Faithfulness in Pastoral Labor

In pastoral ministry, faithfulness and obedience aren't merely immediate, existing only in the here and now. They are long term. A category is needed for faithfulness and for obedience over time. For example, the righteous and justified use of corrective church discipline may not be the way of faithfulness now, especially if there is not a culture of formative discipline and discipleship. Excommunicating non-attenders may need to happen, but wisdom may say wait. Long term faithfulness looks like patiently establishing a culture of discipleship and then pursuing corrective discipline as needed.

Such wisdom requires both a clear vision of ministry and this category of 'delayed' faithfulness and obedience.

"Father, I need a long term, big picture view of faithfulness and obedience in pastoral ministry. Give me wisdom, I am lacking. Amen."

Staff Meetings at CHBC

In the spring of 2008, I had the privelege of interning at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. The follow post was written in the latter part of that year. Since perspective is helpful and many will never enjoy one of these meetings, I post it now--at long last--to serve you as you consider your own church's staff meetings.
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CHBC Staff Meeting

• The pastoral staff sit at the table. Interns create an outer circle around them, generally just listening in.
• The weekly meetings usually run just over 2 hours.

(1) Mark hands out his junk mail which might be of interest. Some gems, lots of trash.

(2) A prayer focus is given (linked to the focus for the next Sunday gather).
(3) Passage to be preached the next Sunday is read aloud.
(4) The staff prays through the passage and one page from the member directory.
(5) The calendar for the next month plus is gone through week by week so all are on the same page and fully informed.
(6) Each staff member presents their printed agendas for the week to come and any items to raise.
(7) All are asked about lunch plans and stragglers are paired up.
(8) The staff meeting is closed in prayer.

The Indicative/Imperative Relationship and the Old Testament's If/Then Statements: An Impasse? -- Part 1

I am in the middle of a 9 week overview series on the book of Deuteronomy. The significant structure, declarative nature, and theological depth of the book make it a favorite to study and a real joy to teach. But it also provides a few challenges to the Christian reader. The conditional 'if/then' statements are one such challenge. In their positive form, they basically follow this pattern: 'If you obey, then you will receive....'

The indicative/imperative relationship provides a useful paradigm for understanding God's relationship to his people and for his people's relationship to Himself.

In the NT, this relationship is often explicit in the text and always implicit in the literary and/or theological context. In Paul, the relationship can be seen within the structure of whole epistles (Romans [1-11/12-16] and Ephesians [1-3/4-6]) and within countless single sentences. Of the latter, Galatians 5:1 is a clear example.
--Indicative: "For freedom Christ has set us free;"
--Imperative: "stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Oftentimes the NT authors use 'therefore' to clearly mark the imperative as a subordinate inference of the indicative. Whether or not such a marker is present, the relationship is always "indicative; therefore, imperative." It is never "imperative; therefore, indicative." Theologically, the relationship is always "You are accepted by God in Christ; therefore, obey" and never "You obey; therefore, you are accepted by God."

But what about the OT? Does this indicative/imperative relationship require the Christian gospel for its indicative truths? Is it thus necessarily unique to the NT? Or do the OT authors use other indicative truths to ground their imperatives? If so, are the indicative truths always implicitly redemptive? That is, does the OT always follow this same indicative/imperative relationship implicitly, if not explicitly?

To put it frankly, how does one handle the common 'if/then' sentences, especially in the Torah? Aren't these conditional sentences antithetical to the indicative/imperative relationship patterned in the NT?

To answer these question, I'd like to use Deuteronomy as my test case. In posts to follow, focus will be given to the general stipulations of chapters 5-11 and to the conditional (if/then) formulas repeated throughout Deuteronomy.

So thankful for His righteousness . . .

"I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it." --J. Gresham Machen

Ordination at Kenwood

I had the privilege of being ordained yesterday at Kenwood Baptist Church. Jim Hamilton preached from Acts 20 before the elders and others laid hands and Mike Thompson prayed for Suemi and I.

Jim Hamilton's sermon deserves the ear of every gospel minister and every would-be gospel minster. It was a robust challenge rooted in gospel realities and adorned with rhetorical beauty. As such, it was typical of the sermons by Jim which God has used to establish my marriage and ministry these last few years.

Jim ended by reading this poem which he wrote for the occasion, titled "Commission You Do We This Day."

There is, my friend, no higher call
Than this we send you on with all
Our hearts, our souls, our minds we join
Both to rejoice and also mourn

The moving on of these so dear,
You've loved and served us so well here
That this sweet sadness deepens now
As though the grief is right somehow

We'd love to see your children born
Watch them grow and sing and learn;
And old together we might grow,
But there's a deeper joy we'll know

As you answer the call and go,
Our joy and grief together show
That there's a love worth more than life,
A truth that merits sacrifice,

So join we how the ranks of those
Whose love in leaving deeper grows
Commission you do we this day
Giving God the thanks and praise.

Tone Matters in the Engagement of Beliefs

When confronted with an alternate position, one's tone in engagement should be less ‘How can they believe this?’ and more ‘How did they come to believe this?’


In The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, I think Noll missteps with his tone a handful of times. Perhaps he is seeking to provoke evangelicals to think even as he tips his hand on issues like creationism and politics.

When an evangelical mind like Noll asks me 'How can you believe this?' about doctrine I hold, I certainly am compelled to ask 'How did I come to believe this?' of myself. And for this I'm grateful.

Jim Elliot in a Letter to His Brother Bob

"Sometimes one is conscious of spiritual life only because he is still struggling to maintain it, not at all because he is purposefully living it."

--Jim Elliot