Perhaps this is what pastoral ministry is supposed to look like? Maybe applying the gospel to those in the holes they keep falling into is the mission. Or part of it, anyway. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23), so we should expect that every day feels like death

Person after person will not seek refuge in the gospel. It seems too strange. They may flee their present idols, but only for new ones. Every person is on his own roller coaster of personal tragedies and fleeting moments of okay-ness. There is a mission to be on, but every week is spent in the triage tent. One year passes, two years pass, three

This is the same philosophy I remember from high school evangelistic strategy, where we were urged to take the gospel to the quarterback of the football team, the captain of the cheerleading squad, and the student body president. These were the “key kids.” The key kids need Jesus very much, of course. But we forgot then and we forget now that Jesus

The scale is enormous, the stakes are high. Instead of spiritually dressing up the idols we know people want, let’s give them what they need—God as all in all, the filling of the Spirit, the exaltation of the risen Lord. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). That should be the

Your mission field and ministry circuit is not your territory to conquer, but your assigned place for prayer, sacrifice, and gospel proclamation. Not for your fame, but for God’s.

Wife and family first; church second. This means that pastors are first charged with pastoring their family. Indeed, one cannot even be allowed to pastor a church if he cannot or will not pastor his family.

Still, many seem pathologically devoted to anything warm and fuzzy that is not the gospel. “If I just stay positive, things will be okay.” Well, no, they won’t. And I’ve told you that a billion times. “If I just pray more, my life wouldn’t be so difficult.” Are we reading the same Bible? “Just keep hoping; that’s all we’ve got.” That doesn’t even

One thing we must remember is that difficulty doesn’t indicate a lack of calling. I can’t think of any notion more antithetical to the biblical template for gospel ministry. The idea that God’s calling is sure only when a minister is comfortable, prosperous, and happy is not a scriptural one. So pastor, don’t confuse a difficult season in your

I remind myself and my church often that a message of grace may attract people, but a culture of grace will keep them. They want to know—we want to know, the Lord wants to know—that what is being preached has sunk down through the hardness of our skulls and entered the bloodstream.