Links For The Church (5/24)

By / May 24

Be A Good Christian

The church has the potential to be known for many things. In this post, Christians are encouraged to honor Christ in all they do and pursue a godly reputation.

In Praise of Deep, Slow Study

Glenna Marshall writes about taking Bible study slowly and what benefits and blessings can be found therein.

Are You Looking High Enough?

We love connecting with others in our interests and likes. What about our connection with Jesus? Sylvia Shroeder encourages us to look higher than this earth for our deepest connections.

The World’s Hatred is not a Guarantee that You are Following Jesus

Keith Mathison writes on sins of the tongue and how the world’s hatred of us might be more about bad behavior or unhelpful speech than our obedience to Jesus.

If You Feel Weary in Prayer

“In the same way we depend on Christ for our salvation, we rely on his sustaining grace each and every day, to provide us the strength to persevere.”



Links For The Church (5/17)

By / May 17

Post the Strongest Soldiers at the Weakest Gate

Tim Challies writes about the battle against sin and encourages us to prepare for battle where we know we are tempted the most.

Come Home, Weary Wanderer

Do you feel as though you have wandered from the path of obedience? Daniel Seabaugh provides us with reminders on how to return to the way of life.

Leaders Who Know How To Follow

It can be difficult when you desire to lead, but the opportunity keeps being shut down. “Let us seek to be and to raise up leaders who know how to follow, who know how to wait, and how to defer to other wise believers.”

Mothering at the End of Me

Liz Wann shares the struggles that come through motherhood when circumstances are especially difficult. She points mothers to the truth that God can provide true rest.



Links For The Church (5/9)

By / May 10

How Not to Help a Sufferer

Gavin Ortlund provides four ways that we can hurt others more than we help them. When suffering occurs, we must to seek to love those in pain.

The Wait of All Waits

“Yet this longing—this deep groan from within—what if it’s meant to direct our worship and devotion toward the only One who deserves it?”

Take the Plunge

In this post, Kristin Pichura writes about going deep in friendships and knowing one another better. She uses helpful imagery to share how we might perceive growing together.

We Must Learn the Skills to Resist Sexual Temptation

Randy Alcorn contrasts two stories of men who walked through sexual temptation.



Links For The Church (5/3)

By / May 3

Aging Doesn’t Make You Faithful. Jesus Does.

“The mere passage of time doesn’t make you spiritually mature. Walking with Jesus as you age produces faithfulness in your life. Jesus makes you faithful.” – Glenna Marshall

Alistair Begg: ‘Welcome to Exile. It’s Going to Be OK.’

We are in a changing world and we do not belong to this place. Alistair Begg encourages us where to put our hope and how to remain steady in this world.

Where Lies Love’s Greatest Desire?

There are a plethora of ways to give. In this helpful article, we learn how to love through giving to one another.

If We Don’t Love, We Won’t Last

“Nothing is more morally beautiful, profoundly meaningful, and joy-producing in the human experience than love.”



Pastor, You Probably Need To Quit

By / Apr 30

Editor’s Note: The weekend can be an incredibly distressing time for many pastors to enter into. The desire to spend quality time with family while juggling the pressures of an unfinished sermon can be an exhausting reality. What many pastors need are not more tips on how to prepare better sermons as much as some encouragement to better prepare their hearts to preach the sermon they have. Join Ronnie Martin every Friday for The Preachers Corner, where he offers some words of comfort and stories of hope to help preachers enter the weekend encouraged by the gentle and lowly heart of Jesus. 

Not a great year for pastors. 

I don’t have stats, but it doesn’t take hard data for us to imagine the level at which pastoral job boards and search organizations have been bombarded this year with overwhelming inquiries from frazzled pastors looking to get out and get on to something new. If that’s you, let me begin by saying two things: 

It’s ok, friend. 

Jesus understands completely. 

So, here’s a word: Pastor, you probably need to quit. But before you quit your current ministry (and you might just need to do that, by the way), there might be some other things you should try quitting first. 

