Geoff Chang serves as Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary. In his latest book, Spurgeon the Pastor: Recovering a Biblical and Theological Vision for Ministry, Chang focuses on an often-overlooked aspect of Spurgeon’s life, his pastoral ecclesiology. He addresses topics such as church gatherings, baptism and the […]
I have slept better in the last seven years as a non-pastor than I did the years previous. And as the three other recently voted-in elders and I took our pastoral oaths, I felt the heaviness settle back onto my shoulders. Not in an ominous or otherwise negative way; not at all. But simply as a sobering reminder of the noble task (1 Tim. 3:1).
Just as a Leonardo worked on the Mona Lisa (and, in fact, many of his other paintings—he was a meticulous procrastinator and denier of deadlines), so too is God working on us all our lives.
When thou bendest thy knee in prayer to God, limit not thy petition to the narrow circle of thine own life, tried though it be, but send out thy longing prayers for the church’s prosperity, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” and thine own soul shall be refreshed.