What does it mean to pastor?

I just finished Richard Baxter’s “The Reformed Pastor” and suffice it to say I found myself underlining a multitude of sentences on every page, as well as writing “wow”, “ouch”, and many other words conveying some emotional response due to the biblically insightful pastoral rebuke or encouragement he offered.  If you haven’t read it I’d encourage you…

Preaching Christ-centered holiness

This is a brief summary of Dr. Tony Merida’s words at the Indiana Shepherd’s Conference when he preached I Peter 1:13-2:3. Character is an indispensable part of a preacher’s ministry. God doesn’t call men to exemplify great talent but great character.  Spurgeon said, “God will use a fool if he is holy.”  Here are seven charges Tony gave from…

Does the Church encourage spiritual parenting?

The title of this post was Eric Bancroft’s (Castleview Baptist Church) breakout session at the Indiana Shepherd’s Conference in which he discussed reproduction (spiritual parenting), particularly among men.  Here are some of the main-points of his session. Expectations:  (1) All Christians are disciples.  All disciples are Christians.  There is no dichotomy between the two. (2) Relational/personal…

Functional gods vs the One True God

This past week I arrived home from a short-term mission trip to SE Asia.  And while there I was confronted with the terrifying reality that many of the people I met will not have an opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In fact, the daunting statistic that there is something around 50 believers…

Inspiring, challenging video concerning missions

Everytime I watch this video God stirs in my heart a desire to abandon my comfortable, convenient life here in the states and go to Asia to tell people about Jesus.  Truly, I’d go tomorrow. Enjoy the video.  And if after watching this video there isn’t in some capacity a stirring of passion to tell people…

Bible reading

Several years ago several godly men told me one of the most fruitful things I can do in my Christian walk is to saturate myself in the Scriptures and read about the Christ that every page in some capacity attest to.  As a result, I’ve made a commitment to read through the Bible every year. Yesterday marked the…