Sustaining Strength for the Complexity of Pastoral Ministry

By / Jun 11

In 2 Timothy, Paul gives Timothy more than 30 imperatives to guide his ministry to the church at Ephesus—highlighting just how comprehensive the work of pastoral ministry truly is. An overview of some of these imperatives demonstrates this:

  • Share in suffering for the gospel (1:8; 2:3; 2:5)
  • Guard the good deposit entrusted to you (1:14)
  • Entrust what you’ve heard to faithful men (2:2)
  • Think over what I say (2:7)
  • Remind them of these things (2:14)
  • Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved (2:15)
  • Avoid irreverent babble (2:16)
  • Depart from iniquity (2:19)
  • Flee youthful passions (2:22)
  • Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2:22)
  • Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies (2:23)
  • Continue in what you have learned (3:14)
  • Preach the word (4:2)
  • Be ready in season and out of season (4:2)
  • Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching (4:2)
  • Be sober-minded (4:5)
  • Endure suffering (4:5)
  • Do the work of an evangelist (4:5)
  • Fulfill your ministry (4:5)

Faithful oversight of the church—seeking to model these imperatives—is hard, good, and all-encompassing work. Paul’s commands cover the task (guard, think, entrust, preach, evangelize), promote endurance (share in suffering, be ready in season and out of season, continue in what you have learned, fulfill your ministry), instruct discipleship (remind, reprove, rebuke, exhort), and requires integrity (present yourself approved, flee youthful lusts, pursue righteousness, be sober-minded, avoid irreverent babble, and have nothing to do with foolish controversies).

Paul’s heavy list of imperatives presents a high calling for pastors. How should a pastor “fan into flame the gift” (2 Tim 1:6) so that he can do what it takes to fulfill this ministry and to conclude at the end that—“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7)?

Empowered by Grace

It’s interesting to note that all the imperatives carry an active sense to them, except one: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1). This is the only passive imperative in the entire letter.

Pastors can only meet Paul’s commands by being strengthened by grace through Jesus Christ.

Paul describes the grace in detail:

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. 1:8–10)

What will keep pastors from being ashamed of the gospel during a hard season? What will keep them from deserting Paul like Demas who was “in love with this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10)? It will not come from merely affirming that death has been abolished and that life and immortality have been brought to light—but they must be strengthened by such grace, deriving strength, faith, and conviction to carry out the work of ministry. This is a supernatural work of God through the Spirit. It’s experienced—not just affirmed—and the experience comes from outside as we meditate on the reality of grace—“remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8).

Paul concludes the letter with his testimony of God doing this in his ministry:

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Tim 4:16–18)



Do I Have to Give to My Local Church?

By / Jun 9

While many Christians give to their local church, many only give directly to specific people and causes in the name of careful stewardship. Their reasoning goes something like this: “If I give to my church, while some of it goes to its various ministries, much of it funds staff salaries, building overhead, fellowship events, and VBS crafts. To be sure, those are good things, but I want my financial generosity to help starving children, trafficked women, villages without clean water, and missionaries. It’s not that my church isn’t important. I just think my money can make a bigger difference if I give it elsewhere.”

As long as believers give generously to needy people and worthy causes, do they really need to give to their local church?

Who Funds the Church?

Of all the justifications I’ve heard for not giving to the local church, the “maximum impact” argument is the strongest I’ve come across. After all, sheltering children in Uganda does seem more urgent than helping fund your church’s weekend parenting conference.

And yet, as intuitive as this line of reasoning might seem, it’s problematic to make perceived impact the sole determinative metric for how we give.

While there are a variety of reasons believers ought to give to their local church, the NT repeatedly offers one that renders the “impact only” giving strategy unbiblical despite being well-intended.

Consider for a moment: How has God designed the church to be supported financially? Who funds its ministries and ministers?

Students of church history know that in the past, the state served as the church’s primary benefactor. Indeed, the title ‘Magisterial Reformer’ refers to Protestants like Luther and Calvin who “worked for the reconstruction of Christendom in alliance with the secular magistrates of Europe”[1]

While well-meaning Christians continue to debate about church-state relations, it’s important to recognize that the Scriptures themselves never place the responsibility of bankrolling the church at the feet of Caesar. Instead, they call the church’s members—the believers who directly benefit from its ministers and ministries—to provide the needed resources.

Not Charity, but Fairness

For Paul, giving isn’t merely a call to dig deep and show compassion. It’s often presented as an issue of fairness.

For example, while he personally forgoes financial support, he exhorts the Corinthians to provide materially for those who sow among them spiritually: “The plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?” (1 Cor. 9:10–12).

Similarly, in Galatians 6:6, Paul writes, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” Finally, Paul tells Timothy: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.” (1 Tim. 5:17–18).

For Thomas Schreiner, Paul’s logic is straightforward: “Those who proclaim the gospel have sown, so to speak, spiritual seed, and because they have done so, they should reap a material harvest—that is, they should be supported financially.”[2]

Contribute Where You Benefit

Notice that in each of the exhortations cited above, Paul consistently articulates two principles: (1) Those who give themselves to teaching the Word should be financially supported and (2) their financial support should come from those who benefit from their instruction.

