Resources by Charlie Wingard
The Christian and Technology, by John V. Fesko. Durham, UK: EP Books, 2020, xx + 104 pages, $8.99, paper. Winston Churchill observed, “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.” The same is true of technology. In six crisp chapters John Fesko explains how six technological advancements have shaped Christian thinking and behavior, for better and for worse: Screens: computer, phone, tablets, TV, and jumbotron Social media The automobile The book: both the mass production of books for the past 500 years and the recent phenomenon of e-books Virtual reality Internet access both to helpful services and soul-defiling evil The theme throughout this book is this: You must learn to use technology, or technology will use you. The invention…
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I was delighted to offer an endorsement of Megan Hill’s new book, A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church. Her love for the church and her Savior shines on every page. She possesses an uncommon gift for engaging illustrations and applications. Her theology of the church is biblical, and her instruction winsome as she clarifies what it means for the church’s members to share in each other’s gifts and graces. Readers will find themselves thanking God for his gift of “a place to belong.”
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How to Care for Your Pastor: A Guide for Small Churches, by Kent Philpott. Webster, NY: Evangelical Press, 2008, xiii + 128 pages, $13.99, paper. Disappointment is a routine part of pastoral life and is especially acute in small churches where personal and financial resources are few and prospects for growth slim. Many pastors wonder if anyone in the congregation really cares about them. Pay is often meagre; expressions of concern for the pastor and his family’s well-being come infrequently or not at all. In some churches little energy is spent caring for anyone in the church. The hurt can be deep. Pastors would like to articulate their hurts to the church, but do not—they do not want to…
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Today my RTS office is in an attic. 46 years ago my bedroom was. On the evening of April 8, 1974, I sat at my desk doing homework. The radio was on, the volume low, and the Braves-Dodgers game in the background. In the second and the fourth inning, I turned up the volume when one of my boyhood heroes, “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron, came to the plate. And it was in the fourth inning that he smashed his record setting 715th homer off Dodger Al Downing. Braves’ announcer Milo Hamilton called the historic shot. Of the hundreds of Braves games I listened to as a boy, that was by far the most memorable. I recorded the home run on my…
Read MoreThe Pastor’s Soul: The Call and Care of an Undershepherd, by Brian Croft and Jim Savastio. Welwyn Garden City, UK: EP Books, 2018, 160 pages, $11.99, paper. The good pastor lovingly looks after God’s sheep; it’s his duty, and he stands accountable to the Lord for those entrusted to his care. He finds satisfaction in his work as he becomes involved in the lives of his people. At times he rejoices with them—at other times, he weeps. He instructs the disciple, admonishes the erring, comforts the suffering, counsels the perplexed, and offers gospel hope to the despairing. Since God is for his elect people, the faithful pastor is for them, too. But even the most faithful pastor is in trouble…
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Dr. John V. Fesko will present a six-week series on “The Christian and Technology” at First Presbyterian Church of Yazoo City. Dinner is served at 6:00, followed by Dr. Fesko at 6:30. Schedule 1/29: Screens 2/5: Social Media 2/12: The Automobile 2/19: The Book 2/26: Unfettered Access to Evil 3/4: Virtual Reality About the Speaker Dr. Fesko is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson. He was ordained to the ministry in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1998 as a church planter, served as a pastor, Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. He and his family moved to the Jackson area last summer. Dr. Fesko and his wife, Anneke, have three…
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