My Philosophy of Pastoral Ministry
Introduction
Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. -(1 Timothy 3:1)[1]
The spiritual needs of a pastor’s church are unique because the people are unique; however, they are all met by the pastor through three generalized areas including preaching and teaching, leadership and guidance, and oversight and administration. Eugene Peterson explains that these visible duties of the pastor (which are like the large sides of a triangle) reflect a commitment to three integrated acts of the preacher including praying, reading Scripture, and giving spiritual direction (which are like the angles of that triangle).[2] Peterson’s “angles” match well with the Apostles’ dedication to the ministry of the Word and to prayer (Acts 6:4), and with the following argument that all of these practices require the Bible for effective ministry. This philosophy of ministry will build off the necessary role of the Bible in pastoral ministry, followed by what I deem are three critical areas for the pastor: practicing spiritual disciplines, preaching the word of God, and nurturing the people of God. While this philosophy doesn’t address every single act or duty that a pastor will face, it does address those matters of the highest importance. A noted absence is a discussion on the area of administration (I am of the persuasion that administration is best left to other elders). Also, leadership and oversight are the natural by-products of a pastor’s study, teaching and preaching, and care for the flock as the chief shepherd does. All other pastoral roles/duties are secondary to these critical areas.
The Bible’s Role in Pastoral Ministry
"The sacred and inspired Scriptures are sufficient to declare the truth”
– St. Athanasius[3]
Central to any ministry is the function and the place of Scripture as a matter of first importance and the foundation for successful ministry. This is distinctively true for pastoral ministry, and it is the foundational piece to the philosophy of ministry that unfolds in the three areas below. The Bible is paramount for preaching and teaching, for the development of the pastor’s heart and leadership, and for shepherding the flock. Thus, this philosophy of ministry begins with the teaching of the Bible and its place in pastoral ministry.
In the book of Acts, we learn that the Apostles recognized the priority of the ministry of the Word over the practical needs of food distribution, stating, “it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2). Thus, “[w]hat the apostles did in the Acts of the Apostles, when they took steps to ensure that they gave priority to prayer and the ministry of the Word…, ministers today ought to do, for their priorities are identical.”[4] Pastors are not Apostles, but the Apostles did set the example for all pastors. The call upon pastors is derived from the call of Jesus to his Apostles; thus, pastors should look to the work of the Apostles as examples of the work that they should devote themselves to. Commenting on this passage, John Piper also agrees with its application for today’s minister, stating that the “great threat to our prayer and our meditation on the Word of God is good ministry activity.”[5] Meeting practical needs was not unimportant to the Apostles, but they recognized that such good ministry activity could distract from the commanded role that they were to follow which was to meet the spiritual needs of the people. While the emphasis of the Acts passage recognizes the priority of prayer (which I contend is also an activity that must be grounded in Scripture), the ministry of the Word of God is noted as a major priority for the Apostles and by extension, all Christian ministers.
Further, the first known creedal formation of the Christian faith is said to be confirmed by Scripture. According to the Apostle Paul, “what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, emphasis added). Even the Apostle Peter declares that at the transfiguration and unveiling of Christ’s identity, had as one of its purposes to confirm what Scripture has foretold:
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”— and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:16-19, NASB).
The implication is that if both the revelation of Christ’s divinity and the Christian faith given in proclamation find their foundation in Scripture, then the work of the Christian pastor should also find its basis in Scripture as well.
As evangelical Christians, we confess this truth to be evident through revelation: “the Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”[6] Scripture testifies to this in the writings of Christ’s chosen instrument, Paul. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul provides teaching and counsel to a protégé pastor, and by extension, all those who would have the call of pastoral ministry placed upon them:
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
In this passage we see that Timothy, who is to pastor and qualify others to teach (see 2 Tim 2:1-2), is directed to maintain what he has learned with an immediate reference to Scripture, followed by a list of four things that Scripture is useful for, all to equip the servant of God for good works. Here we see that it is Scripture that provides the foundation for the work of ministry (for the pastor and all Christians). This “passage teaches not only a high view of Scripture’s authority but also its sufficiency, especially in formulating ministry plans and priorities. It demands that we begin with God and the Bible…”[7] God-breathed Scripture, according to the teaching of the Apostles, leads human beings to salvation in Christ and is also able to teach them how to be good disciples. If there was a one-line job description for pastors, certainly it would match this description: to direct human beings towards salvation in Christ and to teach them how to be good disciples. Thus, the purposes of Scripture and pastoral ministry overlap.
John Maxwell teaches that “everything rises and falls on leadership.”[8] Since ministry is about people and not programs, a pastor’s responsibility is toward the people of the church, and, thus, pastors are primarily responsible for leading their people. His ministry rises and falls on his leadership of the people. This is how a pastor is graded (c.f. Hebrews 13:17; James 3:1). Therefore, given the preceding backing for the warrant that the role of Scripture is primary in pastoral ministry, it is important to examine how this proposition might be applied by the pastor in his leadership.
