singleness Stump a Pastor: Desire for Marriage March 01, 2017 [I've kept many of the questions from our college conference's "Stump the Pastors" session, hoping they would find a good home here.] > "As a guy,
evil The Evil of Sin February 15, 2017 In his extraordinarily useful book _A Method for Prayer [https://smile.amazon.com/Method-Prayer-Classic-Reprint/dp/1440072418/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487086955&sr=8-1&keywords=a+method+for+
J.D. Vance - An Insightful Discussion February 01, 2017 On Monday night Mitch Daniels, the president of Purdue University, led a discussion with J.D. Vance, the author of the extremely popular _Hillbilly Elegy [https://smile.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547/ref=
changes Navigating Transitions January 18, 2017 Regardless of whether you love or dread change, it remains inevitable. Save the unchanging character of God, everything and everyone we know undergoes constant change. And beyond the never-ending constant stream of change,
justice A Vengeful Spirit January 04, 2017 > Do not say, "I will repay evil," wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. -Proverbs 20:22 It's a drama as old as Haman's
JC Ryle King of the One Liners December 21, 2016 I recently began reading JC Ryle's Thoughts for Young Men [https://smile.amazon.com/Thoughts-Young-Men-J-Ryle/dp/1484881702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482252548&sr=8-1&keywords=
Discipleship Reject the Choice December 07, 2016 > ...Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Passing
Genesis 19 Us and Them November 02, 2016 No one likes Genesis 19. It's never contained anyone's "life verse." Sexual violence and widespread judgment don't make for good greeting cards or bedtime stories.
encouragement A Culture of Encouragement October 19, 2016 Pastoral burnout is a difficult issue to address - partially because it combines the hard data of how many pastors leave the vocation on a regular basis with the "soft data"
confrontation Dealing With Someone Else's Sin September 21, 2016 Being a pastor means a significant portion of my work revolves around the odious task of dealing with someone's sin. Whether I'm preaching about it, counseling through it, praying
Family Marriage Tweets September 07, 2016 My lovely wife and I recently celebrated our seventeenth anniversary. As a way to honor the occasion and make some spiritual use of it, I tweeted out #17thoughtsonmarriage over the course of a
fasting You're Invited: A Day of Prayer and Fasting August 17, 2016 > “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,“return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD
Forgiveness #Blessed = #Forgiven August 03, 2016 So apparently #blessed a thing. If you have time, head over to twitter and search for #blessed to get a sense of how your friends and neighbors define what it means to be
Forgiveness When We Say, "I Forgive You" July 20, 2016 "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." What do we mean we say, "I forgive you"? More importantly, do we
God's Word is at Work July 06, 2016 A brief encouragement for the culturally discouraged or even culturally fearful: This morning at our local pastors' meeting, our leader encouraged us to share how God was using His Word in our
RPCNA From the RPCNA Synod June 29, 2016 Most of the readers of this blog know that the writers are (mostly) pastors in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, which is currently wrapping up their annual meeting of synod at
catechism A Catechism for the Very Youngest June 15, 2016 Many of our readers are familiar with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which B.B. Warfield notes [http://www.westminsterconfession.org/confessional-standards/is-the-shorter-catechism-worthwhile.php] is definitely worth learning, but definitely not very easy. Many
abraham The Church's Egypt Moment June 01, 2016 "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." So sayeth the apostle Paul. Land for your offspring. A great name. A great nation. A great blessing. The protection
Church A Caterpillar Meditation May 18, 2016 I watched a caterpillar for an unreasonable amount of time last week. In comparison to the nearby family of salamanders, her pace was ponderous. But also in comparison to the family of salamanders,
Bridge of Spies Movies & Gratitude May 04, 2016 [I'm writing this before the Indiana primary results are published; so this post has nothing to do with that. Sorry for any disappointment.] During a recent vacation, I watched two movies.
singing Why We Sing April 06, 2016 > Of all the things we do in worship, singing is the most mysterious to me. That's probably not a great statement about my theology, but it's accurate. I
In Praise of Administration March 16, 2016 [Note: After a helpful conversation with a friend, I've edited this post to speak more clearly to the structure and organizational ministry in local congregations, realizing that "administration" is
elections Super Wednesday March 02, 2016 I'm writing this before the results of "Super Tuesday" (surely the highest billing any Tuesday's ever gotten) are announced. Still, it seems fairly certain that I'
christian faith This Post is Nothing New February 03, 2016 Here I am staring at a blank screen. I have a blog post due today, but I don't really have anything new to write. So let's go with that:
encouragement For the success of others January 20, 2016 If you've been following this blog, you know by now that one of our dearest friends and mentors, Dave Long, recently died. Like Barry [http://gentlereformation.com/2016/01/18/monday-mourning-musings/
