What is the central focus of our preaching?“That was a great sermon, Pastor!” “Pastor, you sure can tell a story. You really told it like it is in that sermon!” “Pastor, you really stepped on my toes. I like it when you make me squirm in my seat.” So go the comments to the typical … Continue reading Why Do We Preach? Understanding Our Audience of One
Author: Valley Shepherds
For God’s People, Silence is Not an Option
Last week, I heard a woman give a short testimony from a favorite passage of mine found in Jeremiah 20. In that passage, the prophet Jeremiah is weary. He’s been beaten (literally) by people he’d thought were his friends, betrayed by his own family and continually ridiculed for delivering a message that God had given … Continue reading For God’s People, Silence is Not an Option
Guarding Your Heart: A Plea to Church Leaders
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 When a person looks to buy a new car, they generally notice the sound system, upholstery, or the way it looks. But, if you think about it, the engine is the most important feature of any car, because … Continue reading Guarding Your Heart: A Plea to Church Leaders
Pursuing Unity and Purity with Civility
Pastoring a church today is challenging on many fronts. One of those fronts is navigating the biblical call for maintaining unity among the local and global body of Christ, and the call for pursuing the purity of the local and global church as well. A pastor can feel like a pinball getting knocked around between … Continue reading Pursuing Unity and Purity with Civility
Giving Priority to Your Local Church Pastor
A quick search of “Sermons” on Youtube will generate video images of Billy Graham, T.D. Jakes, John Piper, Craig Groeschel, Dr. Charles Stanley, and Matt Chandler. If you want to have some fun, search funniest or worst sermons. A quick search on google for "sermons" will result in 146,000,000 results in .51 seconds. Yikes! The … Continue reading Giving Priority to Your Local Church Pastor
The Slow Fade of Dying Embers (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3: I Kings 3, 11)
The man behind the book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most intriguing in all of Scripture. He is a case study in one whose heart lost its heat for God throughout a lifetime. His life prompts me to ask, How do giants redwoods of the faith fall from grace? Recently, the Christian world was … Continue reading The Slow Fade of Dying Embers (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3: I Kings 3, 11)
Theological Triage and Local Church Cooperation (Part II)
Triage is a necessity in the medical world; it is a matter of life and death. In the world of theology, it can also mean spiritual or physical life and death. In the last post on this topic, we considered the importance of fleshing out the brilliant statement by Rupert Meldinius in the 17th Century … Continue reading Theological Triage and Local Church Cooperation (Part II)
Theological Triage and Local Church Cooperation (Part I)
In 1627, German Lutheran Theologian, Rupertus Meldenius, penned a tract on Christian Unity, in which he writes, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity."[1] These words provide a framework for how believers can respond to one another when we disagree. Meldinius's words are a distant echo from the Scriptures, which call believers … Continue reading Theological Triage and Local Church Cooperation (Part I)
The Burden of Pines and Pastors
The snow and ice fell on a row of heavy-laden pines which border my property and a busy road next to my home. The beauty is portrait quality in high definition, and I cannot look away. My mind wanders to distant memories of building snow forts with my sister and rolling snowmen with my children. … Continue reading The Burden of Pines and Pastors
Pastoral Resilience: Enduring for the Sake of the Gospel
Pastoral Resilience One of the strands woven into leaders' character in the community of faith throughout millennia is resilience. In both the Old and New Testament and in the chronicles of extra-biblical history, this one single strand of character is irreducible. In the world of the 21st century Pastor, it is relevant and necessary. In … Continue reading Pastoral Resilience: Enduring for the Sake of the Gospel
Valley Shepherds 