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.
What Are the Four Senses of Scripture?
Why did early theologians feel the need to distinguish “senses” of the Scriptures in the first place? Denys Turner asserts that there are three reasons. First, Scripture itself distinguishes between the literal and allegorical senses. Even though the biblical authors didn’t fully outline this form of interpretation, they themselves distinguished between the literal and spiritual […]
Holy Enjoyment: Temperance and Joy in Pastoral Ministry
Temperance: Ordering Your Desires The Bible often articulates the virtue of temperance as sobriety or self-control, as in 1 Peter 1:13: “preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded.” Or, in 1 Peter 4:7 he says, “The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.” Likewise, in 2 Peter 1:5–8 […]
What Is Christian Formation? Conformed By Scripture, Transformed by Grace
As we study the seven virtues in this book, we will seek Christian formation that is conformed to divine revelation and transformed by divine grace. Apart from divine revelation, we are in danger of sinful rationalization and satanic deception. Our loves are disordered: We do not esteem God rightly or honor his design.[1] Instead, we […]
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]
The Slow Cooker of Sanctification
Suffering in the Christian life is like a microwave. Like it or not, we’re fast tracked on the road of sanctification. As the Lord meets us in our sorrow, He often reveals the beauty of the gospel and the depth of our sin in ways that change us. The Lord uses the furnace of trials […]
3 Ways to Share Deep Doctrine with Little Disciples
Three weeks ago, my nine-year-old daughter asked me a question that left me feeling like a complete moron. I was resetting the router for our home internet when she looked up at me and said, “Dad, how does WiFi work?” She has noticed that when the internet goes out, we immediately rush to fix it. […]
4 Ways the Gospel Changes Our Service
When you think of a servant, who comes to mind? Maybe someone famous, a first responder, a parent, a spouse, or someone in your church. Whoever comes to mind, servants are compelling. We may not always want to do what they do, but we admire them. We recognize the wisdom and beauty that manifest in […]