Pastoral Articles
Another One Bytes the Dust
One of the responsibilities of pastoral care is to be the occasional naysayer. Sometimes more “occasional” than at other times. This is one of those times. I have often preached and/or written about the temptations of social media that threaten the spiritual health of...
The Ascension: Christ’s Essential and Ongoing Ministry
The following article addressing the ascension of Jesus Christ is so good that rather than my attempting an article, I reproduce this (first published on the Sola 5 website) here. The author is Joseph Mahlaola, pastor-teacher of Christ Baptist Church, Limpopo. Please...
Preparing the Soil
The parable of the soils (sometimes referred to as the parable of the Sower) is familiar to most Christians (it appears in Mathew, Mark, and Luke). Jesus was preparing his disciples for gospel ministry by illustrating that the response of the human heart to the gospel...
Blessed to Be (and to See) a Blessing
I’m writing this in Southeast Asia, feeling exceptionally blessed after three days of seeing the way Brackenhurst Baptist Church has been, and continues to be, a blessing in this part of the world. I have been reminded of the biblical principle that God blesses his...
Making the Impossible More Difficult
Over the past two Sunday evenings, we have been reminded of the impossibility of serving both God and money (Matthew 6:19–34). As Chad explained, and as Chris reinforced, there is no neutral ground when it comes to loyalties: It is either the one or the other. This is...
The Problem of Pride: Pursuing Humility in a Proud World
I have always found it striking to observe the differences between the Bible’s view of humanity and the world’s view of humanity. One of these differences concerns how we should live our lives. The world teaches us to constantly marvel at how special we are, while the...
Training for Reverence
Brackenhurst Baptist Church, by God’s kind providence, is a multigenerational congregation, as evidenced by a diversity of ages. Many members are 60 and older; a large number of members are between 30 and 60; and there are a lot of young adults, young people, and a...
A Pattern for Prayer
Due to a full week and time constraints, this article will be brief, but I trust meaningful, as I continue to think about prayer—particularly the Lord’s Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:9–13. As Stephen recently taught us, this prayer contains essential categories that...
Praying Mindfully
Last week, I wrote about the dangers of praying God’s name in vain—that is, using God’s name superficially as a “filler” and/or speaking his name superstitiously as some kind of a mantra that secures God’s attention. Both are irreverent and are therefore to be avoided...