  1. Quit saying “I know the last year has been hard, BUT…”. It’s probably better to say, “The last year has been hard, period.” You are on the back end of a bitter year and it’s understandable that your desire is to stop the bleeding and move on to some healing. But don’t miss this unprecedented place that God has lovingly and sovereignly placed you in. I wonder what He’ll do? You should pause long enough to let yourself wonder that, too. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12). 
  1. Quit being so productive. I get it. There’s a mad scramble to get things back to the way things were. People have left, budgets have diminished, and the questions of what to do and where to go are nagging at you endlessly. But maybe instead of working so hard to get your church out of the valley it’s in, you should see if there’s something God wants you to notice that’s only visible when you’re in a valley. Don’t miss something glorious that God in His grace has slowed you down this last year to see. But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41,42).
  2. Quit being so hard on yourself. It’s a sad thing to have less compassion on yourself than Jesus does. When He looks at you, He sees His beloved. He sees His faithful undershepherd. He doesn’t expect you to accomplish what only He can accomplish. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust (Ps. 103:14). Allow yourself to be known and remembered by God in this complex moment of your pastoral life.
  3. Quit thinking you’re the only one. We can so easily slide into self-pity during seasons of exhaustion. We can forget that what we’re experiencing is not unusual for a pastor…or a Christian. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you (1 Pet. 4:12). It’s that irritable sense of surprise that can keep us disgruntled, and worse yet, disenchanted, which leads to cynicism. Pray that God would open you up to the plight of other pastors right now, because they may be thinking they’re the only ones.
  4. Quit looking at everybody else. Pastors are all over the map right now in how they’re processing Covid, getting Sunday gatherings back in place, and finding how to best serve their people as vaccination numbers increase and restrictions are being lifted. To begin comparing your pace and your methods with other churches in different contexts than yours is probably not a healthy direction for your mind. Who you are and where you are is unique, so look to God to do something uniquely merciful and compassionate in the context of your life, church, and community as the coming days unfold. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us (Ps. 123:2).

I could likely go on and on, but I wonder how your perspective might change if you took some time to reflect on these five points (so we’re clear, not those five points) and pray how God might help relieve you of some of the stress and anxiety they have brought upon you? It may be that God is using Covid to transition you to another ministry. It could also be that God is using Covid to tether you to the ministry you’re already in, but with much more depth of heart, renewal of mind, and restoration of soul.



Matt Capps on Transitioning Back To Pastoring

By / Apr 30

We asked Matt Capps, “Recently transitioning back into pastoral ministry, what do you feel prepared for this time around?”



Clamoring for Greatness: Confessions from Someone who Struggles with Insecurity and Pride

By / Apr 28

Luke 22:20–24: And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

We read in horror as Jesus predicts his betrayal. Immediately, we see the disciples questioning whether they would be “the one” to carry out this egregious act. However, it seems their concerns are short-lived. Luke explains that, shortly after that, these same disciples get into an argument with one another. Yes, they are arguing with one another during their last meal with Jesus. The meal was a place of fellowship and acceptance. The meal was an important time in that culture, but this was no ordinary meal. This was a meal during the time of the Passover and their last meal with Jesus. So, what were they arguing about?

They were arguing about which of them was the greatest. They are clamoring for cultural class status. “Which of us is the most important? Which of us is the highest class and most worthy? Which of us deserves the best seat and most honor?”

Jesus has repeatedly told them that he is going to die as the suffering servant and that they too are called to a life of service (Matt 20:26–28; Mark 8:31, 34–36). Jesus has just discussed the fact that one of them is a betrayer (Luke 22:22). This betrayer abides in their midst and will act against them to try and sabotage the ministry of Christ. Furthermore, the other disciples are going to let it all happen. They are ignorant of the proximity of the enemy. They are ignorant of the urgency of the moment. They are ignorant of the magnitude of the threat. At the same time, they are consumed with self. They are consumed with status. They are consumed with a desire for superiority.

As I read the irony of their dispute, I’m sickened. I’m sickened by their blindness. I’m sickened by their lack of compassion for Jesus. I’m sickened by their lack of sensitivity to the moment. I’m sickened that they are missing important conversation with Christ in order to indulge in petty conversation with one another.

Yet, if I’m honest, I’m most sickened because I see “me” in the text. I see that, all too often, my heart longs for the promotion of self. I, all too often, allow the voice of my ego to drown out the voice of my Savior.

In reflecting on this dysfunctional display by the disciples, I’m brought face to face with my own broken and misaligned desires. To help me better think about my heart and my desires, to seek to bring every “thought” (and motive) captive to better obey Jesus (2 Cor 10:5), I’ve created this list of questions. I pray that you too will find them helpful.

  • Do I first listen with an attentive heart ready to learn for personal application when I’m in God’s Word or is my mind on how I can use this text to teach others?
  • Do I focus my mind on the text of Scripture when I’m studying or is my mind on my next task that might bring about my next accomplishment?
  • Do I primarily mine the Bible for personal truth to be consumed like honey or do I mine the Bible for sermons, blogs, and tweetable material?
  • Do I ever call to check up on someone simply because of the status that person holds and the future opportunities it might bring me?
  • Do I try to make myself look better than I am in front of others?
  • Do I think I’m better than others?
  • Do I think my ministry is more or less significant than someone else’s based on numeric and worldly standards?
  • Do I listen to other pastors or denominational leaders and feel the pull of envy or pride? Does my heart hunger for prominence and power?
  • Do I find myself feeling proud when another leader stumbles and morally falls?
  • Are my ministry goals focused more on worldly success than shepherding well and following the voice of Jesus daily?

