The Pastor's Justification

The gospel well preached and applied will make ministry messy. Things will change. I often think of it like the beating of a rug—you’re gonna get a lot of dust in the air. There will be a thick cloud. The gospel stirs stuff up. But our God is not an author of confusion. So as things get messy, while the gospel is creating a safe space for sins, hur

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

But if we really understood what “to God alone be the glory” means, it might solve a lot of the sinfulness and dysfunction in the evangelical church.

The gospel is not the power to save because of our knowledge, our techniques, our systems, our innovations, our preaching style, our music style, our creativity, our conferences, our degrees, our viral marketing, our evaluations and efficiency, or our selves. None of those things are bad, but we make all of them idols so easily. They take so much e

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

This experience was a somber reminder to me of how much the Evil One hates us and wants us dead.

Here it is, a tremendous word of welcome, extended to Jew and Gentile alike, to come on in and worship, not in the holiest place of the human tabernacle, but into the Holy of Holies in heaven itself “by the blood of Jesus.” This, pastor, this! This is our theme, this is our song, this is our proclamation! This is our vision. This is what we welcome

Some seek to measure how they are growing creatively or in the subjective realm of “excellence.” When we make these our benchmarks, we start doing stupider and stupider things, as anyone who’s seen the promotional videos from the church that hosted a fart-themed sermon series can attest. One pastor sleeps on the roof of his church with his wife to

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