Resources by Charlie Wingard
My friend Kirsten was making dinner when she heard about a family at church that was suffering from a sudden crisis. She bundled up half of her supper and delivered it to that family – who were blessed and thankful to have it. The next day, she received a call from a woman who worked with the food ministry committee – not to thank her, but to reprimand her for not going through the proper channels and contacting them first. Now I’m all for order and having systems in place. It’s essential when you’re trying to serve so many people, and you don’t want anyone to get lost in the shuffle. But we cross a line when that system…
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I require my RTS Jackson students to memorize large amounts of scripture. My hope is that they will make scripture memorization a lifelong discipline. In preaching, teaching, counseling, and leading congregational prayer, pastors must have the ability to recall scripture. A few months ago, my friends Jonah and C.L. recommended the Verses app. I have used it for two months and found it a valuable help. For example, my Personal Sanctification class is memorizing Romans 6:1-14. In the Verses app, users will find memory games to assist them. Tracking progress on Verses is easy. Verses can be downloaded from the App Store. I highly recommend this app.
Read MoreBiographer and journalist Robert A. Caro shares glimpses of his life and writing subjects in Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing. Since the 1960s, his professional career has been devoted to biographies of two twentieth century giants: New York City infrastructure planner Robert Moses (though never elected to public office, he became one of the most powerful men in his state for forty years), and Lyndon Baines Johnson, who as president, reshaped American society. Johnson’s accomplishments were breathtaking. Working with Congress, he secured the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1965 Immigration Act, Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start, education bills, and War on Poverty legislation. He dramatically increased the scope of the conflict in Vietnam. Four of the projected…
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If you’re considering seminary in the next 12-24 months, register for this live webinar, sponsored by Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson.
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In 2014, God sent me to Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson to serve as professor of pastoral theology and dean of students. I love my school; here are nine reasons why: 1. I Love the Students at RTS Jackson. I am the campus’s professor of preaching. Last semester that meant listening to nearly 100 sermons. Some think I’ve been sentenced to hard labor. What could be more tedious than the sermons of novice preachers? Thankfully, I have good news. The sermons I hear are faithful to the scriptures and edify my soul. Student sermons have become a cherished part of my devotional life. I merely assist students in cultivating the gifts God has given them. My denominational home is the…
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God’s Ambassadors: The Westminster Assembly and the Reformation of the English Pulpit, 1643–1653, by Chad Van Dixhoorn. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage, 2017, xxi + 215 pages, $40.00. The mere convening of the Westminster Assembly in 1643 is a wonder. Since the days of Edward VI, reform efforts in the church of England had stalled or been reversed under his Protestant successors, Elizabeth, James, and Charles I. The eruption of the English Civil War, with its political and military tumult, made the convening even more unlikely. But convene it did, and over the next decade, the fruits of its labors were prodigious. General histories and expositions of the assembly’s Confession of Faith and Catechisms are many. What distinguishes God’s Ambassadors: The Westminster…
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