The Pastor's Justification

The vision God has set for the fulfillment of all time is that his glory will gleam in every nook and cranny of creation. There is a new heavens and a new earth coming, and because Christ is the radiance of God’s glory (Heb. 1:3), Christ will be the sun of this new creation (Rev. 21:23). He will stand upon the earth, and all flesh will see him and

The pastor who neglects personal holiness has forgotten who’s in charge. He believes he is an employee of his flock, so it is not holiness he is chiefly after but the appearance of success, of “having his act together.” When today’s pastors think of being an example to their flocks, they primarily think in terms of appearing well-off materially, ha

When we look at the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23, we notice that they consist of qualities, character traits. The Bible commands good behavior, but good behavior flows from good character (Matt. 7:17). Doing flows from being. Keeping this order straight is paramount if we want to understand the gospel well and deepen in our love

The content of our message can absolutely include what the message is not but if the shape of our message is what it is not (or what we hate or who we’re against, etc.), we triumphantly and enthusiastically shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again. It will be a frustrating—and ultimately failing—endeavor, attempting to maintain forward missi

Legalistic messages predicated on human wisdom are an insidious trick to keep people in bondage. We don’t mean them that way, but that is the effect. It doesn’t matter if they sound comforting, if we deliver them in blue jeans from stools with lattes in our hands and conclude them with a movie clip. They only prolong spiritual captivity.

There is one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and it is not the pastor or his church programs.

Preaching is exultational proclamation in a text that is taught. In other words, preaching is not simply reciting the Scriptures with feeling (although it can and should include such work); it also explains the Scriptures.

Grace is the premise that salvation is all of God through all of Christ for all of us. There’s no wiggle room for smuggling in even a bit of law or good advice.

Jonathan Leeman is helpful: A few verses before Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 18 about church discipline, he provides us with help for determining whether an individual is characteristically repentant: would the person be willing to cut off a hand or tear out an eye rather than repeat the sin (Matt. 18:8–9)? That is to say, is he or she willing to