Surrender to Ministry
Series: Pastoral Ministry Collection
When I was a kid growing up in church, it was common to hear someone say, “I surrendered to ministry in 1968,” or, “It was on a Sunday night that I surrendered to ministry.” You don’t hear that kind of language much anymore—the word surrender. But it’s actually an incredibly powerful idea. It doesn’t mean […]
Pastoral Ministry and Christian Progress
Series: Pastoral Ministry Collection
Our Struggle with Progress I’m coming up on two years in pastoral ministry. Although I’ve not spent much time in pastoral ministry, I’ve come to realize something—there is importance in progress. Waiting patiently for God to do His work in His people is more important than seeing someone change overnight. Looking for a quick fix […]
Episode 305: FTC Mailbag
It’s a new mailbag installment of the podcast, where Jared and Ross answer listener-submitted questions. On this episode, the guys weigh in on: first steps for newly appointed lay elders, pastors running for political office, cultivating healthy desires in a church, “fencing the table,” navigating differences of opinion on alcohol, and more.
Leading a Church Without Losing Your Soul
A few years into ministry, I read these words from a famous pastor: “I had become a full-time minister and a part-time Christian.” Even as a twenty-something still fresh with the excitement of my first pastoral assignment, I could relate. Prior to ministry, you imagine that the inertia of pastoral life will drive you joyfully […]
The Strategic Value of Pastoral Hospitality
Series: Pastoral Hospitality and the Health of the Local Church
Editor’s note: This article is the final entry of a four-part series. Access the full series here. In this final entry in this series, I wish to note the strategic value of pastoral hospitality for the contemporary local church. I suggest that the pastoral ministry of hospitality has excellent potential for improving the local church’s […]
The Pastor As Host
Series: Pastoral Hospitality and the Health of the Local Church
Editor’s note: This article is part three of a four-part series. Access the full series here. I suggested in the first entry in this series that a covenantal framework can be identified in the Lord’s hospitality in Exodus 24. Though Jesus’s hospitality to the eleven in John 21 does not have the same covenantal framework, […]
Leaders As Hosts
Series: Pastoral Hospitality and the Health of the Local Church
Editor’s note: This article is part two of a four-part series. Access the full series here. In the first post in this series, I noted that God is hospitable. The Lord’s hospitality to Moses and Israel’s leaders in Exodus 24 stops careful readers in their tracks. What a God! He is holy but personal. And […]
God’s Covenantal Hospitality
Series: Pastoral Hospitality and the Health of the Local Church
Editor’s note: This article is part one of a four-part series. Access the full series here. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals Himself to be a host. The Garden of Eden can be viewed as God’s creative activity to host Adam and Eve as His vice-regents who manage the banquet hall of creation. God hosts […]
Episode 14: Service
The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. If pastors mean to reflect the heart of the Good Shepherd, they will pursue a servant’s heart. But we find this pursuit frustrated by our own laziness, a sense of entitlement, or even others’ presuming upon our service. How can we push through these frustrations and develop a vision for open-hearted caretaking of others? In this final episode, Jared Wilson and Ronnie Martin commend the wisdom practice of Christlike service.
Episode 13: Encouragement
Pastors constantly operate in an encouragement deficit. The practice of encouragement gives life. But so many ministers are drowning in criticism or just general disappointment. How can we become better encouragers of others when we receive so little of it ourselves? In this episode, Jared Wilson and Ronnie Martin share some encouraging insights about encouragement! This wisdom practice can revolutionize our lives and enliven our ministries.