Pastoral Articles
What Shall I Render to the Lord?
What shall I render to the LORDfor all his benefits to me?I will lift up the cup of salvationand call on the name of the LORD,I will pay my vows to the LORDin the presence of all his people.As we come to the end of another year, I find myself reflecting on the 52...
A Mother’s Love
It is midday on Christmas Day as I write, and I can’t stop thinking about that first one: the day that the Son of God became man—the incarnation. I am particularly thinking of Mary and all she experienced. I am thinking of a mother’s love and of a mother’s heartache....
A Sound Argument from Silence
In 1666, Puritan pastor Thomas Watson lamented, “Many parents are careful to lay up portions for their children, but they do not lay up prayers for them.” He was pastorally burdened for parents who focus on the temporal rather than the eternal. I want to suggest that...
How Members’ Meetings Steward the Gospel
Before taking a break for the holidays, I want to finish a brief series on what elder-led congregationalism looks like. Last week, we examined the congregation’s responsibilities for the what and the who of the gospel. Specifically, the congregation is biblically...
The What and the Who of the Gospel
Last week, I wrote about the responsibility of church members when it comes to affirming (or not affirming) a prospective elder, with particular reference to the eventual pastor-teacher transition to take place in our future. This week, I want to continue to address...
Church Member, Do Your Job
At our recent elders’ intensive (in October), we discussed the matter of my pastoral transition, specifically who would replace me. There has been much discussion about this over the years and several ideas have been floated, debated, shot down, and replaced by other...
When Love is Repaid with Lies
King David wrote, “In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer” (Psalm 109:4). Though he loved, he was hatefully (v. 5) lied about in return. Yet how he responded is lovely: He prayed. David had enemies. Some were the result of his own sin (think...
Coram Deo: Living Before the God who Sees in Secret
A few days ago, I came across one of those social experiment videos on the Internet—those clips that engineer some scenario which investigates themes of human morality, honesty or empathy. The videos where someone glues $100 to the pavement to see who tries to pick it...
A Healthy Church: A Place of Healing
Richard Wurmbrand, one-time persecuted Christian, wrote that churches should have the aroma of a hospital: They should smell of sickness. He went on to explain that local churches are filled with sinners and so there will always be the need to address spiritual...