The apostle Peter tells the elders of the churches in Asia Minor, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet 5:2). The task of the pastor-elder, the very nature of pastoring, should be understood as shepherding the church. This should change how ... Read More »

Two of my favorite classes in my M.Div. were the rhetoric courses taught by Dr. Barry McCarty—in fact, this post is a re-working of a section of a paper I turned in for his class. For me, they were a fun exploration of the English language and communication.... Read More »

Preaching is an oral event; the preacher communicates through the use of words. Although not using the term “preaching” in the formalized definition we give it now, this is Paul’s argument in Romans 10:14, “And how are they to hear without someone prea... Read More »

Reformer John Calvin wrote in his Institutes that “the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.”[1]John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1, trans. Henry Beveridge (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1843), 129. Unfo... Read More »

Of course, any discussion in 2019 that discusses preaching God’s glory is essentially required to mention John Piper. Piper argues in The Supremacy of God in Preaching that “God is the goal of preaching.”[1]John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, ... Read More »

John Albert Broadus (1827–1895) is, as my preaching professor Dr. Matthew McKellar has said, the granddaddy of text-driven preaching. He had experience as a Greek and Latin tutor as well as a pastor. He also had pastoral experience as a chaplain, albeit sadl... Read More »

A friend of mine told me recently something to the effect of, “Believers think that just because we do Christmas that it somehow means we’ve celebrated it.” Too many times December 26th rolls around, and we find ourselves suddenly confronted with the fac... Read More »

Perhaps you’ve noticed the trend: church members tweeting out a profound, biblically faithful, theologically deep, and well-crafted sentence that was originally spoken by his or her pastor in his sermon that Sunday morning. No doubt that the profundity, bibl... Read More »

Some Christian clichés are passed around in our circle of churches because they sound nice. They may not always be theologically air-tight. Take this one, for instance: When God closes a door, He opens a window. Climbing through windows is becoming of a burgl... Read More »