"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). It may be difficult to comprehend all the research, writing, editing, proofreading, and email-arm wrestling with your friendly...
Psalm 26:8-12 NKJV, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells. 9 Do not gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men, In whose hands is a sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as...
A Prayer for a New Course Everything we do as human beings can yield to the forces of mere transactional interactions. In the case of ministry, we can shepherd—pray, study, preach, counsel, administer the sacraments—without the slightest regard for the Christ-ordained...
There is no greater honor or joy than teaching the inerrant and infallible Word of the Living God. Getting to teach the Pastoral Epistles is a particular joy and a challenge. You will have the opportunity to help your fellow believers enter into the first-century...
In centuries past, all the way through the middle of the twentieth century, a great number of ministers (from a broad spectrum of Protestant Christian communities) conducted divine services, including a pastoral petition that (understandably) came to be called “the...
Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live (Psalm 116:2 NASB). What is a collect? [Ka’-lect: a gathering prayer with a set sequence of movements based on Scripture. The collect movements include: Humbly calling on the...
Preaching in a pastoral context—the parish, the community—requires a vocational dedication that stewards time and deploys a thoughtful strategy and tactical operation to realize the mission. On the topic of such vocational intentionality, the Apostle Paul wrote in 2...
"We cannot cure humanity with the Gospel unless we have carried our own burdens to Him in a humble and secret life of prayer." However lovely or rugged the path before us, we cannot speak with incarnate truth of its splendor or severity without walking it. Thus, it is...
The Reading of Scripture On this Good Friday, we seek to answer one of the most fundamental questions about this day. Jesus will provide the answer to the powerful forces at work beneath the awful scene on Calvary’s Cross. From the Gospel of John, chapter twelve, and...
The question, “What happens when I die?” is one of the great existential questions of life. These questions are universal, not limited by cultural context, age, or any other variable. It is truly a universal question. Of course, the answers differ. Today, though, let...