The roots of practical ministry are found in the purposes of the church community.[9] This is where the pastor leads. Alex Montoya states that only “as the minister comprehends the mission of Christ’s church can he properly serve his Lord and execute the pastoral ministry.”[10] Scripture directs the pastor in his leadership of ten different areas central to the purpose of the Church as defined in the book of Acts:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42:47).
Thus, the Bible teaches pastors how to lead a congregation. The following outline seeks to demonstrate that the purposes of the Church found in this passage correspond to the pastor’s leadership, which is also firmly grounded in the teaching of Scripture:
1. The Teaching (v. 42): a pastor’s teaching is grounded in the Apostle’s teaching.
2. The Fellowship (v. 42): the NT teaches how and why the Church meets together.[11]
3. The Bread (v. 42): how the Church worships God is defined in the NT.
4. The Prayers (v. 42): the Bible teaches set prayers and to pray without ceasing.
5. The Posture (v. 43): the NT teaches the fear of the Lord as awe of God’s work.
6. The Charity (v. 45): the command to love one another is given throughout the NT.
7. The Thanksgiving (v.46): the NT teaches the Church to give thanks in all things.
8. The Praise (v. 47): the NT teaches that the Church should do all to the glory of God.
9. The Favor of the People (v. 47): the NT teaches that you win the world through love.
10. The Evangelism (v. 47): the NT teaches that God uses the Church to evangelize.
While not exhaustive, the above list and its link with the ancient Church community demonstrate that the purposes of the Church intersect with the purposes of the pastor. The pastor provides “guidance, care, and oversight for the church so that it fulfills its Christ-ordained mandate of evangelizing the world, growing into the likeness of Christ, and existing for the exaltation and worship of God.”[12] In summary, it is right and true to say that all of these things are learned, taught, caught, and applied from Scripture, through Scripture, and by Scripture. The Bible is paramount in the work of pastoral ministry.
The Pastor and the Spiritual Disciplines
"As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."- Martin Luther[13]
The prevailing teaching of the New Testament is that Christ has called us into being something before doing something. The Christian must first be before he can do; or as Ephesians 2:8-9 describes, salvation is by grace through faith and it is a gift from God, not of works. And yet, we are alive in Christ, created to do good works (Ephesians 2:5; 10). Something has indeed happened to us in salvation, as Paul proclaims in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This seems to indicate that a fundamental change has occurred even though the old nature continues to wrestle the new within us. Thus, a Christian must be before he can do. Rather than the prevailing wisdom of the world to construct an identity around what you do, that is, to“do-be, do-be, do;” Christians are to be a new creation prior to doing the work of the kingdom, which is to “be-do, be-do, be-do.”
This being before doing is no different for the pastor. John Piper decries any attempt to professionalize the pastorate. He says, “[h]ow do you carry a cross professionally?” and “[b]rothers, we are not professionals!”[14] The point is that pastors are just as much a part of the church body in their leadership role as all other members. To relegate the tasks of preaching/teaching, praying, and providing spiritual direction to the realms of a professional is to “peddle the word of God for profit” (2 Corinthians 2:17). Prime and Begg provide specific examples: this could look like someone reading the Bible for the sake of finding application for others rather than applying it to their life; or it could look like praying for someone publicly but not praying that way or at all in private; or may it could look like doing the job of ministry only because it is what is expected of a minister.[15] The primary motivation for any ministry assignment should be that it pleases the Lord, which ultimately is how we can find joy in it. Dr. Scott Moody states, “who you are with the Lord is far more important than what you’ll ever do for the Lord.”[16] Thus, a minister’s first task is always to walk with Jesus. A good and proper means for doing that is through the Spirit-led, Church provided, and Scripturally sound spiritual disciplines. Moody again comments, “the first task of ministry is to walk with Jesus through the spiritual disciplines; he will then show you what to do in ministry.”[17] In summary, the pastor is a church member who has been called to worship, serve, pray, fast, read and hear Scripture, love God, and love people just like all other church members.
Regarding the disciplines themselves, two things must be said before exploring their practice. First, we must understand that the disciplines themselves are a means and not an end. In fact, Dallas Willard states that the “disciplines are like medicine, the ideal situation is that you don’t need them; the disciplines are not righteousness, they are wisdom.”[18] Second, we must know that:
knowing and enjoying Jesus is the final end [of the spiritual disciplines]…the means of grace, and their many good expressions, will serve to make us more like him, but only as our focus returns continually to Christ himself, not our own Christlikeness. It is in “beholding the glory of the Lord” that we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18)…the heart is knowing and enjoying Jesus[19]
With those two distinctive in place, it is now time to expand this philosophy of the spiritual disciplines as a means of holiness and knowing Jesus towards its application and practice. The disciplines will be described from three Christ-centered perspectives which are hearing his voice, having his ear, and being his body.[20]
In hearing God’s voice, we focus on God’s special revelation given to us in Scripture, which the Lord puts forth “to preserve and propagate the truth better and to establish and comfort the church with greater certainty against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world.”[21] Thus the discipline associated with this perspective is Bible intake. If the Bible is θεόπνευστος (God-Breathed) and is appointed as God’s primary means of revealing His persons and His will so that we might hear and know Him, then no other discipline is more important than Bible intake for the pastor because the pastor is to lead others to know God and to be known by God. This discipline can include a Bible reading practice, study, memorizing Scripture, journaling, hearing the preached Word, and meditation. Given the prominence of Scripture for pastoral ministry discussed above, this is a discipline that must saturate the pastor as he keeps in step with the Spirit.
