When I finish a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2019 list is at the end of this post. I don’t have a detailed reading plan – I select books based on interest and recommendations, as well as a desire to improve my cultural awareness. I also use commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and systematic theologies as I prepare two weekly sermons and lectures. Since I seldom read these cover-to-cover, few are found in my lists. 2019 Reading Highlights What follows are some of my 2019 reading highlights. Several of my comments come from booknotes I wrote earlier in the year. Every year, I read a few substantial volumes in theology. This year I chose Wilhelmus…
Read MoreAt the outset of a difficult topic – pastoral laziness – I want to be clear that my purpose is to encourage both pastors and their congregations. Where conflict arises over the minister’s work ethic, I believe most of the time there is a path forward to strengthen the bonds of affection that should exist between a pastor and his congregation. That said, here are some hard words: Apart from heretical doctrine or immorality, one of the most serious charges that can be levelled against a pastor is sloth. In the judgment of his congregation, he fails to take his cues from the “hard-working farmer,” one of Paul’s models for pastoral ministry (2 Timothy 2:6), and seems unfamiliar with Solomon’s…
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Look closely at the photograph to the right of this WWII veteran – a carrier-based Helldiver torpedo bomber manned by a 20-year-old pilot and 17-year-old tail gunner, Joe Neves. Now 92, he is the last surviving WWII veteran to serve with the Navy’s famed Tophatters squadron. Mr. Neves found out about the bombing of Pearl Harbor as he exited a movie theatre in New York City on December 7, 1941. Determined to fight for his country, he had to wait three years until he was 17 and old enough to enlist. I was honored to meet and speak with him last week. He gave me a signed copy of an artist’s rendering of his plane. He told me to…
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Albert N. Martin, The Man of God: His Calling and Godly Life. Trinity Pulpit Press, 2018. More than a century ago James Stalker warned: I believe the question, what is to be the type and the tone of the ministry in any generation, is decided in the theological seminaries. What the students are there, the ministers of the country will be by-and-by. . . The state of feeling in a theological seminary ought to be such, that any man living a life inconsistent with his future profession should feel thoroughly uncomfortable, and have the conviction driven in upon his conscience every day, that the ministry is no place for him. (Yale Preaching Lectures, 1891) If theological students are to live…
Read MoreUnder the distinguishing marks of saving faith, Wilhelmus à Brakel writes: By faith true believers frequently receive the Lord Jesus with their heart. . . . To Him they turn, Him they desire, for Him they long, Him they receive, upon Him they rely, to Him they surrender themselves, to Him they desire to be united – all by faith. . . . They frequently, if not a thousand times, receive the Lord Jesus by faith. They always believe that their reception of Him has not been as unreserved as it ought to have been and that it has not been with sufficient clarity and sincerity; it was not as whole-hearted as it ought to have been. This receiving of…
Read MoreAfter participating in the Lord’s Supper, Wilhelmus à Brakel summons God’s people to reflection. With regard to the public manifestation of our Christianity, he encourages us to think deeply about our benevolence, remembering that we bear the image of Christ. How benevolent the Lord Jesus was! Who did ever depart from Him, being yet uncomforted? Thus it must be with you: Comfort those who grieve, visit the sick, and be generous to the poor. If there is nothing you can give, nevertheless be friendly and manifest your compassion toward them. Let your light thus shine among men and manifest your faith by good works. – The Christian’s Reasonable Service (vol. 2): The Church and Salvation, trans. by Bartel Elshout. 1700…
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(Earlier in the year, I posted a book review of The Faithful Preacher by Thabiti M. Anyabwile. It has now been published in the September issue of Reformed Theological Seminary’s online journal, Reformed Faith & Practice.) __________ One of my goals at RTS Jackson is to introduce students to the “neglected voices” of the evangelical church. I am not the best qualified to remedy this neglect, but have made it my habit to assign readings that will help. One such book is Thabiti Anyabwile’s The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007). The book presents biographical sketches of Lemuel Haynes, Daniel Payne, and Francis Grimké, along with selected writings. First, Lemuel Haynes. Born in 1753, he…
Read MoreWise words from John Owen that I must take to heart: “A pastor’s life should be vocal; sermons must be practised as well as preached. . . . . If a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than he built in the day of his doctrine.” John Owen, The Works of John Owen (ed. William H. Goold; vol. 13; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 57.
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What should our pastors pray for? The list could go on and on. But let me give three things that I think are particularly important for pastors to pray for in relationship to their churches. First of all, they need to pray for a forgiving spirit. There are a lot of wounds and injuries that come during your time as a pastor, and you have to become highly committed to overlooking offenses. And then when there are sins committed against you, whether the person asks for forgiveness or not, you need to have a forgiving spirit toward them. If not, your ministry will be filled with bitterness and anger and resentment.
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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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