The Gospel and the Church

Sunday mornings are supposed to be easy. Lionel Richie even titled one of his songs, “Easy (Like Sunday Morning).” But are they? Kids are fussy but need to get dressed. The fuel gauge is on low, so you need to get gas. Breakfast is taking longer than usual, but you do...

God’s Calling I have no memory of the moment of my own calling. Raised by godly parents in the nurture of the church, I didn’t pray a salvation prayer or walk an aisle or have a sudden revelation. I don’t actually remember a time when I didn’t love Christ. My...

A certain pastor was visiting various Sunday school classes when he made a disconcerting discovery in the sixth-grade boy’s class. As the boys were talking about some of the stories in the Old Testament, the pastor listened closely for a while and then asked, “Who...

Due to the ubiquitous nature of social media, pastors and church leaders live and minister in a world of carefully crafted sound bites and heaping amounts of hype. While social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook are incredible tools for church leaders to use...

Athanasius was born in the late third century A.D. (295). Little is known about his family or educational background, except that he was trained for the ministry at the historic center in Alexandria, Egypt. He had a great passion for God and his Word, which inspired...

Erwin Lutzer, pastor of the historic Moody Church in Chicago, recounts a story in his book “Pastor to Pastor” that could be multiplied several times over of the kinds of disparaging experiences that regularly happen to faithful pastors. A friend of mine, fresh out of...

Why is it that most churches that hold to the doctrines of grace lack evangelistic zeal? If we are going to foster evangelism today in our churches, we must first build into its culture. Ray Ortlund helpfully notes that: “Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The...

Where a text appears in Scripture is all-important because the location often teaches pastors and their congregations' big lessons. For example, The Sermon on the Mount contains Jesus’ first recorded teaching, and the first sentence in Matthew 5:3 is this simple...

Within the category of Christian ministry are scores of important topics to consider. Life often moves so fast that ministers do not think through ministerial issues of consequence until they have to. But too often, their thinking comes too late. For each aspiring...

Suppose you were called to pastor a church where none of the elders were biblically qualified, though they had been serving in their “positions of authority” for decades? Or what if you are serving at a church that had learned a bit about the Bible’s teaching on...

Gabriel Azucena, who goes by the artist name GAWVI, is a Christian rapper whose popular song, “Fight for Me” features some honest lyrics about meeting the expectations of others. I was struggling with something similar to what GAWVI writes while approaching my final...

“I left Trophimus sick at Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20). As some churches tiptoe back into corporate worship and ministries reboot in a post-corona mode, those who are immune-suppressed or elderly are being gently asked to stay home awhile longer.  Some church people are...

A Varied Menu Every few months, my church gathers in the fellowship hall for a slightly different purpose: lunch. Each person brings a dish of their choice in addition to contributing items such as drinks or bread from a sign-up list. After morning worship, the pastor...

These are strange, sad times we live in, and a perfect season for the glory of the Christian gospel and the light of Christ’s church to shine brighter than ever before. But how? While countless headlines and speeches declare the value of every human life— in the midst...

Perspective allows you to see farther than you can look. Take Apollo 8. The crew of William Anders, Frank Borman, and James Lovell were a hurry-up “dream-team” thrown together by a pressure-cooker NASA Leadership and a beleaguered US president named Lyndon Baines...

Beauty on the Inside Around the corner from where I live, a house is for sale. In bold green letters, the lawn sign reads: “I’m Gorgeous Inside!” The message is surprising. From the street, the house is thoroughly ordinary, even run-down. It’s a seventies-era raised...

God Blesses Holiness, Not Pastoral Talent from Crossway on Vimeo Constantly Turn from SinIt’s a very simple thing to go down the path of sanctification. Through prayer, cry out to the Lord, confess your sins, repent of your sins, and turn from your sins so that you’re...

I went to a funeral the other day, not to officiate, but simply to attend as a friend and pastor to the grieving. Since I orient toward others far more as a brother than as pastor, I instinctively sat toward the back alongside those I knew and loved. Then I noticed...

The search committee announces to the church they have found their next pastor, a young, energetic family man, who is ready to help the church move from decline to growth. The new pastor is excited about serving in the new church and can see her potential if just a...

