How the Internet Is Changing How I Pastor
Email is a gift but also a curse
Meeting in-person demands a way of relating that allows for better pastoring. Sitting across the table from someone, I am forced to see the person as a human who has a story filled with hope, joy, and pain.
The Currency of Conviction in America: It’s victimization or nothing at all
There is no higher moral high ground in America.
Think of almost any issue: if you can find a victim, you can make a case. If not, you’ll likely end up the victimizer. So Christians can get quick traction in society by opposing sex trafficking. The oppression is obvious; the sin is scandalous. But we get little traction in opposing premarital sex and great pushback in opposing homosexual behavior.
Charleston (SC) City Council gives PCA Congregation 60 days to raise $1.6M to buy building
Mayor speaks eloquently about the church and how important it is to keep it in its current use
Redeemer Presbyterian Church at 43 Wentworth St., Charleston, SC must raise $1.6 million by Sept. 11, or the original deal to sell the historic property to Charleston businesswoman Nancy Snowden will be back in place. (Editor's Note: Redeemer is a PCA congregation; Senior Pastor is Craig Bailey
Catholic Loyalty Oath? How about a Presbyterian Loyalty Oath?
What would happen if loyalty oaths were really practiced?
An article like this could be written for absolutely ANY denomination or faith group, so as you read, just substitute your own connection and constitutional documents and approved curriculum. Recently a story from the online version of the American Conservative Magazine came to my attention. It deals with a letter that the Roman Catholic... Continue Reading
Why I’ve Stopped Singing in Your Church
Whatever happened to the previous 2,000 years of church music history?
To be candid, I know how to behave in your church. I’ve been raised in it my entire life. So I know how to fake it when necessary. Lately, it’s been very necessary when the music is playing and we’re supposed to be singing, you know, to God. Frankly, I’m tired of it. Maybe all the... Continue Reading
The Mystery of Children’s Church
Keeping our covenant youth in worship is not impossible if we think about the promises God has made to us
Your children will grow up not segregated from public worship and the means of grace. They’ll grow up a part of the community of the redeemed and watching baptisms. They’ll see the supper administered and they’ll ask, “When can I have it?” They’ll hear the Law and the Gospel and they’ll grow up knowing that... Continue Reading
Moore Than A Birthday
The Lord used the suffering of an empty cradle to teach me what it means to love two sons more than I ever would have known possible
Five years ago a baby was born but his name wasn’t Benjamin. It was Maxim. Five years ago a few weeks from now, another baby was born but his name wasn’t Timothy. It was Sergei. The two of them languished in a Russian orphanage for over a year until the Lord directed our steps to... Continue Reading
22 Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Church Discipline
Church discipline should be practiced, but with care and a biblical focus
They pursue discipline for any reason other than for the good of the individual, the good of the church, the good of the onlooking community, and the glory of Christ. Jonathan Leeman, “Appendix: Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Discipline,” Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus (9Marks; Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 139–40: Pastors sometimes make the... Continue Reading
Don’t Forsake the Old Hymns
The decline of hymnody is harmful to the theology and music quality in many of today’s churches
Someone told me recently that in his church, “If we can’t line-dance to it, we don’t sing it!” People do not like to stand and sing for 15 minutes or more at a stretch — period! If you don’t believe that statement, ask your people. They will tell you quickly that it’s too long to... Continue Reading
Family
The privilege of having children is also a lifetime stewardship
How thankful I am that Sunday after Sunday large numbers of our children are brought down to the front for the children’s sermon by their fathers—I hope that sight strikes visitors as the unusual and gospel-driven reality it is!