Sublime

what does it mean for us to be cross-centered

As Western culture increases its speed in the race away from Christendom, as hostility to orthodox and evangelical Christianity increases and becomes increasingly legislated, we will eventually see a separation of the men from the boys. Which pastors will cave to worldly wisdom in fear for their own livelihoods and comfort, and which will fear God,

Do we love God and others enough to drop the pretense and just be ourselves? Only the gospel simultaneously provides the humility and the confidence the pastor needs to be his real self. The pastorate is no place for image-managing, for worrying about our own PR. In any event, if everybody likes you, something’s wrong, and if everybody hates you,

Our churches are occupied by sinners of all kinds. If the gospel is regularly being preached in your church, you will eventually become a magnet for the messiest kinds of sinners. The kind of people Jesus attracted. The kind of people church people often fear messing up their tidy church. Those are the kinds of people pastors must stay tuned in to

Liturgy is the way we learn to “put on” Christ (Col. 3:12–16).

Jesus was unmistakable: “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life.”