I wonder, how often do I miss a moment with Jesus because my attention is so fixed on myself? I wonder how much of my effort is spent trying to convince others I’m significant? I’m sickened by the fact that my heart often longs for significance over service.

But, I’m also grateful that God is a redeeming and purifying God. While I may struggle with desires for self, I’m thankful that in Christ, I do not have to give in to those desires. I’m thankful that he is renewing me and maturing me. By the power of the Spirit of Christ in my life, I can resist these desires for prominence and choose to walk in humility (1 Cor 10:13; Gal 5:16). So, this list of questions is a check-up for me. It’s a way for me to examine my life and seek to submit my life more fully to the Lord. It is a way for me to fight in this life (1 Tim 6:11-12) while I await the full redemption my Savior will bring at the end of the age when he removes all insecurity and pride from me.



Links For The Church (4/26)

By / Apr 26

Sin Wants You to Itself

“The wedge sin drives between us and the local church usually entail two aspects, resentment and shame.”

How Hyperbole Dulls Our Spiritual Discernment

Thomas Schreiner provides a challenging word on avoiding hyperbole and being careful with our rhetoric.

Don’t Underestimate The Value of Rest

In this article, Daniel Seabaugh shares three ways to practice rest. He also provides the biblical reasoning for needing rest and why it is good for us.

Praying for the Weary Pastor

Lisa LaGeorge writes a prayer for pastors who are beaten down and tired, and she provides encouragement through this prayer as well.



Guarding Your Heart in the Pulpit

By / Apr 23

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned his followers not to practice spiritual devotion with ulterior motives (Matthew 6:1-18). Do not give to the needy to be celebrated for your generosity. Do not pray to be heard by men. Do not fast so people will consider you spiritual. How do you avoid practicing Godward acts with man-centered motives? Jesus teaches that acts of devotion should be done in private, before God, not man.

Preachers also struggle with the temptation to make their charge from God a performance before men. But we cannot overcome this temptation by moving the pulpit to our secret closets. Preaching is a public act of spiritual devotion. We may pray that God would hide us behind the cross as we preach. But there is no place to hide in the pulpit.

Let’s face it. The pulpit is a dangerous place. It can fill the preacher with pride that leads to his downfall. It can fill the preacher with discouragement that causes him to give up. It can fill the preacher with fear that prostitutes his divine message for human approval.

The old story is told about the young preacher who strutted to the pulpit, expecting to wow the congregation. He humbly walked out of the pulpit after the sermon bombed. “What happened?” he asked a senior minister. The wise, seasoned preacher counseled, “Son, if you would have gone up to the pulpit the way you came down, you would have been able to come down the way you went up.”

How can you guard your heart in the pulpit? Consider these given recommendations…

Come to the pulpit prayed up

Sermon preparation is an exercise in believing prayer. We should thank God for the privilege of speaking for him. We should pray for illumination of the revealed scriptures. We should ask God to yield the wisdom of the writers we consult to us. We should confess our sins to God when the text convicts us. We should pray for help to personally obey teachings of God’s word. We should pray the Lord would enable us to speak faithfully and clearly. We should pray for a spiritual burden for those who will hear the message. We should pray that Christ would be exalted as the word is explained. We should even pray as we preach! Coming to the pulpit prayed up will help guard your heart as you preach.

Come to the pulpit fully prepared

Sermon preparation is a humbling process. Studying the text can be like Jacob wrestling with the angel. You leave the study with a limp! Going from text to sermon is hard work. Preparing the message for Sunday will soften the heart, if done prayerfully. The finished product may cause some preachers to be lifted up. But when you know it was the Lord that helped you prepare the message, you tend to also look to the Lord to help you present the message. This is why you should do your own homework, rather than cheating off another preacher’s work. Take advantage of the sanctifying effects of sermon preparation. Then Ask the God who has guided the preparation of the message in the study to govern the presentation of the message in the pulpit.

Come to the pulpit as an act of worship

It is serious error to associate worship with music. The entire service is worship. The gathered congregation is to worship God during scripture readings, corporate prayer, and the observance of the ordinances. Listening to and responding to the preached word of God is arguably the highest act of worship. The congregation is to worship as the preacher preaches. And the preacher is to worship as he preaches to the congregation. We preach to people. But, ultimately, what is for people is not about people. God is the subject and object of Christian worship. It is for him and about him. So we should preach to an audience of one. We should remember that bottom-line of worship is that God is pleased. Paul instructs, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Come to the pulpit with pastoral concern

Pastor-Teachers are not life coaches, motivational speakers, or self-help gurus. We are shepherds who feed the flock of God with knowledge and understanding. Matthew reports, “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:35-36). Jesus was moved with compassion with he saw the spiritual needs of the people. We should come to the pulpit with the same sense of pastoral concern. Don’t worry about how big the room is. Don’t worry about how many people are in the room. Don’t worry about what the people in the room can do for or to you. Be a shepherd the assembled flock of sheep that leads them to the green pastures of the word of God.

