The Idol of City Ministry
My fear is that for many, city ministry has become an idol, the thing that will give them value, significance, and security.
To summarize, I believe that prioritizing urban ministry can lead to making it into an idol. What is good turns into what is necessary to feel complete and secure. This hurts people, both inside and outside of cities, and it diminishes the very real ministry work being done in rural and suburban areas. It also... Continue Reading
Keep Teenagers Weird
Study: kids who enjoyed popularity and social ease in their early teens were significantly more troubled and at risk when they reached early adulthood than their less admired peers.
Perhaps our evangelical student ministries can reach more deeply in the souls of students by promising more than the right answers with the right people. Perhaps the formation of teens in our churches should start out by reassuring them that God made everybody weird and that is OK. Perhaps rather than promising a great summer... Continue Reading
The PCA Foundation Reaches A Major Milestone
The PCA Foundation is the donor-driven foundation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
The PCA Foundation is the donor-driven foundation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). The mission of the PCA Foundation is to provide charitable financial services to Christians, enabling them to carry out their stewardship responsibilities and charitable desires to financially support the Kingdom of Jesus Christ through the Presbyterian Church in America and other Christian ministries.... Continue Reading
Nicaragua Heeds Evangelicals (Not Catholics) on Missionary Restrictions
One month ago, Nicaragua declared that Protestant and Catholic missionaries weren’t allowed to enter the Central American nation unless they were first vetted by officials
“The restrictions were announced August 12 as an attempt to catch money laundering and other criminal operations that, according to Nicaraguan officials, are sometimes hidden under the guise of religious organizations.” One month ago, Nicaragua declared that Protestant and Catholic missionaries weren’t allowed to enter the Central American nation unless they were first vetted... Continue Reading
Consent Is Everything
When someone is abused and is denied basic protection and disciplinary recourse by her local ecclesiastical authorities, this itself is abuse and a matter for discipline.
Pastors, elders, seminary professors, if you do not take every opportunity to affirm the centrality of consent in a Christian sexual ethic, then you fail us in your duty to defend the innocent and avenge the powerless, who far too often find themselves bullied into silence and self doubt, who are told they must return... Continue Reading
Dealing With Someone Else’s Sin
Whether I’m preaching about it, counseling through it, praying over it, it seems much of my energies are directed toward this tireless enemy
“Many times we go to others to discuss their sin, we go with a vindictive heart rather than a broken one. We go with the end goal of making someone feel really bad rather than the goal of restoration. And to whatever extent that’s the case, we are not participating in God’s gracious plan for... Continue Reading
Older, Restful, and Reforming
We recently saw the 10-year anniversary of Collin Hansen‘s landmark Christianity Today article “Young, Restless, Reformed," which became a book with the same title
“I also think, ten years later, the younger members of our tribe seem less restless than we did when we started. For all the flack the millennials take in the wider culture, the millennials I meet in the gospel-centered tribe seem more mature, more settled.” I never set out to “join a movement.” I... Continue Reading
10 Questions To Ask a Pastoral Search Committee
I have learned several important questions a pastoral candidate should ask
“Ask them about church finances and seek documentation. A financial crisis can devastate your ministry, yet it is one of those topics we tend not to think about when considering a pastoral position. Theology? We think of that. Methodology? Check. What happened to the last pastor? Got that. Finances don’t often rank as a vital... Continue Reading
Pastoral Advice for Minority Pastors Shepherding White Christians in Predominately Minority Contexts
Ethnic minority pastors should intentionally pursue ways to live out the one new man in Christ
“This complicated history of minority and white relations in the U.S. could make it awkward for those within the white majority when they humbly submit to minority leadership in sacred spaces, voluntarily sacrifice their majority status, and serve in sacred spaces under minority leadership in minority contexts. Their willingness to do so is a beautiful,... Continue Reading
Crossway Statement on the ESV Bible Text
Crossway apologizes for saying recently that “the text of the ESV Bible will remain unchanged in all future editions printed and published by Crossway.”
We have become convinced that this decision was a mistake. We apologize for this and for any concern this has caused for readers of the ESV, and we want to explain what we now believe to be the way forward. Our desire, above all, is to do what is right before the Lord. In... Continue Reading
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