Providing the “laborer’s wages” isn’t the responsibility of the state or a few wealthy church members—it’s the collective responsibility of the believers who reap spiritual fruit from those who labor among them in preaching and teaching.

Stated plainly: If you benefit, you should contribute.

Properly examining your giving strategy is not a matter of asking, “Do Paul’s instructions resonate with me?” but “Am I doing what God’s Word says? Are those who are sowing spiritually among me reaping materially from me?”

If you answer, “No, because I think my money can serve better ends by giving it elsewhere,” then not only are you disregarding apostolic instruction, but you’re also allowing your share of the burden to fall on someone else—in the name of God-honoring generosity!

Don’t Forget Commonsense

We have no problem giving money to things we value.

That’s why it’s difficult to conceive of believers who tip their server after a meal out (after 45 minutes of service) more than they gave to their church last year. After all, the church is not a mere product we consume but the blood-bought institution ordained by God to make and grow disciples of all nations.

Similarly, if you have Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+, it’s because you value the benefits it offers enough to pay for it.

And yet, what does it say if we compensate Netflix because we value Stranger Things, but don’t give a penny to the church that invests in our souls?

If your local church isn’t interested in disciple making or doesn’t benefit your soul in the long term, by all means find another one (after you’re certain that church is really the problem). But to regularly gain spiritual benefit from its various ministries and to make no financial contribution is simply a failure to submit to Scripture.

Both-And

Must believers restrict their giving to the local church? Absolutely not. As a pastor, I directly support a number of worthy causes and individuals and encourage others to do the same as they have opportunity. Rather, we should make sure our relief-oriented giving serves as a supplement to—not a substitute for—local church giving. Scripture calls us to more than giving materially where we reap spiritually, but not less.

[1] Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 143 (Kindle Edition).

[2] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 186.



Your Beginning in God’s Purpose

By / Jun 4

Where did your story begin?

Perhaps it was in a home wrought with chaos and conflict or in a family soon to be devastated by divorce. Maybe it begins amid a cycle of job-loss, mounting bills, frequent address changes, or an environment marked by addiction and abuse.

The question is: If your childhood was marked by brokenness and turmoil, what did this teach you about yourself?

Whether for good or ill, our sense of self is profoundly shaped by our formative years. Our first interactions with family and early experiences of home—these ingredients combine to create our first conclusions about who we are and what we’re worth. The problem is, not only are these first conclusions often untrue, but they are also far more persistent than we’d prefer.

But what if they don’t need to be? What if brokenness could mark your childhood, but not your continued sense of identity? Sure, sometimes it seems we’re simply wired to take cues from our beginnings, but what if our beginning goes back far beyond our formative years?

Where You Really Began

Yes, Christian, your story did have a beginning. And yes, God means for you to derive your sense of self from it. But your beginning—your real beginning—took place long before your birth and long before family brokenness. Long before the stars ever shone in the sky.

When your story began in the eternal purpose of God, it was before the world began. He chose you, in him, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).

To truly understand your story, then, you must start with God long before you were born or the world was made. Begin with God: Holy, happy, and wonderful—before He had created the day or night and all was whole. To see ourselves rightly, we must start before the foundation of the world.

God brought you into His mind according to His will and delight. It was in a context of perfect, unremitted peace.

As God thought of you, He did so according to His peerless wisdom and boundless understanding. He did not think of you because of confusion or an argument, but from a life-giving love that is unmatched by any. In this setting of supreme and unblemished goodness, God established His plan for you. You would be:

  • A soul He would send His Son to save.
  • A child He would adopt and call His own.
  • An image bearer He would conform into the image of His glorious Son (Rom. 8:29).

He would write you, His beloved character, into His Great Story—the one that would beget all others. An epic of justice, sacrifice, victory, and delight. A tale in which Jesus shines as the only true hero, and His Church reflects His glory. This, Christian, is the true first page of your story—a story not ultimately of loss, disappointment, and confusion, but of promise, assurance, and everlasting victory.

We must see ourselves not mainly in terms of broken beginnings, but God’s persistent involvement and perfect love.

God’s Purpose Through the Brokenness

Why is it that you, today, believe in Jesus? Is it because God just so happened to look down one day, notice your life spinning out of control, and enter in? Was there a point in which God was a newcomer to your life—reacting to the mess of some new situation? Or, in truth, had He been present all along, working out the details according to His grand design?

Paul, in 2 Timothy, says the saved are saved, “Because of [God’s] own purpose and grace”—a purpose He decreed “before the ages began” (2 Tim. 1:9).

Although we must face the painful realities of a fallen and sinful world, the fact that God, “works all things according to the counsel of His will” is a more ultimate reality that should cause us to hope (Eph. 1:11). The omniscient mind that thought up the universe is behind every detail of life—even the painful ones—for your good (Rom. 8:28).

God’s involvement in your life has never skipped a beat.

God’s Perpetual Love

Not only have His purposes never skipped a beat, but neither has His pure and perfect love. Before time began, God loved you (Eph. 1:4–5). Two thousand years ago, He proved this love for you at the cross (Rom. 5:8). At the time of your conversion, God poured out His love upon you by making you alive in Christ (Eph. 2:4–5).