Come to the pulpit with an eye on eternity.

I agree with Charles Spurgeon, who said, “Life and death and eternity and worlds unknown may hang on the preaching and hearing of one sermon.” As a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you should come to the pulpit with great expectations. The word of God works. But it does not work according to our schedule. This is why Paul charged Timothy to preach the word with “complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). So don’t panic if nothing seems to happen as you preach. Just keep preaching. The harvest is at the end of the age, not the end of the sermon. Guard your heart by looking past what the members when say to you after service and look to what Lord will say when you stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Editor’s Note: This originally published at HBCharlesJr.com



How to Respond to National Tragedies

By / Apr 21

I remember where I was on 9/11. I can still see the room, the people, the old-school television, hear people gasping in shock, and feel the emotions coursing through my body. 

Since then, the bad news hasn’t stopped. Just in the past year, we’ve beheld events of senseless murders, riots, and a Capitol insurgence. 

With media that’s bent toward sharing bad news, it’s no surprise that people grow weary and overwhelmed — swinging from outraged activism to overt avoidance. And sometimes, we have no clue how to respond in healthy ways. 

Sadly, devastating news is nothing new.

Nehemiah asks some travelers about the exiles in Jerusalem, and “they said to [him], ‘The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire'” (Nehemiah 1:3).

In the Old Testament, Israel was no stranger to bad news — from slavery to Jerusalem’s destruction to the exile from the promised land. Here in Nehemiah, we glimpse, like a fly on the wall, how a single Israelite processes a tragedy. 

Nehemiah’s six-fold response coaches us in how to respond to devastating national news.  

Step 1 – Lament

“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days…” – Nehemiah 1:4

Compassion fatigue catches up to all of us when negative news inundates us. We might conclude that becoming a digital hermit who disconnects from all information is a viable option. 

However, I wonder how many of us are exhausted from the onslaught of bad news because we never fully lament.

Expressing grief is the only legitimate way to digest some tragedies. 

Step 2 – Fast and Pray

“… and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” – Nehemiah 1:4

Fasting denies certain comforts to remind us of our dependence on God. 

It’s helpful for us to pair fasting with lamenting because we often cope with pain through consumerism in our already overstuffed world.

The hunger pangs of fasting remind us that there’s a time to mourn and weep (Ecclesiastes 3:4). We need this reminder because we’d rather dance our days away with ever-increasing happiness. However, some days require grieving, and fasting can help us respond appropriately.

Step 3 – Confess Corporate and Personal Sin

“Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.” – Nehemiah 1:6

Nehemiah bravely does what we’re often scared to do. He asks, “What part have we as a people and I contributed to this disaster?” 

When discussing injustice, we can place the blame entirely on society or individuals. Nehemiah teaches us it can be both.

We all must learn to take responsibility for what’s ours to carry, knowing that God’s perfect love casts away any fear of eternal punishment (1 John 4:17-18).

While every bit of news doesn’t connect to us personally, we are all interconnected as citizens. Are we brave enough to ask the Spirit of God to search us as a nation and individuals to see if there’s “any grievous way” in us (Psalm 139:23-24)?

Step 4 – Pray God’s Promises Back to Him

“Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses…” – Nehemiah 1:8

In remembering who God is, we can pray with boldness, asking God to act.

And God’s past faithfulness grants us hope that He will be faithful both now and in the future. 

When we don’t know what to pray, let’s pray God’s Promises.

Step 5 – Pray for Favor To Act

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant… and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” – Nehemiah 1:11

Nehemiah doesn’t stop with prayer. He asks God for the favor to do something and for God to bless his efforts. 

Negative national news may cause us to feel powerless. However, I bet we’d be surprised by the number of opportunities the Holy Spirit would open if we only asked (Matthew 7:7-11).

Step 6 – Do What You Can

“Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.'” – Nehemiah 2:4-5

God positioned Nehemiah to use Him. God sovereignly places you where you are too. 

Let’s faithfully take the next step available to us and trust God along the way (Galatians 6:10). 

Good News People Living in a Bad News World.

It’s natural for the brokenness of our world to overwhelm us. However, let’s not forget that we’re good news people living in a bad-news world.  

Nehemiah shows us a way to navigate tragedies, yet Jesus ultimately liberates us through the tragedy of His death. 

No matter what news you hear today, I’d encourage you to remember “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:2-3).