Resources by Charlie Wingard
William Boekestein, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing, 2024. $16.95, paperback. As a pastor, I have come alongside both 20-something and older congregants who struggle for vocational clarity. Could one of the reasons be that pastors, churches, and parents have failed to speak sufficiently to our youth about this critical topic? If so, Christian young people and those who guide them will find a valuable resource in Finding My Vocation. The book’s three parts – Pondering Vocation, Preparing for Your Vocation, and Practicing Vocation – provide a concise, biblical, and practical theology. The author has drawn from the deep wells of Reformed teaching on the topic, as well as more recent literature.…
Read MoreWe all need mentors. With so many voices telling us what to do, it’s vitally important that we have godly, thoughtful, experienced people showing us what to do. Preparing for a life in ministry in the PCA is demanding work—and I’m not just talking about your seminary workload. You need real-life pastoral experience under the direction of a mentor. I serve as director of field education at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Much of my work involves talking to students about their relationships with their pastoral mentors. Since 1987, I’ve mentored men preparing for ordination. While serving on Boston’s North Shore, I mentored many men in the Gordon-Conwell field education program. Before coming to RTS, I employed men pursuing ordination. Mentoring has…
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William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, and Andrew J. Miller, Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2023. $22.00, clothbound. “Catechisms are small books of big doctrines” – that’s the claim made by the authors of Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Catechisms, they write, “boil down Scripture into major theological themes reflecting the high honor Scripture gives to doctrine” (33). Page by page, the authors back up their claim. The scriptural doctrines set forth in the Westminster Shorter Catechism are presented, accompanied by clear expositions of their biblical foundations. The devotional quality of the book lends itself to profitable personal use by believers at every…
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C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935–1947, by Mark A. Noll. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023, xviii + 158 pages, $18.69, paper. The works of C. S. Lewis have found a home in America for nearly nine decades. His technical studies in literary criticism, imaginative works, and expositions of the Christian faith have been well received by Christians of various denominations. Avid Lewis readers are found among adherents of both Protestant and Catholic traditions. Reviews of Lewis’s books were numerous and not limited to Christian publications, but also appeared in secular magazines and journals. One would be hard pressed to think of other writers so highly acclaimed by such a diverse readership. With modest revisions, the book contains…
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The Psalms occupy a prominent place in the pastor’s life and work. He uses them to summon his congregation to worship. Their vocabulary and poetry shape the language of his prayers, both public and private. With them, he comforts the sick, gives hope to the despairing, and consoles the mourner. They supply cherished words to lead his flock in praises, thanksgivings, and intercessions. No pastor’s toolbox is properly furnished without the Psalms. To be used effectively, any tool must come with instructions for its proper use. Experienced craftsmen must teach their apprentices—which is why pastors will find How to Read and Understand the Psalms a valuable resource. Like master craftsmen, Bruce Waltke and Fred Zaspel instruct readers about the structure of…
Read MorePastoral care is an act of love. God’s minister provides pastoral care because he loves the Word of God, and he loves God’s people. His care brings the ministry of the Word to wherever his flock is found, whether gathered before his pulpit on the Lord’s Day or in his study during the week: homes, hospitals, cemeteries, and prisons become places of the Lord’s mercy and grace. This requires that the man of God be available to his people – ready to go to them, and willing to care for them. It is the God-breathed Word that comforts the mourner, encourages the struggler, directs the confused, and rebukes the careless. The caring pastor trains his congregation in righteousness. Biblical pastoral…
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