The links I put here week by week are meant to have particular interest to pastors. Not exclusively, but generally.
This week begins with a preaching sort of theme.
At the Gospel Coalition, David Murray outlines the reasons behind his answer to the question: “Can I be called to the ministry, if I dread sermon preparation?” in a post entitled, oddly enough, ‘A Preacher Who Dreads Sermon Prep?’> Murray also offers a piece entitled: ‘Pastoral Ministry Like Having a Baby.’
David Meredith reflects on a conversation between C.J. Mahaney and Mark Dever in which Dever reveals that it takes ‘Thirty five hours to prepare a sermon!’.
Back at the Gospel Coalition there is a link to an older article from Don Carson about ‘Why Expository Preaching?’
The six reasons outlined in Carson’s article:
1. It is the method least likely to stray from Scripture.
2. It teaches people how to read their Bibles.
3. It gives confidence to the preacher and authorizes the sermon.
4. It meets the need for relevance without letting the clamor for relevance dictate the message.
5. It forces the preacher to handle the tough questions.
6. It allows the preacher to expound systematically the whole counsel of God.
Justin Taylor quotes ‘wise counsel from Millard Erickson’:
“Most persons in ministry will be called on to interpret the message at a level about one step below where they are personally; they should also try to study some theology at least one step above their position in order to remain intellectually alive and growing.”
John Piper takes us all the way back to 1986 and tells us ‘How I Almost Quit.’
Kevin DeYoung had a busy week, but still took time to introduce us to Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen ‘A Forgotten Voice.’
That’s your lot.
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