Failure to Act vs. Failure of Action in Pastoral Ministry
“She’s catatonic. I’m heartbroken,” he told me at the gym. “She’s only 26! My youngest daughter. She had her whole life ahead of her. Chances for anything close to a full recovery are incredibly low.” “Goodness, brother, what happened?” I responded. “She was severely fatigued. She went to the ER. Sodium was low. The doctor […]
How Do You Know Repentance Is Real?
They’ve apologized and said they won’t do it again? Doesn’t grace require we just accept that and move on? Well, maybe. But maybe repentance is a little deeper than just saying “sorry.” In this episode, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz talk about the signs of genuine repentance — how to genuinely by grace turn from sin to Jesus. And what that looks like, even practically.
Your Small Group Leaders Need More Than Training
He had completed every module. He had read the book we gave him. He had shadowed a veteran leader for a full semester and sat through our orientation weekend. On paper, he was the most prepared small group leader we had ever launched. Six weeks in, he called me and said, “I don’t think I […]
Why Expository Preaching Matters
What’s the big deal about expository preaching? Does it really matter if we preach through books of the Bible? Can’t we just do something more “relevant” or innovative? In this episode, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz talk about the biblical, theological, and pastoral importance of preaching expositionally and warn about some challenges and pitfalls in the practice.
Love That Makes Room: Serving Families with Disabilities
Our very first Sunday with our oldest was full of tears. We had taken her into our home just days before. We had wanted to grow our family, and God gave us a 16-year-old who experiences cognitive and physical disability. During service, she struggled to be quiet, it was difficult to tube feed her in […]
FTC Mailbag
The mailbag is full! In this installment of our regular listener-submitted feature, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz dig into the private reserves of messages in order to tackle questions and topics like siblings serving on an elder team, theological triage in speaking engagements, what new members should ask about the church they’re joining, finding your preaching voice, and differences of views among elders. As always, if you’d like to submit a question or topic for the Mailbag, you can email us at [email protected]
Grab Bag!
In the latest installment of our occasional Grab Bag feature, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz ask each other surprise questions. We’d tell you what they are, but we want you to be surprised too.
Loving the Church in Her Brokenness
The Question Beneath the Brokenness Brokenness in this world is apparent. While it grieves my heart to see the effects of sin, I can look at the corruption and distortion in culture with an understanding of what caused it and can look forward in hopeful expectation to the restoration of all creation. My struggle comes […]
Gyros, Lamb Chops, and the Church: A Warning Against Doing Christianity Alone
Sheep, the Herd, and the Shepherd Humans are repeatedly compared to sheep in Scripture. If you know anything about sheep, you understand this is not a flattering analogy. Watch a few sheep videos and you’ll quickly see why. Like sheep, we tend to stray (Isa. 53:6). We can be “harassed and helpless” (Matt. 9:36). We […]
Reverence in Worship
A few years ago, I spoke with a college senior about his recent conversion from Evangelicalism to Catholicism. One of the reasons he gave was the reverence he witnessed during Mass. Many other young adults share his sentiment and have acted similarly.[1] Their departure offers a helpful critique of what is lacking in many churches […]