Pastoral Theology

Primary or Secondary Importance? Jonathan and James are enjoying a conversation about doctrines of primary and secondary importance. What are these doctrines, and how may we distinguish them? Can our clear understanding of certain doctrines help us determine their importance? Our hosts carefully...

Wilhelmus á Brakel (1635-1711) wrote that “the modulation of our voices at a suitable rhythm is capable of unlocking our hearts and stirring our emotions, God thus willing that we lift up our hearts to Him in singing... However, our voice and the melody in and of themselves are not pleasing to God...

When you recite the Apostles’ Creed you join with Christians across time and space in affirming the basics of the Christian gospel. First appearing around AD 390 the creed is an apt summation of the history of creation, providence, and redemption and the trinitarian God who stands behind and...

How much is prayer a priority in the life of those who are called to the ministry? It is a probing question, because it relates largely to the hidden life of ministers. In that sense, if we who are ministers are honest, it is also an embarrassing question; because the answer may well be that it...

Jesus is simultaneously the master theologian and the perfect pastor. He sets the deepest of truths before his people, but in a way that pastorally meets their deepest needs. This should give pause for thought for thought on different fronts. It says something to theologians and those who love...

Quite a while ago, I met a woman with whom I had attended a particular church several years earlier. At the time of our meeting we were both worshiping in different congregations. In the midst of the conversation, having discovered that I was reformed in my theology, she informed me that she too...

When we speak of God as our Father, it is immediately plain that we are expressing a belief that is unique to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Of course, to the extent that other religious or philosophical systems maintain that the world owes its allegiance to some kind of deity, in a very general or...

Among the early English Puritans, none has greater pastoral insight and enduring readability than Richard Sibbes. This blog hopes to honor his classic work, The Bruised Reed. First published in 1630, it opens with Matthew 12:18-21, which cites Isaiah 42. Behold, my servant whom I have chosen... a...

Many have known the Apostle’s Creed from youth. Likely, it is the most popular creed in Christendom. The Anglican Prayer Book simply calls it, The Creed, like Thomas simply called Aristotle, the Philosopher. It has primacy of place. And Christians have treated it that way. Universally, it seems to...

It is in that well worn and wonderful passage of John chapter 3 where the apostle tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But previously in that very same chapter Jesus tells us that God must also...