God’s love has never changed, and He has always remained close—even when His love seems difficult to feel. God set His love upon you before He called light into being and planets into orbit, and His heart has continued to beat with that same love for you ever since.

God’s Declaration Over It All

Long ago, God wrote your name—and it wasn’t on a scrap piece of paper or on a list of to-dos. He inscribed your name into His book of life so deep and bold that no eraser could ever touch it, nor any scheme of Satan pluck you from His hand (Rev. 13:8). God’s story of you is older than the universe. It was He who spoke the first word over you.

No, you don’t ultimately come from brokenness. You come from the perfect, consistent, never-failing God.



Do Not Disturb: Recovering Prayer in a Noisy World

By / Jun 2

The pastor had just invited the congregation into a moment of silent confession. Silence is already difficult in a society saturated with distraction, so focus requires intention. But then… a cell phone rings.

Instantly, attention shifts. The sanctuary fills with subtle glances, internal irritation, and the shared wondering of whose phone it is and how quickly it will be silenced. Some of us have been “that person,” fumbling in embarrassment to stop the noise.

Distraction itself is nothing new. But when it comes to prayer, smartphones pose a deeper problem than occasional interruption. They are quietly forming us into people who struggle with attention, silence, desire, and patience—the very soil prayer requires to flourish.

What Smartphones Are Subtly Doing to Prayer

Our phones are not inherently evil, and many Christians pray deeply while using technology wisely. Distraction, after all, predates the smartphone.

But there does seem to be a cultural shift in the way we approach prayer that may be shaped, be it ever so subtly, by our digital devices. Here are a few ways our devices may be affecting our prayers.

1. Training Us to Avoid Interior Silence

Prayer often begins where stimulation ends. Our phones make moments of silence vanish. Every pause in life becomes fillable. Whether we’re waiting in line, sitting in our car during a carpool, or lying in bed, these devices get pulled out instinctively. Even in moments of anxiety or boredom, we tend to look at the screen rather than close our eyes and talk to Jesus.

Yet Scripture emphasizes the importance of stillness, waiting, and meditation (Ps. 46:10; 62; Luke 5:16).

2. Reshaping Our Expectations of God

Our phones catechize us to expect immediacy, affirmation, and constant engagement. By contrast, prayer often seems slow, quiet, and can feel unresponsive. Over time, this mismatch subtly convinces us that prayer is inefficient or ineffective. But the Bible reminds us that God works powerfully through prayer, that God hears every word uttered, and he uses it as a means of grace (Jas. 5:16; Ps. 139:4; Heb. 4:16).

3. Turning Anxiety into Distraction Rather Than Supplication

Phones offer relief without transformation. Rather than casting our cares on Jesus, as Peter exhorts us to do (1 Pet. 5:7), we’ve trained our reflexes to reach for our phones. The gesture looks small, but it reveals our sinful instinct to distract ourselves until anxiety is dulled rather than entrusting our fears to a caring Father.

How the Church Can Respond

Prayer assumes a capacity that many of us must relearn—or learn for the first time. Personal practices matter, yes, but the church also plays a crucial role in reshaping our instincts.

1. Recover Corporate Practices of Silence

Creating noise in worship is not difficult. As a worship leader, I’m constantly thinking about smooth transitions because, frankly, silence can be awkward.

But we need to recover the importance of intentional corporate silence. And not just for fifteen seconds, but perhaps for a few minutes. Yes, a phone may ring from time to time, a baby will cry, or a coffee mug may be knocked over. There will be distractions.

But building silence into our worship services, whether it be a longer time of quiet confession or an unhurried Scripture reading, helps congregants relearn what it means to sit quietly before God. It will likely take time for this to feel somewhat normal. People may be uncomfortable for a while. But when silence is taught, it’s less intimidating, and it becomes more welcomed in our daily routines than the all-too-accessible time-fillers offered by our phones.

2. Teach Prayer as a Practice, not a Performance

Since our phones cultivate in us a desire for immediacy, we need to be modeling and teaching prayer as a discipline that reshapes desires over time, and as a privilege, because we have uninhibited access to a Father who delights in His children.

It may be helpful for pastors and liturgists to pull away from scripted prayers. There is nothing wrong with writing out a prayer, and it is often very helpful. But even reducing your notes to bullet points to model honest, unspectacular conversation with God is important for our congregants. Prayer is ultimately grounded not in eloquence, but in relationship that grows stronger over time, and we can model that in our churches.

3. Formation Beyond Sunday Worship

If smartphones are retraining our instincts, the church needs to be equally intentional about counter-formation. How can we encourage intentional practices within our local churches that shape how we use our time, where we give our attention, and what we desire?

Rather than offering blanket condemnations of technology, it’s more helpful to ask good questions: What am I most distracted by? What practices help me resist constant stimulation? Create spaces to talk practically in small groups or Sunday School classes. Learning about embodied practices and intentional limits remind us that prayer is cultivated.

