Over the last few years I have read quite a bit on the nature of confidentiality in the work of pastoral ministry. The result of my study led me to clarify and formalize a policy that reflects the procedures by which I have operated for decades. Simply stated, while…
There is another source of power which I can hardly think of as a separate quality, but rather as the sum and result of all the qualities which I have been naming. I mean Courage. It is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry. The timid minister is as…
I love Tabletalk magazine and the work of Ligonier Ministries. RC Sproul has served me in multiple ways through his writing and teaching. I have read Tabletalk since its early days when it was a 2 color 8.5 x 11 publication. Editor Burk Parsons has become treasured friend and…
Through the power of film Peter Jackson has made J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy famous and accessible to a generation who may have never have heard of the literary classic. One of the most endearing characters in the story is a wizard named Gandalf. He is the…
One of my greatest joys as a pastor is the privilege of being with children. I love kids of all ages and I love to watch them mature. Some of my fondest pastoral memories involve children, like the time that 3 pre-elementary-aged girls stopped me in the hallway to…
John Newton understood very well the inner life of a pastor. His gifts of creativity and eloquence combine to express his insights well in the following poem. To serve as a shepherd to the flock of God is a high and holy calling. It is an amazing privilege and…
I am in Boca Raton this week teaching a J-term for Reformed Theological Seminary and have had no time to post. I hope to get back on schedule next week. A friend pointed me to this quote John Owen on a pastor’s inner life and attitude. It is rich,…
Dr. Tom Nettles, Professor of Historical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky will visit Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral on May 4-6 in view of a call to become the Associate Pastor. While this news may come as a shock to many people, those…