In this excerpt from Pastoral Ethics: Moral Formation as Life in the Trinity, W. Ross Hastings summarizes the current difficulties confronting pastoral ethics and emphasizes the subject’s theological grounding. There are many reasons why pastoral ethics is an excruciatingly challenging subject in this era of human history. First, the matter of the moral formation of
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Communicate Well By Illustrating Well
In this excerpt from Illustrating Well, Jim L. Wilson reflects on the importance clear and relevant preaching illustrations can be to communicating a message, and how prophets throughout the Bible used those same principles. In preaching, the goal is not exclusively to communicate the preacher’s idea; it is to communicate the meaning that the biblical
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The Last Enemy: A Personal Reflection on Christ & Calamity
I hate death. Early that grim morning my wife died I told my closest friend and confidant: “I wish I was more fluent in profanity; I have a few choice words for the devil.” “Until death parts us” Jane and I pledged each other one bright September day more than fifty years ago. True, there
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Pastoral Leadership: An Interview with Harold Senkbeil and Lucas Woodford
Pastors are entrusted with the care of a flock by the Good Shepherd and are called to be faithful to this task. But pastoring seems to be getting more and more difficult. In Pastoral Leadership: For the Care of Souls, Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford present a set of practical tools for church
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Pastors, Band Together to Strengthen One Another
In this excerpt from Small Preaching: 25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Make You a Better Preacher, Jonathan Pennington encourages pastors to form strong bonds with fellow pastors to strengthen one another. On October 25, 1415, Saint Crispin’s Day, English King Henry V stood before his army of roughly 9,000 near the village
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The Lexham Ministry Guides: An Interview with Harold Senkbeil and Todd Hains
The Lexham Ministry Guides offer practical, proven wisdom for the church. Edited by Harold L. Senkbeil, these books will help you better serve the Savior’s sheep and lambs with confidence. In this interview with Senkbeil and Lexham Academic Editor Todd Hains, we discuss the vision for this series and how it stands out against other
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Stewardship: An Interview with Nathan Meador
Stewardship of time, talents, and treasure isn’t just about sustaining the material of the church. It’s about guiding those resources in service of the church’s primary mission: proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. In Stewardship: For the Care of Souls, Nathan Meador and Heath R. Curtis present a practical theology of stewardship focused on
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A Fresh, Biblical Focus on Stewardship
In this excerpt from Stewardship: For the Care of Souls, Nathan Meador and Heath Curtis present a practical theology of stewardship rooted in our shared identity as image bearers established in Genesis. This is yet another book about stewardship; however, this is not just another book on stewardship. Most books on stewardship focus on money
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Funerals: An Interview with Tim Perry
Fear of death affects us all, and so pastors have significant hurdles to overcome. What Christians need today is a renewed vision of the traditional Christian funeral liturgy. In Funerals: For the Care of Souls, Tim Perry recovers the rich theology inherent to the Christian funeral: communion with the saints in death, peace in forgiveness,
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Recovering the Christian Way of Death
In this excerpt from Funerals: For the Care of Souls, Tim Perry examines the dysfunctional relationship we have with death and how we can recover a Christian imagination of death. “Remember that you will die.” It was a phrase a slave was said to have whispered into the ear of a victorious Roman general as
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