Tag Ministry
A Miscellany Of Bad Advice Offered By Christians
A few weeks back, Tim Challies put together what became a very popular article: 40 Random Pieces of Advice for the Christian Life. His rationale for writing it was that,...
The Celebration Of Tyranny In Pastoral Ministry
A few years back I attended a seminar on church growth. During one of the sessions, a church growth guru shared an anecdote from his ministry. He was the pastor...
Preaching: Great Exegesis Without Prayer Is Public Speaking
Many years ago I wrote a reflective article about a dangerous assumption among Evangelicals, particularly those for whom expository preaching is a badge of honour. I summarised this assumption like...
The Pastor's Wife: Limited Resources And Church Culture
In my first post on the pastor’s wife I pushed back against the authority that is often extended to the pastor’s wife, simply because of her association with the pastor....
The Pastor's Wife: Marriage And Ministry
A few weeks back I wrote an article on the pastor’s wife. In it I made two very simple points. The first criticised the unbiblical emphasis that is often placed...
The Pastor's Wife
I was tempted to post an article titled: What Does The Bible Say About The Pastor’s Wife? The body of that article would have contained just one word: ‘Nothing.’ Of...
Kings and Christian Leadership: Sin Brings Forth Death
This post will serve as the final installation in my series on the Old Testament book of Kings. The purpose throughout has been to apply King’s theology of leadership to...
Kings and Christian Leadership: True Success
Have you heard about the mighty Omridic dynasty in the ancient Near East? No? Don’t worry. I hadn’t either before completing the readings for my course on the Old Testament...
Philippians 1:15-18 Devotional
Philippians 1:15-18. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I...
Christian, Pray to the Lord of the Harvest
Last year I attended a conference for African Presbyterians. It was a privilege to meet brothers and sisters from around the continent, and hear how God’s gospel is gaining ground...
"Church at Home": A Conclusion
With this post I intend to round off my writing on “church at home”. My hope is that those who’ve engaged with me and these articles will continue to reflect...
Kings and Christian Leadership: God Builds His Church
In The Benedict Option, Rod Dreher prophetically cites Matthew 16:18, where Jesus promised, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Dreher warns...
Pastor, You Are A Shepherd Not A Rancher
Writing at Mere Orthodoxy, Jake Meador quoted these words from a friend, “I’m a shepherd…When my flock gets so big that I don’t know all their names, I’ve become a...
Pastor, Imitate The Apostle Peter
When I began the pastor series I had nothing more than a handful of anaemic drafts and almost no direction. I have appreciated interacting with readers (often pastors) about those...
Why Bother With Church?
Why bother with church? Do I really need to attend this Sunday? Do you find yourself asking these question? Sunday rolls around and you can think of ten places you...
Pastor, Sit Lightly on the Wisdom of the World
The phrase, “Plunder the Egyptians” is commonly heard amongst church leaders today, especially at conferences on church leadership and growth strategy. Usually the phrase is used to validate secular wisdom....
Pastor, Why Do You Want a Big Church?
Does that strike you as a strange question? Of course we want big churches because that will mean more people know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. That may be...
Pastor, You are Dispensable
The confluence of social media, celebrity pastor culture, hugely successful churches and the millennial assumption that everyone is exceptional has lead many pastors to a dangerously over-exaggerated view of themselves....
