If we’re honest, we can often demand grace from them but extend little to them. With regular access to podcasts and social media, it’s tempting to compare our pastors unfavorably with those we admire from afar. We can subconsciously expect them to supersede the qualifications defined in Scripture (1 Tim. 3:1–7, Titus 1:5–9)—and judge them when they don’t.
Considering the theological weight that it carries in the New Testament, one might expect a clear prophecy concerning the Messiah’s resurrection on the third day in the Old Testament. But, was the resurrection of Christ really “according to the Scriptures” as the Apostle Paul claimed? (1 Cor 15:4 cf. Lk 24:45–46).
I suspect that God has answered many of our prayers, but we’ve told very few people about it—and we’ve missed an opportunity to glorify Him. Our churches will pray more if their faith is increased by hearing about God’s response to us.
In our age of constant news, social media, and the world’s attentiveness to pastors who have stumbled, it is easy to forget all that pastors do for the church. Sure, we have all heard of a pastor who has not acted admirably, but they are the exception, not the rule. Most of the pastors I know garner my trust and respect and deserve my prayers and support. That, and given my own years serving churches, makes me admire pastors. You should too. Here is why.
The fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose is very wonderful, and every Christian needs to know it. But it may seem a long way from the painful realities that a grieving person is facing now. Heaven may be wonderful for the person who has died, but it may seem very distant from the one who grieves their loss, especially if that loss was sudden and unexpected. The immediate question for the one who grieves is, “How am I going to get through today?”
How good of God to graciously ordain that I would be in the Psalms right now as part of my normal Bible reading routine. After more than a month of sheltering-at-home amid the COVID-19 crisis, there has been no better place to be. Recently the twin pairing of Psalm 42-43...
I’ve been a member of the same church for 17 years, and in that time, God has given me the privilege of serving him in many volunteer settings – from the worship team on a platform to the puppet show on a Sunday School classroom floor, to ladies’ LIFE groups...
“Do your best,” the apostle Paul writes to protégé Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God has one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Paul is promoting a kind of eager, committed persistence for the...
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