Shepherding Like a Prophet, Priest, and King
This is a guest post by, my friend and colleague, Jon Nielson, the High School Pastor at College Church. He wrote “Why Youth Stay in Church When They Grow Up,” a top ten most read article at The Gospel Coalition Blog in 2011. Follow his daily devotionals at his blog, Something More Sure. 1. First [...]
This is a guest post by Brandon Levering. Brandon is a recent graduate of the Pastoral Residency Program at College Church (check out the program’s intro video and info packet). He now serves as Lead Pastor at Westgate Church in the suburbs of Boston. Learn more lessons on ministry from Brandon at his blog and on [...]
This is a guest post by my friend, Chris Castaldo, who Justin Taylor called, “one of evangelicalism’s most insightful dialogue partners with Roman Catholicism.” Chris is the author of Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic and contributed the evangelical view in Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism. Hear more from Chris [...]
This is the third of three posts leading up to the 2012 Together for the Gospel Conference. Even if you’re not going, I hope you find this entertaining! There are fans. Then there are fanboys. Which one are you? Share
This is the first of three posts leading up to the 2012 Together for the Gospel Conference. Even if you aren’t going, if you answer these questions for yourself, you will be challenged to rely on God’s grace all the more in your ministry. We who preach the gospel so often underestimate its power. The [...]
Brothers, we are all idolaters. If Calvin was right when he said that our hearts are idol factories, and he was, then pastors are no exception. Which insufficient form of righteousness are you guilty of seeking from ministry? Or – if you are like me – which one are you not guilty of seeking? 1. [...]
There are a million things you should know as you prepare to go into ministry. Here are seven that have been on my mind this week. 1. Unlike your professors, your congregation will not care what commentators you’ve read and whether or not you agree with them. Ever. 2. Some of the people you will [...]
Did you know that you can make anything gospel-centered just by adding the word “gospel” in front of it? There is contextualization. But then there’s gospel contextualization. There is church growth. But then there’s gospel growth. There are the arts. But then there are gospel arts. Gospel centrality has morphed from a movement to a culture. [...]
My philosophy of ministry is strongly geared toward Seeker sensitivity. I hope that by the time you finish this article yours will be, too. But it’s not the seeker sensitivity you’re used to hearing about. In fact, it’s probably the exact opposite. In John 4:23, Jesus says this to the woman at the well, “But [...]
It is always inspiring to hear stories of a life lived well for God’s glory and kingdom. I had the privilege to attend John Stott’s memorial service last week. His was very much one of those lives. Tim Keller gave the sermon for the service from Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to [...]
Caricatures of youth pastors are comical, even if they are unfair. Ignatius tops the list, but I bet you could imagine your own. The funny thing is, from rock stars to game experts, there are few youth pastor stereotypes that include pastoral responsibilities. “I think youth ministry perpetuates my immaturity,” one youth pastor friend told [...]
Man-centered worship happens in the best of churches. It happens in yours and mine, even though we don’t intend it. It’s a manifestation of the sin that so easily entangles us. True worship is a response to what God has done for us in Christ, by his Spirit. It is a demonstration of thanksgiving to [...]
Brandon Levering has a great article at The Gospel Coalition entitled, “5 Ways Established Churches Should Think Like Plants.” If you’re looking for ways to reinvigorate the gospel impact of the church, you would do well to shift into the five church plant mentalities Brandon lists: 1. Church plants clearly define their mission and keep it [...]
It’s not easy to put your philosophy of ministry into practice. Every seminary student cites Ephesians chapter 4 in their philosophy of ministry papers. Every book written on pastoral ministry exegetes this passage. And for good reason. It lays out the key ministry principle that the body of Christ works together to grow and mature in [...]
This is another guest post at Chris Castaldo’s blog. Here’s the teaser: Right now we have an opportunity to make headway in the abortion debate, due to the recent article at the New York Times, “The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy.”This article recounts the story of Jenny, who underwent the procedure of pregnancy reduction, a chilling euphemism for aborting [...]
Over the next week, I’m guest blogging for my friend, Chris Castaldo. Chris is the author of Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic (Zondervan, 2009), and he is the Director for the Ministry of Gospel Renewal at Wheaton College. His role at Wheaton is to train evangelicals to reach the millions of what he [...]
My partner in crime, Jon Nielson, just finished a three-part series on youth ministry at The Gospel Coalition Blog. Jon draws a balance between two extreme approaches to youth ministry: 1) the approach that isolates the youth ministry from the rest of the church, and 2) the approach that eliminates youth ministry in order to [...]
I had the privilege to preach in the main service at my church last Sunday. I have done several evening services, but this was my first time in front of everyone. Multiple services are exhausting! My sermon was on Paul’s Letter to Philemon, and was entitled, “The Unique Characteristic of Christian Forgiveness.” It’s on the [...]
Pastoral ministry is the most difficult job in the world. I don’t think that’s an overstatement. One contributing factor to this is the complexity of the job of a pastor. There are lots of bad ways to deal with the complexity of pastoral ministry. You could put in more hours. You could cut down on [...]
If you’re new to Pastoralized, here’s the seven most popular posts of the year, in order: 1. A Not-Famous Pastor’s Take on the Evangelical Hollywood 2. Pastoral Ministry and Strengths-Based Leadership 3. 7 Prayer Lists You Already Have 4. Get Rid of Inefficient Sermon Prep with Preaching Templates, Part 1 5. 10 Questions You Better Be Ready to Answer at [...]
There are many things that pastors must do to improve their ability to shepherd their flock. Among them are to make progress in preaching and develop as leaders. But these are secondary. Spurgeon reminds us that the most important place for pastors to grow – if indeed they desire to be a weapon in God’s [...]
“Can you be a Christian even if you sleep with someone you are not married to?” That was the question a DJ posed over the radio waves as my wife, kids, and I drove back from visiting family in Columbus, OH. I immediately braced myself for some high quality idiocy. But the first caller surprised [...]
D.A. Carson is like Mike Tyson from the Nintendo game Mike Tyson’s Punch Out. At least, when it comes to convicting pastors of how much sanctification we need. For those of you who never played the original Nintendo (dating myself, I know), Tyson was the only opponent in the game who could knock you down with one punch, [...]
Welcome to Eric McKiddie's blog about doing the work of a pastor with theological rigor and practical efficiency. Find out more.
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