• How can we have an effective pastorate? • How can our ministries, our preaching, support church health? • How can we be faithful in our ministries? There is a parable for young preachers in Walt Disney's Dumbo, the little circus elephant that Continue Reading
April 4, 2013
A Call To Repent And Believe In Jesus Christ
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3.19) Not too long ago I saw a bumper sticker that announced, “Jesus is the Answer.” The driver (who was speeding in fact) was Continue Reading
March 22, 2013 2 Comments
Thoughts on Faith from a Garden in March and Pastoral Ministry
For a gardener, like myself, March is an in-between month. The dried, gray-brown stalks on the oak leaf hydrangea, left over from last autumn, stand at attention, like a proud, old war veteran in his outdated, ill-fitting military uniform. And like a Continue Reading
February 16, 2013
Why This Presbyterian is Praying for the Next Pope
The picture on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal, page A13, has a picture of lightning flashing over St. Peter's Basilica from last Monday when Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would step down. The picture is worth 1000 words, or at least Continue Reading
January 24, 2013
Are You Called to be a Military Chaplain?
Frequently I am asked to share my experience of the call to the chaplain ministry. In my case, I have served and continue to serve as a US Army Reserve chaplain, not an active duty chaplain. Yet the call to give one's life to the work of the Lord in this Continue Reading
January 20, 2013
Remembering Presidential Inaugural Prayers: Part 1
The inauguration of the new president is a remarkable time. The Constitution of the United States calls for the inaugural vows to be taken by the new president on January 20. It is customary, extending back to George Washington, to call upon a clergyman Continue Reading
January 14, 2013
A Promise to the Persecuted Church Today
Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a new student at RTS who has sacrificed much to come to this seminary to prepare for a life of service to the Church back in his persecuted nation. It took some creative and Providential work to get that young man Continue Reading
January 6, 2013
The Shadow of a Godly Pastor: Oh How We Need An Anointed Ministry Today!
Our people need to sit beneath the shadow of a godly pastor. "So that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them" (Acts 5.15 ESV). I was preaching at Continue Reading
Being a Pastor and Speaking Out in Today’s Culture
A pastor I know recently told me that he was criticized for being “too political.” He has heard such an indictment all his ministry, he said. Today he leads a major ministry in America and battles daily for the rights of pastors to speak so that Continue Reading