Resources on Pastoral Ministry
“If asked what I consider the qualifications for a good expositor of Holy Writ, I would answer these three: (1) a heart seasoned with grace; (2) a head filled with good common sense; (3) a mind stored with all that liberal education which aids exposition in general, and that of these holy books in particular.” – John Duncan in John M. Brentnall, ed., ‘Just A Talker’: Sayings of John (‘Rabbi’) Duncan (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1997), 12.
Read MoreDo you want a more effective ministry to your community? Then read your local newspaper. I subscribe to four newspapers: The Yazoo Herald, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson), The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. By far the most important is the The Yazoo Herald. Here’s why: My church worships and serves in a community. Like all churches, my congregation represents only a slice of the community’s population. If my only interest is the people in my congregation, I lose sight of my neighbors, and that hardly squares with the admonition to love my neighbor. The local paper brings me back to the people and institutions that shape my city. What do I look for in the paper? Government officials. I have a responsibility to pray for them…
Read MoreI want my ministry students at RTS Jackson to become skilled in pastoral visitation, which includes visiting people in their homes. In the late 19th century, Bishop J.C. Ryle was troubled by “a growing disposition throughout the land, among the clergy, to devote an exaggerated amount of attention to what I must call the public work of ministry, and to give comparatively too little attention to pastoral visitation and personal dealing with individual souls.” In his excellent biography of Ryle, Iain Murray comments: “However eloquent or apparently knowledgeable a preacher may be, there will be something seriously lacking in the man who is not to be found in the homes of his people. Sermons which come only from the study are not…
Read MoreCommenting on Psalm 128:1-3, William Plumer writes: “No man over-estimates the blessings of peace and concord in all the relations of life . . . Nor until he sacrifices truth, honor, righteousness or a good conscience does he ever pay too much for them.” William S. Plumer, Psalms: A Critical and Expository Commentary with Doctrinal and Practical Remarks. 1867 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1990), 1139.
Read MoreThirty years ago today I was ordained to the gospel ministry at Faith Presbyterian Church in Morganton, North Carolina. You only get one first church, and this one couldn’t have been better. Loving and caring and encouraging, its members will forever hold a special place in my heart. Apart from my sons’ and grandchildren’s birthdays and the anniversary of my marriage to Lynne, my ordination day is the most memorable and important date in my life. Lynne makes the day special – a card, gift, and dinner – just one example of the many ways she stands beside me in my work. My interest in the ministry began long before I ever preached. Since I was a teenager, I wanted to to be a…
Read More1843 was a momentous year in Presbyterian history. The founders of the Free Church of Scotland abandoned homes, incomes, and church buildings to uphold the spiritual independence of Christ’s church. Their courage captured the attention of the evangelical world, and bequeathed stirring testimonies of faith and fortitude to subsequent generations of Bible-believing Presbyterians. Author Sandy Finlayson skillfully sketches the lives of ten of these leaders in Unity & Diversity: The Founders of the Free Church of Scotland. Bound together by love of the gospel, a high view of the authority of God’s word, confessional fidelity, and missionary outreach, these men nevertheless held a variety of opinions on controversial issues of the day: church union with other Presbyterian denominations, Roman Catholic emancipation, the evangelistic campaigns of Dwight L.…
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