When a phone rings during prayer, sure, it feels jarring. But I don’t think it’s only because it’s a distraction. It feels that way because it exposes how fragile our attention has become. The solution is not to do away with our phones, but to relearn practices that form us toward attentiveness and communion with God. Yes, smartphones shape us in subtle ways, but the God who invites us to cast our cares on Him is present, and He is worthy of our unhurried attention.



Plan the Route to Church Health

By / Jun 1

As you consider planning the route to health, there are two statements we believe would be beneficial for you to keep in mind, perhaps even post on your desk to remind you of their importance. First, remember, the focus of your ministry determines the future fruit of your ministry. In other words, what you invest in and cultivate now will reap a harvest in due time. Second, disciple-making must drive your decision-making. To put it another way, everything you lead your church to do should result in making and maturing disciples, and equipping those disciples to make disciples. These two statements are tied to the “triage” questions above. In other words, intentionally prioritize based on markers of health—disciple-pathway, evangelistic outreach, godly leadership, meaningful membership, gospel partnerships.

Now, as you plan the route to health, keep in mind that moving down the path you plan is as much an art as it is a science. When we say it’s a science, we mean that there are particular convictions that are biblical and right and must be pursued. At the same time, pursuing those convictions requires both social and self-awareness. This is the art of leading a church down the road of revitalization, having the wisdom to know how and when to take each step. Here are a few thoughts to help you map the way.

First, begin by addressing what is critical. As you reflect on the list of questions above, what is most obviously missing from the life of your church? What are the primary hindrances to the pursuit of health? This is where you, as a leader, need to be prayerful and honest. A church with a vibrant culture begins and is built by naming “reality with courage and does so in a way that is hopeful and encouraging.” Within my (Matt) first few years of ministry at my current church, it became clear to me that clarity on biblical leadership was a critical issue to address. The church had (and still does have) great leaders. But, the congregation did not have clarity on how to qualify leaders biblically or as to how decisions should be made. Does every decision involve the whole congregation? Who has the authority and trust to lead in decision making? So, we began using biblical qualifications for all our volunteer leadership positions. In time, we also developed a decision-making process, along with a checklist to communicate how decisions would be made.

Second, look for low hanging fruit. Oftentimes, even in a declining church, there are healthy ministries already in existence that do not receive the focus they deserve because so many other ministries are fighting for attention. Or, there are potentially fruitful ministries that could be healthy if they receive a slight directional tweak, refocus, or increased intentionality. To put it simply, celebrate the great things and make the good things great.

Third, prioritize based on the mission, the membership, and the church’s ministry opportunities. Keep the church’s mission at the forefront. What has God called us to do? Consider the gifts, talents, and interests of the members. Who has God sent to our church? And with those two in mind, consider the ministry opportunities that will allow you to bring the mission to bear with the members. How can we employ our members to pursue the mission through the ministry opportunities before us? Give them encouragement or hope to act, and specific steps to do so.

 

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Shepherding Renewal: A Guide to Lasting Church Revitalization by Matt Capps and Steven Wade, released by B&H Publishing (May 2026).



Friend, Foe, or Faux? Discerning True and False Believers

By / May 28

Discerning Between the Three Characters of 1 John

1 John is all about fellowship with God, which is possible through Jesus Christ and life in the Spirit (1:1–4). The Apostle John describes life in the Spirit through the abiding “anointing” (2:27) and abiding “seed” (3:9) of God before speaking explicitly about the abiding Holy Spirit in chapter 4. Although fellowship with God is the primary focus of the letter, we must not overlook John’s desire: “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1:3, emphasis added). John’s purpose is that others may have fellowship with him and the church. Thus, all who are in fellowship with God are in fellowship with one another.

This framework is important for understanding the letter because as John writes to establish faith and assurance (1 John 5:13), he addresses three characters and the conflict that arises from them: friends, foes, and fauxs. The “friends” are those who are truly in fellowship with God and God’s people. The “foes” are those who are in fellowship with the world and the devil. Finally, and most challenging, are the fauxs—imposters of the faith—who appear to be in fellowship with God but truly belong to the world and the devil. The main test in 1 John, then, is not distinguishing between friends and foes, but friends and fauxs.

To illustrate, the greatest threat in war is not the place outside the gates where the enemy is gathered, but sabotage, spies, and traitors from within. Think of the Trojan horse and how the guise of a ceasefire resulted in the fall of the city from within after decades of standing strong. The fellowship of the church is to be a secure fellowship, but often, fauxs find their place within and bring destruction. Fauxs are hard to detect because they come just as everyone else: with a profession of faith, baptism, and so on. They continue in the fellowship and discipleship of the church for a time. Yet, as many pastors and laypeople can attest, they have witnessed the destruction fauxs bring on the church. In this letter, John provides insight for discerning fauxs so that appropriate action can be taken in love and truth to preserve the faith and fellowship of the church before ruin occurs.

