March 11, 2013 Dearly Beloved in the Lord: I greet you in the name of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. I write you to also make an announcement that must come on the heels of a series of providences that both surprised me and have tried me—body and Continue Reading
March 12, 2013
Difficult but Necessary: Relinquishing Leadership in Winter to Renew in Another Season of Ministry
March 5, 2013
Recalling Glory to Recover Obedience
Holy remembrance of God's grace and sovereign dealings with us yesterday, works grateful obedience to His Law today. Thus, the Lord God taught Israel to recall His glory in the wilderness, so to follow Him gratefully in the Promised Land. To meditate Continue Reading
October 4, 2012
Delighting in the Law?
"I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart" (Psalms 40:8 ESV). I read the passage this morning and then began to move from Psalms to the Old Testament reading, and then to the New Testament. I had other early morning planning items Continue Reading
September 3, 2012
A Prayer for the Unity of the Tribes of the Church
they said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?" (Judges 21:3 ESV) Oh Father, as the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 20 and 21, turned against Thee and Thy People and the blood Continue Reading
August 11, 2012
On the Matter of Preaching from Difficult Texts: A Letter to our Students (with attention to 2 Corinthians 5:21)
My Dearest Students in the Pastoral Ministry: I write to you about a matter which will occupy your life as much as any other—the matter of preaching from a difficult passage. Indeed, after receiving a good question from a seasoned pastor, I Continue Reading
April 9, 2012 1 Comment
I Will Not Let Go of Easter
I will not let go of Easter. More properly, I affirm that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not something that I will celebrate and remember on one day of the year. In the Reformed faith, that is in the Protestant faith of Martin Luther and John Calvin Continue Reading
March 29, 2012
New Song for Easter: Free for Download—”I Glory in the Cross”
As the Lenten season now gives way to Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday, our hearts are again lifted to the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ. That which was a sign of shame became the symbol of salvation. That which was an instrument of Continue Reading
March 21, 2012
On the Occassion of the Baptism of Infants: A Letter to Pastors-to-Be
auntjojo /Free PhotosMy dearest students in the pastoral ministry and colleagues in the Gospel of His grace: There is no greater joy in the Christian ministry then holding an infant in your arms, slipping your hand into the baptismal font, scooping up Continue Reading
