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
February 15, 2013
Growing in Joy all the Way Home
The introduction of Paul's letter to the Philippians begins not only with Thanksgiving but with a prayer for the believers in that beloved church. And within that prayer we are able to discern what St. Paul desired for the Philippians. He desired that Continue Reading
January 11, 2013
A New Years Letter to our Ministry Colleagues at RTS
My beloved in Christ, I wanted to write you directly. I wanted to share what it is a central and growing concern and aching plea to God: for revival in our time. I share this video of the first Faith for Living of the new year, recorded just a few weeks Continue Reading
September 7, 2012
GIVING IT UP FOR GOD: Preservation and Risk in the Kingdom of God (Luke 17:32)
There Is a rather popular phrase (no doubt of spurious origin, although that is a guess!) that has come into the American vernacular. That phrase is, "giving it up…" One may "give it up" for a comedian as he comes on the stage to give his monologue. One Continue Reading
March 18, 2012
Letter to a New Pastor in the Springtime
In the springtime when the golden, Welsh daffodils gather in glorious brigades—brave, young, mythical sentinels appearing out of the fertile earth, guarding a new countryside painted with a Creator's palette of happy color—and spring lambs are born; Continue Reading
January 10, 2012
The Secret Love Life of the Passionate Pastor: Paul’s Compelling Vision of the Pastoral Ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
Every pastor should have a passionate love life. I remember my old mentor, Dr. D. James Kennedy, telling me that the pastor must love three things more than all others: God, God’s Word, and God’s People. I believe his commendation of these simple and Continue Reading
December 13, 2011 Leave a Comment
When God Calls: Genesis 12:1-2
Have you ever had a call in the middle of the night, when your teenager is out? When the phone rings, you look at it for a few seconds before you pick it up, don't you? It seems that your heart stops beating in those suspended seconds. When God calls, it Continue Reading
October 30, 2011 Leave a Comment
A Singing Faith: The Reformation and Music (with free download of “I Glory in the Cross”)
The Christian faith is a singing faith. The Reformation recovered this because the Reformation recovered the Gospel of God’s grace revealed from the authority of the Word of God, which was recovered through a revival of the supremacy of preaching. The Continue Reading
August 3, 2011 1 Comment
The Gift and Responsibility of Studying the Original Languages in Seminary
My dearest pastoral students in Christ: As many of you are just beginning your seminary life at our graduate school here at Reformed Theological Seminary, this marks your initial entry into one of the most challenging classes in seminary: the study of Continue Reading
