Tenth of the First Month: Not a Coincidence

Are dates important?

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Three Lessons on Biblical Finances

Did you know God’s Word has something to say about finances and money?

Its true.  Even Jesus’ Himself has quite a bit to say about finances.

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A Ministry Role of Timothy we can overlook

When I think of Timothy in the Bible I often think about the Pastoral Epistles, an assistant of Paul and a missionary of sorts.

But there’s one thing that I have been thinking about lately concerning Timothy’s role.

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Christians Need to Hear the Gospel Too

Christians: When you hear the Gospel preach, do you feel its something not for you, but for the non-Christians?

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Summary Paragraph of the Gospel: Paul Washer’s Quote

I rarely write a post before I finish it; usually after I’m done I write a review.

But today I thought I share a quote from what I’m reading that summarizes the Gospel.

As a preacher I love ending the sermon with hope and turning listeners attention to Jesus and the Gospel.  So in a way I’m always thinking about how to summarize the Gospel (so its not two sermons in one!).  Of course I do believe the whole Bible has a trajectory towards the Gospel.  But I also think in closing a sermon there needs to be a clear, simple and accurate summary of the Gospel that is a part of the call to listeners to respond to the Gospel.

So with that as background I really enjoyed this Gospel summary:

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How to be make it through Seminary financially while being poor

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

Are you thinking about going to seminary to study to be a Pastor?  Even if you are not going to seminary but you are a Christian who loves God, do you know someone who is thinking about going to seminary but might be working through the issue of finance?

Here are ten practical things that I found helpful to get through Seminary when the finances are hard.  They were things that I personally found helpful to make it through my Master’s of Divinity (MDiv) and Master’s of Theology (ThM).   While there’s personal responsibility I also realize it was God’s grace that provided for me and also the means of others who showed me love and help along the way too.

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Review: The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians

D.A. Carson. The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, January 2nd 2018. 160 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster |Amazon

Bible believing Christians know that the Christian ministry must be Cross-Centered but what does that mean?  In this 160 page book New Testament scholar and author Don Carson writes a book on what that means based upon the book of 1 Corinthians.  This makes for a spiritually edifying read whether you are in pastoral ministry or you are a faithful church member.  It is also spiritually edifying whether you are studying to enter the ministry or someone who have been a pastor for some time, and I read this at at a point in my life where I’m close to a decade of full time ministry.

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This Sunday at Church: Encourage Your Pastors

This Sunday at Church I want to encourage you to do the following: Encourage Your Pastors.

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Faithful Shepherd Pastors’ Retreat 2018: Videos

This is from last year’s conference which they have just made available online for others to benefit from.  It is sponsored by P&R Publishing (among others), which is one of my top favorite Christian publisher.  The conference is called “Faithful Shepherd Pastors’ Retreat” and last year’s theme was on “The Welcoming Church.”

What is the purpose of this conference?

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Quick Devotional from 1 Timothy 3:1 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading many months ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of 1 Timothy 3:1.  Here is my translation:

“SENTENCE 3 ‹ πιστὸς ὁ λόγος › [CD Εἴ [TP τις TP] ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγεται CD]
This is a faithful word: If anyone desire to be an overseer

καλοῦ ἔργου ἐπιθυμεῖ”
he desire a good work

Here are some observations:

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Preaching with Passion by Alex Montoya: 2019 Winterim Lectures

Pastor Alex Montoya has been instrumental in God shaping how I preach and also with wisdom concerning pastoral ministry.  He’s to me the Hispanic Charles Spurgeon and I lament that he’s retired from teaching in seminary.

Last week he’s recently taught for a Seminary Winterim session on the passion of preaching.  In a one week intensive course he taught a future generation of those entering ministry on homiletic (how to preach).

I thought I share them with viewers to help preachers and those who are teachers.

Here are the videos:

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Pastors: Be Swordsmen and Chefs

Ephesians 6:17 refers to the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

If the Word of God is a sword then that this helps us with understanding further two biblical roles of Pastors.

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Review: Leading Today’s Funerals

Dan S. Lloyd. Leading Today’s Funerals: A Pastoral Guide for Improving Bereavement Ministry. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, October 1st 1997. 126 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

I read the kindle version of this book in preparation for my first funeral that I will be doing as a pastor.  I had to read this pretty quick given the situation.  I am glad I did as it was helpful.  I read this work and took lots of notes from it.  This was a book that I wished I read in seminary.

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Pastoral Burnout: Its Causes & Cures (9 Marks Journal Articles)

Pastoral burnout is a real problem.  9 Marks Ministry for their latest journal focuses on this problem.  I think Pastors and church leaders will benefit from it.  Also regular Church members would benefit from it in terms of their own prayers for the church, pastors and ministering to their own pastor.  Church life is a two way street.  You can find it here.

I’m glad they make this journal available for free.

Here’s the breakdown of individual articles.

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Back from Spring 2018 Overseas Trip to Train Pastors

Finally home from teaching and preaching overseas! The bulk of my trip was training pastors in two different region in a country where it is not easy to be a Christian.  I know life is short and in the short time I have on earth I want to teach those who would teach others the Word of God and while it is crazy to teach over 70 times plus hours of overtime with questions and answers from pastors and church members I think it is worth it though it is quite taxing and requires lots of preparation.  It’s the least I can do to serve brothers and sisters in a country where some have stories of persecution.

Whether it is ministry or my younger days in the military there is nothing like coming back to the USA.

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