According to a recent survey of 5,000 U.S. households, only 45% of those polled say they are satisfied with their jobs—down from about 60% in 1987. Yet, due to the promotion-freezing job-slashing recession, people feel stuck in these unsatisfying jobs. You could always quit. But Yale Professor Amy Wrzesniewski proposes an alternative solution in the Harvard [...]
Tag Archives: Pastorate
Scraps of Thoughts on Daily Prayer
July 13, 2010 – 12:41 PM
There are three kinds of prayer I try to find time for every day -- meditation (or contemplation), petition, and repentance. I concentrate on the first two every morning and do the last one in the evening.
Walk the Line
July 6, 2010 – 12:59 PM
Nicholas Batzig has an excellent charge to gospel ministers in the latest issue of Tabletalk magazine. Here's how he opens his article, "The Fine Line": Every Christian is to have a conscience singularly informed by the Word of God, but it is utterly indispensable for the minister of the gospel. Ministers are called to take [...]
Am I Called to the Ministry?
June 7, 2010 – 6:59 AM
I'm often asked, "How can I know if I am called to pastoral ministry?" Here is a very quick checklist of questions I would want to ask in any discussion about a call to the ministry.
The Pastor's Worst Enemy
March 29, 2010 – 6:18 AM
The pastor's worst enemy is pride, and it is a special danger for young pastors (1 Tim. 3:6). The Particular Causes of Pride Public gifts. As your gifts are exercised in public (unlike those with more private and unseen gifts and ministries), they are more likely to be recognized, admired, and praised. Official status. As [...]
The Pastor's Worst Day?
March 8, 2010 – 6:22 AM
What's the worst day of the week for pastors? Probably Monday. For the previous seven days we've poured ourselves into sermon preparation, pastoral visitation, counseling, evangelism, problem solving, prayer, etc. The Sunday climax (anti-climax?) has come and gone. We may have been discouraged by low attendances, limited or negative feedback, etc. Our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual reserves are in the red. Yet we have to climb the mountain all over again.
How Piper Almost Quit
February 16, 2010 – 6:38 AM
John Piper shares a journal entry from 24 years ago. Here's the introduction: Are you so discouraged you don’t know what to do next? I want to help you get through this. Maybe this will help. The following quote is from my journal dated November 6, 1986. I had been at Bethlehem 6 years. If [...]
Work as a Means of Sanctification
January 9, 2010 – 4:11 PM
A few years ago I was sitting with an old Pastor who had labored faithfully in one congregation for decades and yet had seen little or no "growth" in his flock. I asked him if he ever got jealous when he saw other congregations growing and other ministers being used in the salvation of souls. [...]
Anyabwile: Disciples Are Made, Not Born
October 12, 2009 – 1:01 PM
Thabiti Anyabwile has a helpful post today considering the high calling of the pastorate and how "disciples are made, not born." An excerpt: I've long been struck by the vision of pastoral ministry that comes through in the Apostle Paul's letters. He's consistently to grow both the size of the church and the depth or [...]
SAD and the Gospel of Grace
Are you SAD? from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.