A Lifetime of Holy Living in a Single Decade
Pearce died at what seemed to be a very young age, but, to many of those who knew him, he seemed to have condensed a lifetime of holy living and ministry into the decade that he was at Birmingham.
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Pearce died at what seemed to be a very young age, but, to many of those who knew him, he seemed to have condensed a lifetime of holy living and ministry into the decade that he was at Birmingham.
As preachers, we want our sermons to be both accurate and impactful—true to the text and helpful to our hearers. By God’s grace, we want to see biblical information produce spiritual transformation. But we’ve learned, this doesn’t happen easily or automatically. We’ve all preached sermons that were theologically correct but still never seemed to connect. Truth was explained, but hearts weren’t engaged. The question is: how do we prepare sermons that are doctrinally solid and spiritually life-shaping? One way is to have the main points in our message do double duty. We craft them to both explain biblical truth and...
A common question I get asked as a professor and pastor is what someone should do if they feel called into ministry. I usually give the same advice, so here it is: Eight things to do to prepare yourself for a life of ministry. 1. Commit yourself to love God and love others. Of course, this is the call for all Christians. But if you want to lead other Christians into loving God and others, then you yourself need to be loving God and others. Being a ministry leader or pastor is primarily about who you are rather than what...
Living and serving in the Middle East has its unique challenges, none of which compare to the events of recent weeks. There was no pre-field training to prepare for being jolted awake in the dead of night by the adrenaline that comes from booming sounds of missile attacks that shake the windows, followed by piercing cell phone alerts that ensure your entire household is awake to experience it all. The Great Commission is not bound by wars or rumours of wars. God’s Word must be preached in season and out of season. Gospel work continues in the midst of missile...
Discouragement is inevitable when we serve in the mission of the church. We see worldly systems that, with sophistication and accuracy, promote sin and hinder the gospel. We see people show interest in the good news, but they remain unpersuaded. We see the darkness of satanic addiction and brokenness strangling families and communities, and it is called “progress”. We, the local church, may be just a small candle in hundreds (or thousands) of square kilometres of thick darkness. There are declining numbers of people going into pastoral ministry and cross-cultural gospel work. And if all that wasn’t enough, we have...