Why Partnerships[1] There is a discernible theology of partnership in the Word of God. The purpose of this article is not to list and evaluate every instance of “partnership,” “partner,” or “partaker” in the Holy Bible (a worthy undertaking that), but rather to...

Ministry service is a noble task for one to be called to. The Apostle Paul tells young Timothy, “if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” (1 Timothy 3:1). What better way to live one’s life than in service to the Lord? For it...

3 Practical Ways to Remain Faithful in Ministry from Crossway on Vimeo. Consistent Time in the Word The practical things you need to do in your life to remain faithful in ministry are the same means of grace that are available to every believer. First is time in the...

How to Move Doctrine from Heads to Hearts.mp4 from Crossway on Vimeo. Tasting the Word of God Biblical preaching moves the hearer from head to heart and from the ethereal to the experiential by focusing on what the believer actually encounters when he really...

A few weeks ago we began looking at the distinguishing marks of a healthy church. People typically determine the “success” of a church by numbers, programs, or budget. However, we must ask ourselves if the Bible focuses on such qualities. In 9 Marks of a Healthy...

Anatomy of the Soul John Calvin once said that the Psalms are an anatomy of all parts of the soul. What the Psalms do is present the idealistic, the realistic, and the optimistic view of the Christian life. In a sense, the whole Bible does that and it’s important that...

A tear runs down the cheek of your friend as they tell you theirteenager is rebelling and they’ve tried all they can but nothing isworking. A family member has lost their job but the mortgage paymentskeep coming, and they tell you they are considering giving “in...

Every breath is vital to life. Naturally. Likewise, every movement in a sermon is essential. I am confident that you will agree with me that a similitude about life and preaching is appropriate. Preaching is for life. So, whether you are just now answering God’s call...

I heard it a variety of ways: “Your church is not very friendly.” “No one greeted me on Sunday morning.” “I don’t feel welcomed here.” “Everyone seems to already have their friends, and they don’t have room for more.” This familiar critique came through email, on the...

I love the institutional church. I believe the local church is God’s plan for saving and transforming the world. Jesus shed His blood for His bride, the church. Nothing will stop Christ from building His church, not even the gates of hell. I have followed God’s call...

As a pastor, I genuinely love the local church. In my own context, I love my church that I’m a member of and that I have the privilege of leading. As I often explain to my children when we read the Bible together in the evening—I don’t love the church simply because...

I remember my old mentor, Dr. D. James Kennedy, telling me that the pastor must love three things more than all others: God, God's Word, and God's People. I believe his admonition of these simple and profound intuitive desires came from a singular passion stirred in...

It has been said, correctly I think, that “baptism is the starting gun of the Christian race.” This statement implies two things. First, we have not yet fully obeyed Christ until we have publicly professed Him in baptism and publicly claimed Him as our Lord and...

It has become all too common for men and women to attack the church for all of the ways in which they believe that the church has failed. Almost every day professing believers rant online about the failures of “the evangelical church,” “the Reformed church,” “the...

“Feeling good is overrated.” Those were the words of a sports psychologist speaking to a group of athletes. He was explaining that focusing on feeling good to perform well is problematic for any athlete. Occasionally, an athlete feels excellent, is in the zone, and...

Young men, aspire to be elders. 1 Timothy 3:1, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” In the coming weeks, a lot of Christian college students will be moving into their dorms. Some will be headed out the door...

Recently Mark Zuckerberg the founder and CEO of Facebook said that he views Facebook as a church. The problem with Mark’s statement is that there is no way Facebook could ever be a New Testament church. The Bible prescribes that the local church is to preach the Word,...

There are few epitaphs I would rather have engraved on my tombstone than Paul’s words of commendation to Philemon, “the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 1:7). Oh, how I love Philemons and want to consistently be one! It has been my...

I have friends who are church planters and revitalizers. I can’t even describe how thankful I am for them. I praise God for calling these guys to establish new gospel communities and empower dead churches with gospel life. There is indeed a need for this kind of work....

Not that long ago, a friend of mine who is church planting told me that one of the ministers in the church planting network to which he belongs told him, “You have to position yourself around guys who are excelling and who are well connected in order to get ahead in...

Many years ago, I had an employer who was intent on trying to provoke me with a variety of sacrilegious jokes and statements. Having just come back from visiting her parents over one Easter weekend, she told me how she had visited their church that Easter Sunday. What...