Revealing Friends

From 1 John 1:5–5:12, John sets forth various tests which differentiate between the three characters. Friends are known by confessing their sins (1:5–2:2), living in obedience to Christ’s commands (2:3–11), persevering in the faith and fellowship of the Church (2:18–27; 4:1–6; 5:5–12), and practicing righteousness (2:28–3:10). Furthermore, obedience and righteousness are characterized by love for one another, which is a dominant emphasis in the letter (2:7–11; 3:10–24; 4:4–5:5). John uses the word “ought” to describe how Christians are expected to live like Christ (2:6) through a love of sacrifice (3:16) and forgiveness (4:10–11). In this way, the friends enjoy the Life (1:2), Light (1:5), and Love (4:8) of God.

Revealing Foes

In contrast, the foes are completely against the friends. They are opposed to the Father (2:15–17), the truth of Jesus Christ (4:1–6), the church (3:1b, 13), and righteousness and love (3:4–10). They are of the world and the devil, living in sin and darkness, and filled with hatred and murder—especially towards Christians. The foes of God and His people are given no assurance but are warned of coming destruction (3:8; contrast with believers in 3:18–24 and 4:15–21 who have confidence). The contrast between friends and foes is set in black-and-white terms, creating a sharp distinction between the two groups. Discerning between friends and foes is easy!

Revealing Fauxs

However, the challenge arises with the fauxs. What was black-and-white becomes gray and more dangerous. The friends are a loving people, and sometimes their love can interfere with the safeguards of truth. So, the friends often lack discernment, which matters not just for their own sake, but for one another—their fellow friends. Nevertheless, John exposes the fauxs as those who “say,” but what they “do” contradicts their claims: They claim to have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness characterized by unconfessed, unrepentant sin (1:5–10); they claim to know Christ, but then disobey His commands (2:3–6); they claim to be in the Light characterized by truth, but they hate their brothers/friends in Christ (2:9–11).

Exposing the fauxs, John declares they are liars, self-deceived, still in darkness/sins, of the devil and the world, do not have eternal life, and are headed for judgment (1:6, 2:4, 2:11, 2:15–17, 2:22, 3:7–10, 3:15, 4:3–5, 4:8, 4:20). They are antichrists and followers of antichrist (2:18–19); they are false prophets and the followers of false prophets (4:1–6). They remain in their sins and darkness and are headed toward judgment. Despite their claim to be friends and to be in fellowship with God, they are given no assurance of eternal life. Instead, they are allotted a portion with the foes!

Despite the presence of fauxs, true friends stand out as those who know, repent, walk, love, obey, practice righteousness, and persevere with Christ and His Church. This multifaceted understanding of faith is consistent throughout 1 John and reflects Jesus’ own teaching (John 13–17). When John says in 1 John 5:13, “these things I have written to you,” he means the faith presented from 1:5–5:12. This faith characterizes those who believe and are assured of eternal life. They are set in contrast to both those who completely reject God and those who say they are of God but are not.

A Call to Discernment

To conclude, distinguishing between friends, foes, and fauxs is as crucial in our day as the first century. If God’s people lack discernment, their faith and fellowship will be compromised by fauxs even as they seek to stand in truth and love against their foes. As we rest assured that Christ and His Church will prevail (Matt. 16:18), we recognize this victory is accomplished through the Church’s merciful discernment in the Spirit (cf. Matt. 18:15–35).



Following Jesus into Hard Places

By / May 26

“To move to a place like this—that girl must be Xena: Warrior Princess.” I heard the compliment, if that’s what you’d call it, in echoes through the stairwell of our new home. We were planning to move in a few months and had come to visit our landing place—an apartment building that housed a tiny church plant, our apartment to be, and 12 other apartments that my husband would manage in the heart of one of the poorest, most drug addicted neighborhoods in New York’s Southern Tier. My mind conjured images of a long-haired brunette scantily clad in armor, wielding weapons, and unafraid of everything. I’d never seen the show, but based on the images from commercials, this was the image that came floating to my mind. I was pretty sure the hair was the only real similarity between her and me.

Our new neighbor, who would later tell my husband, “I don’t carry knives because I’d shank someone,” proceeded with his compliment: “She must be tough.”

Other than a decent glare when the situation calls for it and maybe a propensity to talk a big game, I’m not what anyone would call “tough.” During our first week in our new home—in which I celebrated my 22nd birthday, our first wedding anniversary, and our first church service—my husband had to evict someone from our property for assault and I had a run in with a mentally ill man who told me his brother was buried in the basement of our building (confused, but not a lie—that’s a story for another day). I was in over my head from the moment we started in a life of ministry.

Covered in the Armor of God

The truth is, we aren’t called to be tough. The Christian life is about putting on the armor of God and taking shaking, trembling, weak-kneed steps in the direction our Savior calls. Not everyone will sit on the steps of an apartment building while drug addicted ex-cons talk about your shocking toughness, but every Christian will be asked to follow Jesus into things that feel uncomfortable, hard, and even unsafe. Our Lord didn’t live His earthly life in the company of safe people who made Him feel secure. He walked boldly into the homes of sinners, sat at their tables, and broke bread with them. Perhaps the most shocking part is that He enjoyed it. Those were His friends. Those were the ones He defended against attack. Those were the ones he chose to be with. I think He was onto something.

