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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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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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Summer orientation at Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson is this Friday, June 14. To our new Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Counseling students, welcome to our campus! I serve as RTS Jackson’s Dean of Students. You should know that any time my door is open you are welcome to come in and talk. My office is located on the second floor of the Dean Center. If it is an emergency, I can be reached on my cell at any time. My number is posted at the foot of the stairs to my office and in the student handbook. New and returning students are invited to dinner at Patterson’s Porch on Friday June 14 at 6 p.m. My wife,…
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Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the commencement of the Allied invasion of continental Europe. Within a year, Hitler was dead and the Nazi reign of terror over. President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 speech at Normandy marked the 40th anniversary of the invasion. Reagan used the opportunity not only to honor the allied soldiers who fought their way ashore, but also to strengthen NATO’s resolve in the face of threatened Soviet nuclear missile deployments to Eastern Europe. I introduced my high school rhetoric and debate students to this speech as one of the great presidential addresses of the 20th century. I recommend listening to the entire 13-minute speech. My father, George Thomas Wingard, Jr., fought in Europe later in…
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Retirement was not in the vocabulary of my uncle, John Calvin Wingard. Since ‘retiring’ from a lifetime of ministry at age 70, he pastored two churches, one for nineteen years and a second for the remaining three years of his life. Two weeks ago he was out making pastoral visits to his small flock at First Presbyterian Church in Ripley, Tennessee. On Mother’s Day, he drove fifteen miles to do what he did most Sundays for the past 68 years, proclaim God’s word. The next day, one of his sons drove him to Tupelo, Mississippi to visit his oncologist. He was informed that treatments would yield no further benefits. He walked into a hospital without assistance. By the end…
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When I finish a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2018 list is at the end of this post. I don’t have a detailed reading plan – I select books based on interest and recommendations. I also use commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and systematic theologies as I prepare two weekly sermons and one Bible lecture. Since I seldom read these cover-to-cover, I don’t include them in the list. 2018 was spent in Romans, Exodus, 1 Timothy, and a December morning and evening series in Isaiah. What follows are some of my 2018 reading highlights. Several of my comments come from booknotes I wrote earlier in the year. Every year, I read a few substantial volumes in…
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