Next week...Chicago!

Greetings everyone! I would simply like to ask everyone who tunes in here to pray for me concerning next week, as I will be in Chicago for a class at Moody. The course subject? Preaching. During my time there, I will be delivering a sermon based on James 4:11-12, for which I would appreciate your intercession (not for my sermon only, but for those of my classmates, too). Also, if you would be so kind, pray for my endurance level and for wisdom concerning several opportunities possibly coming down the road.

Thank you all

Sound words from a sound man...

Helpful words for aspiring ministers from Dr. Carl Trueman of Westminster Seminary:

http://www.reformation21.org/articles/a-question-of-priorities.php

Stating the Obvious...

There are, of course, innumerable books that focus on pastoral ministry. Some focus on the pastor himself- his character, his spiritual life, etc. Others focus on the actual practice of ministry- preaching, counseling, praying, and so on. Many (certainly not all) of these works we ought to be thankful for. As pastors or those aspiring to the pastorate, we should read and absorb them.

But, to state the obvious, these books are not Scripture. Based on Scripture though they may be (some more than others), still they are not the Word of God.

But the Pastoral Epistles are. These writings- First and Second Timothy, and Titus- are God-breathed portions of Scripture.

As such, I believe the Pastoral Epistles ought to form the basis of pastoral ministry. In these epistles we find, from God's vantage, what the man of God ought to be and what he ought to do. In them, we have from the Lord's point of view what a pastor ought to focus on and devote his energy and attention to. Of course, it takes the whole Bible to make a whole minister, but I suggest we ought to embrace the thesis that God has spoken clearly and concisely in the Pastoral Epistles concerning his will for pastors and pastoral ministry. Let us then build our ministries first upon these sacred texts, these sure foundations.

Moo on James

From Douglas Moo's commentary on James 1:21:

"The repeated failures of Israel to obey the law that God gave to them had made it clear that the human heart was not capable of submitting to external rules. A new, interior work would have to be done, giving people a "new heart"...so that they could respond truly and obediently to God's word. James's language [in 1:21] reminds his readers that they have experienced the fulfillment of that wonderful promise. But it also reminds them that the word that has saved them cannot be dispensed with after conversion. God plants it within his people, making it a permanent, inseparable part of the believer, a guiding and commanding presence within."

Douglas J. Moo. The Letter of James (Kindle Locations 1355-1359). Kindle Edition.

Delayed...but not forgotten!

For those of you have been tuning in, I apologize for my absence as of late! Other things far more important than this ol' blog have needed my attention. Nonetheless, I'll try to keep things coming!

Here is a thought-provoking link regarding pastors and PhD's. Would love it if someone would comment on whether you agree with the author or not!

http://www.meetthepuritans.com/2012/04/03/pastors-pursuing-the-phd/

Connect with some of the best...

The online train keeps on chugging! Ligonier Ministries, led by R.C. Sproul, is doing something interesting in terms of providing online training. Sproul and company are obviously some of the outstanding Reformed thinkers in the Christian world (and the world in general) and anybody I'm sure would benefit from their new endeavor. Check it out here:

http://www.ligonier.org/connect/

The Pastor and the Power of Prayer

1. The Preeminence of Christ
2. The Proclamation of the Truth
• The Preaching of the Word
• The Pedagogy (teaching) of the Saints
3. The Priority of the Gospel
4. The Power of Prayer
5. The Purpose of Christ-Likeness
6. The Pursuit of the Mission
7. The Purveyance of Good Works
8. The Progress and Preparation of the Pastor
9. The Partnerships of the Pastor
10. The Participation by the Pastor in the Life of the Saints
11. The Peculiarity of the Church
12. The Protection of the Pastor’s Family

This is a list I published a ways back. The points represent what I believe are the twelve top priorities of pastoral ministry. I’ve posted more extensively on the first three in the past- tonight I reach the fourth.

The faithful pastor’s ministry is built upon the power of prayer. It must be so, for he himself has no strength of his own. The pastor knows full well that apart from the Chief Shepherd he can do nothing, that the arm of flesh cannot avail, and that no eternal good can be accomplished by a mere man. His weakness, then, drives his going to the throne of grace.

At this throne, the pastor first seeks strength for himself. The many toils and labors the under shepherd must endure in order to feed and care for the flock of God requires that he have divine power. Like Timothy, he must “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Such strength comes through prayer. The prayerless pastor is therefore a powerless one. As E.M. Bounds has written, “Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God’s work and is powerless to project God’s cause in this world.”

At this throne, too, the pastor seeks strength for his family. Surely no one is asked to endure more for the sake of the minister’s task than his wife and children. It is they who will bear with his faintings and his failures more than all others, and who will feel the sting of loneliness most keenly as he attends to the people of his charge.

At this throne, lastly, the pastor seeks strength for his flock. Day and night he never ceases to bring the sheep before the Almighty that they might find power and courage to endure in the faith. The pastor knows that the Enemy is too mighty for even the greatest saints, and to withstand his assaults they must “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” He knows, too, that the world and the flesh can weary the hardiest in the army of the Lord and that this calls for help from beyond this earth, from the heights of heaven where God dwells. Such help is called down by prayer alone.