The Lord has called Christians to follow Him into hard places, not grudgingly as if we are doing the world a favor by stepping into things that make us uncomfortable. Not as if we are the hero of the story because we were willing to go to “those people”—but happily, because we see ourselves among the hurting, the beggars, and the broken. We know we have no strength on our own, but we know that the Lord has strength in abundance and He can supply all that we need.

There was a time in my life when pride would have said, “Look where I’ve been and what I’ve done with the Lord.” But no more.

The only hero in the story of the Great Commission is the Lord of glory whose right authority demands our lives.

The Christian life is not primarily about our safety. It isn’t primarily about us at all. Maybe the “unsafe” thing for you to do isn’t to uproot your life and move to the inner city or across the sea, but that doesn’t mean the Lord is fine with you living a life away from the pain of the world. While I think this will look different for different Christians in different contexts, I am confident of a few things:

1. God Works Through Unlikely People in Unlikely Places.

We see this all over Scripture and throughout history. Only the Lord would have planned for a prostitute to shelter the Israelite spies in Jericho and end up in the line of Christ. Only the Lord would have chosen lying Jacob, timid Moses, or adulterous David. Rather than running from the problems of this world—or the problem people of this world—Jesus enters in. In His earthly ministry, He ate with tax collectors, spoke with adulterous women, and spent time with children. This is His church growth strategy. He chooses the weak, foolish, and despised of this world so that no one can boast in His presence (1 Cor. 1:18–31).

2. Great Commission Work Isn’t Comfortable.

I doubt the stones which left Paul so injured that he was carried out of Lystra and presumed dead were very comfortable—and they certainly weren’t safe. Neither was Peter’s upside-down execution or John’s imprisonment. For millennia, God has been working through people who were uncomfortable with what the Great Commission was calling them to. Their eternal destiny secure, the older generations of our spiritual family were sent to engage in unsafe tasks that made God’s glory known among the nations. God’s plan for His people and the spread of His fame has not changed. He is using saints today to share the gospel in unsafe places. While His plan for your life might not include martyrdom, it absolutely does include discomfort (Matt. 10:24–25). Rejoice in that and see what He will do!

3. God Uses His Church in Hard Places.

We serve a good and sovereign God. He is able to save people through online sermons and radio programs. He works wonders when His people are faithful to proclaim His gospel, even at a distance. But God’s primary means of working in any locality is to establish His people there. He moves in the hearts of His people to plant us exactly where He wants us to be, and then He saves people through our proclamation of the gospel. From the beginning, God’s plan was that His people would be a light to the nations. Nothing has changed. So, while your Christ honoring Facebook post might be used by the Lord to do His work (and I’ve been shocked to see how much He uses social media and the internet!), the comfort of screen distance is not the normal means that the Lord uses to reach people. With the rise of technology and the distance it brings, the local church, in all of its eclectic beauty, shines as an even brighter light in the dark world.

God’s Strength Made Perfect in Our Weakness

We don’t have to be tough to go where the Lord is calling us. I promise, I have more in common with Ms. Frizzle than I do with Xena: Warrior Princess. Praise God that He doesn’t need me to be strong. In His upside-down kingdom, our weakness displays His strength. We can follow Jesus into things that are hard. We can walk toward people who are easier to run away from. Then we can stand back in amazement, because the Lord Jesus delights to do His work in exactly these places.



Is It Wrong to See Jesus in the Old Testament?

By / May 21

One of the first things we learn when it comes to reading the Bible is to never make a text say something the author did not intend to say. The technical term for this is authorial intent. However, we are also taught that the whole Bible is about Jesus. We learn that every page—Old Testament included—leads us to Christ. These two claims should raise an important question: How can we hold to authorial intent and believe that every page ultimately leads us to Jesus? Did the Old Testament authors intend to write about Jesus? Or are we reading Jesus into the Old Testament? I would like to argue that the authors—especially the divine Author—intended for us to see Jesus in the Old Testament. To demonstrate this, I want us to look at three texts that justify seeing Jesus in all of Scripture. From these texts we will learn three reasons we should see how all of Scripture points us to Christ: Jesus says we can, Jesus shows we can, and Jesus reveals we can.

1. Jesus Says We Can

It is appropriate to see Jesus in the Old Testament because Jesus says we can. John 5 makes this exact point. In verses 30–47, Jesus is speaking to the Jews about having witnesses to the claims He is making. Jesus is claiming many amazing things and the Jewish people are wondering who can testify to the truth of these claims.

Jesus is more than happy to oblige this request, and He says that “the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me” (5:37). The Jews want a witness to testify on Jesus’ behalf. Jesus responds and says that God has testified on his behalf. Yet where does God give credibility to his claims? Jesus tells us in verse 39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” The Jews are wondering who can back up Jesus’ claims and Jesus responds by saying, “God backs up my claims in the Old Testament.”

What this means is that it is appropriate to see Jesus in the Old Testament because it is about Him. Jesus confirms this just a few verses later: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:45–46). Moses—the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—wrote about Jesus. Jesus tells us that we can, and He makes it clear that we are doing so without undercutting authorial intent.

2. Jesus Shows We Can

Jesus does not only claim that the Old Testament is about Him, but He shows that it is about Him. He does this at the end of Luke’s Gospel. Two of Jesus’ disciples are walking to a village called Emmaus. As they are walking, they talk about what happened in Jerusalem with the death of Jesus and the reports of his resurrection. Suddenly, a stranger joins them on the road and asks what they are talking about.

They tell this stranger everything that has happened, and he responds in a very interesting way in Luke 24:25–27:

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

As it turns out this “stranger” was the resurrected Christ who shows them how Scripture points to Him. Jesus takes these men to the Old Testament and demonstrates how it is about Him. Consider how wonderful it would have been to experience this!

Practically, this means that we should have no issues with seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. We are simply following the example of our Lord and Savior. Clearly, Jesus thought it was appropriate to find Himself in “all the Scriptures” without threatening the original intent of the author. We are not misreading Scripture by seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, we are reading it the way it was intended to be read.

3. Jesus Reveals We Can

If the above is true, then how come so many people seem to miss seeing Jesus in the Old Testament altogether? For example, why do Jews today fail to see Jesus as the promised Messiah? Doesn’t this show that Jesus is not clearly portrayed in the Old Testament as we think he is? While differences in interpretation and tradition certainly shape how people read these texts, I would like to argue that, in cases like this, the reason people fail to see Him is not because He isn’t there—it is because they are blinded by sin.

The Apostle Paul makes this argument in 2 Corinthians 3. One of the things that always grieved Paul was that many of his fellow Jews did not believe in Jesus. Paul tells us that the reason for this is because “their minds were hardened” (3:14). They have a “veil” over their eyes. He writes, “For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted.” They are unable to see Jesus in the Old Testament because a spiritual veil remains over their eyes.

How then is this veil removed? Paul tells us, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (3:16). The theological term for this is illumination. When a person comes to trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit removes this veil and allows them to understand the Scriptures fully and rightly. This explains why so many of our family and friends can read the Bible but still not believe. Trusting Scripture as God’s Word is a work of the Spirit which takes place when we come to trust in Christ. For this reason, we can see Jesus in the Old Testament when others don’t because Jesus reveals Himself by his Spirit to those who trust in Him.

We began this article with a question: Is it wrong to see Jesus in the Old Testament? Are we undercutting the intent of the Old Testament authors by seeing Jesus there? Are we reading Jesus into the Old Testament rather than discovering Him there? The answer to all of these questions is an emphatic no! We are completely justified in seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus tells us explicitly that the Old Testament is about Him. Likewise, He walked with his disciples and demonstrated to them how it points to Him. Lastly, He has revealed to us that it is about Him by removing the spiritual veil that prevents us from seeing Him there. We can see Jesus in the Old Testament knowing that we are not committing some grave hermeneutical error. As David Murray writes, “What’s the Old Testament all about? Jesus’ emphatic answer is ‘Me! Me! Me!’”[1]

[1] David Murray, Jesus On Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013), 18.



Rejoicing in the Day of Small Things

By / May 19

The “Small Things” of Pastoral Care

If you asked a pastor or elder to describe how he tends the flock, he’d likely mention phone calls, coffee conversations, prayers, hospital visits, text messages—a lot of small, ordinary things.[1] The simplicity of these activities sometimes calls into question their effectiveness, and the repetition of doing them year after year can make us weary. After yet another visit, another phone call, another Scripture shared, what has changed? Are these things helping at all?

Often, caring for people spiritually is simply about helping them take the next little step. Usually there’s a larger goal that they (and you) want to reach—reconciliation, forgiveness, sobriety, restoration—but that can seem many years distant, maybe altogether unattainable. Yet we begin today with small steps like these:

  • Urging someone who thinks they have lost their faith to start reading the Bible again—even just one psalm a day.
  • Persuading the man enslaved by his addiction to pick up the phone and have the first conversation with an addiction counselor.
  • Inviting a straying member to come to worship again, even though it has been years.
  • Challenging a combative husband and wife to show each other one act of Christian love each day.

These are small things. The idea of rebuilding a marriage or restoring a wandering member can overwhelm us, but we simply need to start somewhere and trust in God to bless our efforts.

Encouragement from Zechariah

Centuries ago, Zechariah encouraged God’s people with this promise: “Whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice” (Zech. 4:10). The prophet was addressing Judah’s dismay over the insignificant progress that they had made in rebuilding the temple. The stones of the foundation had been laid, but there was so much more to do.

During Solomon’s golden age, God’s house had been magnificent. But then the Babylonians pillaged it and razed it to the ground. Decades later, the reconstruction could never hope to match the temple’s former grandeur—and the people knew it (Ezra 3:12). It seemed like an impossible task: rebuilding a house for God in a time when human and material resources were sorely lacking.

However, Zechariah reminds us that small beginnings should never be despised—not when God is working by His mighty Spirit. For God can always give great reason to rejoice again. With his help and strength, there’s no telling how blessed the outcome of “the day of small things” will be.

So it is for our work in the church. The most glorious, everlasting foundation has been laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). If pastors are building on him, they need not despair. Christ can make something of this little gesture toward repentance. He can bless this new beginning. He can cause the smallest seed to bear abundant fruit. We believe that Christ can do it, and we plead with him to do so.

This makes another word from Zechariah so encouraging for those who serve the church: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). It’s a profound reminder about whose help we need to be faithful and fruitful servants of Christ. In ministry, there are moments of proud self-reliance when we must hear this humbling truth: No matter how capable we are, the results aren’t up to us. But also in times of worry, in seasons of cynicism or weariness, we can gain great strength from this promise: the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts is still moving among His people.

Pastor, do not despise the day of small things, but always depend on the mighty Spirit of Christ.

[1] For more on this theme, see Reuben Bredenhof, The Ministry of Small Things: Wisdom for Those Who Serve the Church (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2026).



The Joy of Being a Sender

By / May 14

My local church just entered its second full year of covenantal gathering and worship. During a recent members meeting, the elders called for the church to enter a time of prayer and fasting for some specific needs. Among the typical needs of a young church plant—such as stronger finances, a stable location, and faithful vision casting—the elders called upon our church to pray for something else: senders.

Our church’s demographic is largely influenced by the transient nature of city life, the seasons of college semesters and holiday breaks, and healthy members desiring to go to the nations. At the time of writing this, three separate families are in the evaluation process with three different mission organizations. For a small church plant simply needing stable membership, this is a significant proportion of our current membership.

The elders asked our church to pray for a stable core of senders. They did not discourage members who were seeking to be missionaries or ministry leaders in other local churches. Instead, they asked us to pray for those who were working and living in our city to find our church and commit to being senders. Oftentimes, missions resources and stories focus on the joys and adventures of being sent, but what about the joy of being a sender? Though there may be many reasons, I believe three rise to the top of the list.

1.   The Joy of Advancing Missions

Any local body of believers must answer the question: How will our specific church respond to the Great Commission? Local churches are outposts of God’s kingdom in a dark and hostile world. The light of the gospel housed in these outposts should shine outward as far as the horizons allow. If gospel light is to spread, the right people must be sent and the required resources must be allocated. The vital role senders play in the church—to both evaluate and resource those who are sent—cannot be overstated.

Living in close community with fellow believers in the local church will shape and mature disciples from within so that some may desire to be sent out as missionaries. Senders who stay have spent their time teaching, discipling, and evaluating the lives of these missionary candidates. Senders advise individuals or families considering the step into mission work. Missionaries who are qualified to be sent are members who have grown and matured in their faith through the ministry of senders.

Senders advance missions when they send the right people with the right resources. Much like Andrew Fuller and the Baptist Missionary Society, who “held the rope” for William Carey by financing his mission to India, senders who support their missionaries and see to it that they “lack nothing” (Titus 3:13) do an invaluable service to the mission of the gospel and the growth of Christ’s Church. Senders advance missional hopes and dreams by sending and servicing the voices of truth into the world.

2.   The Joy of Stewarding a Legacy

Senders who belong to churches that support missionaries have the privilege of participating in and observing gospel proclamation around the world for many years. The work of missions can often be tedious and slow, with little outward fruit to show for years of faithful service. Senders are there from the beginning of the story onward. They get to see the faithfulness of God and the power of the Spirit work in one location or in one missionary family’s ministry as it develops. Missionary children get to come home for college and be welcomed by senders who started the journey with them when they were young.

If a church has a reputation for sending missionaries, more missionaries will likely be sent in the future. If the church continues to train and resource the right people, senders will see many go. Over time, the process for training and sending may be made clearer, the support system made more efficient, and the budget more robust. Senders who stick around over long periods of time can speak seasoned words of wisdom about the process and how it may be improved and handed to the next generation of senders.

3.   The Joy of Witnessing Global Glory

Resolving to be a faithful sender does not mean that one does not get to witness missions firsthand. Senders often visit and support missionaries on the field through short-term trips. They also receive and care for missionaries who come home temporarily. Regularly sending missionaries expands the local church’s awareness of the global state of lostness and the glory of God in the gospel spreading to each corner of the earth.

Being a sender means participating in the same joy as your missionaries when people find Christ. Senders get to hear reports of the work they helped advance on the field, and often these senders get to participate in hands-on experiences on a regular basis.

Though one may be encouraged by searching for missionary stories or baptism statistics online, the joy of sharing in the work and results of locally sent missionaries cannot be replicated.

Are You Called to Be a Sender?

My local church is actively calling its members to consider whether God has called for them to stay as senders and to pray for more senders to join our membership. The glory of missions is all God’s, and both senders and goers have a part to play. Joy is shared because missions is a work of the unified body of Christ.

Are you called to be a sender? Consider how you might engage in the work of sending in your local church today. Maybe it looks like continuing the work of faithful attendance, hospitality, and discipleship. Maybe it requires finding a stable job and putting down roots somewhere. Not every Christian will cross an ocean, but every Christian and church must decide whether it will hold the rope. May your choice be the source of joyful prayers like Paul’s for the Philippians because of your partnership in the gospel (Phil. 1:4–5).