In the domain of having God’s ear, the Christian and the pastor is to be a man who calls God “Father.” A Father hears his son, and “prayer is the principle expression of our relationship to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[22] Because Christians are adopted in Christ, and Christ is our mediator, and the Holy Spirit is our promised helper and advocate, then the Father hears our prayers and He answers them. God, indeed, leads all of His people to pray through the teaching of Scripture and the model of Jesus who prayed continuously (Luke 5:16). Further, God has commanded His sons to pray and it is “a command of love…in His love He desires to communicate with us and to bless us.”[23] Since pastors are Christians and Christians have received the Greatest Command to Love God with all of our heart, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:36-40), then to pray to God is an act of love. The Father wants to hear from his sons, and the son learns from the Father in the act of prayer.
Prayer and Bible intake have always gone together in Christian practice. This is true for the ancient practice of lectio divina (divine reading) which includes “[r]epetitious reading, thoughtful and extended reflection on individual words or phrases, prayerful reflection on our own lives in the light of our meditation, and finally silent resting in the love of God”[24] In other words, you listen to the Scriptures, meditate on them, and then respond prayerfully. I am an advocate for the A.C.T.S method of prayer (although I prefer to switch the T and the S) because I think they provide a proper flow for approaching God: prayers of Adoration, prayers of Confession, prayers of Thanksgiving, and finally, prayers of Supplication. One could read, listen and meditate on a passage of Scripture and then respond in prayer to God using this method which provides for the dialogue of God speaking to and God hearing his children. Finally, prayer and Scripture go together because God has already put them together by Inspiring the Psalms. Eugene Peterson states that the five-book arrangement of the Psalms matches the five-book arrangement of the Torah, thus, “for every word that God speaks to us, there must be an answering word from us;” any proper response to God’s Word is taught to us, and caught by us when we pray the Psalms continuously.[25] The pastor, if he is to be the leader and under-shepherd of his people and a man after God’s own heart, must be a man of prayer and the Bible teaches each of us how to do it through the inspired Psalms.
Finally, the pastor is a church member, one who has a certain role of leadership in the church, but he is certainly still a church member and that means that he must be about being part of the body of Christ. As pastors, “the most powerful influence we can have upon people is example.”[26] Nowhere is this more apparent than in the participation of the pastor in church gatherings and meetings, including the Sunday worship service. A pastor exemplifies being a son of God in this setting more than anywhere else. This includes all the aspects of public worship and prayer, along with a life dedicated to Great Commission living. The danger in this area is to substitute setting an example from a personal commitment to the body. God wants quality of life for his son, including his sons who serve as pastors, and not quantity of service. Service to the corporate body should not and cannot substitute quality of participation.[27] The pastor’s devotional life begins in his solitude practices (Bible intake and prayer) but spills over into his congregational participation as a member of the body of Christ. Thus, he fulfills two things at one time: being a son and being an example.
Preaching the Word: Pastoral Preaching
“For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Torah of Adonai, to observe and to teach its statues and ordinances in Israel.” – Ezra 7:10, TLV[28]
The pastor’s greatest privilege is the study of Scripture and the expounding, explanation, and exhortation of the Scriptures through preaching and teaching. And since Jesus Christ is the pattern and example for all His under-shepherds, then “preaching claims priority in our work. He began his public ministry by standing up to read the Scriptures in the synagogue” and He went about preaching the good news for the majority of His ministry.[29] Furthermore, the Great Commission suggests that preaching and teaching are vital because they are a primary means for “making disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Thus, if we are to follow after our master, then preaching the Bible and the good news is a foremost task if not the primary task.
Of vital importance is how the pastor approaches the text of Scripture for the task of preaching a sermon. Begg and Prime suggest that the delivery of a sermon must balance both preaching and teaching the text; teaching gives the people an understanding of God’s truth whereas preaching appeals to their wills and their emotions to respond to the Word that they now understand.[30] This is best accomplished through the methodology of expository preaching, where the text is privileged over and above the historical/cultural background; this is what Abraham Kuruvilla describes as “not merely a plain glass window that the reader can look through (to discern some event behind it). Rather, the narrative is a stained-glass window that the reader must look at.”[31] The text itself provides the teaching of God’s Word and from it, we draw application and exhortation.
The text of Scripture is like a stained-glass window through which the reader looks at versus a clear window through which he looks through. This suggests that the text itself is the determiner of the ideas that we need to grasp. One approach to Scripture might picture it as a window to the spiritual world with little concern for what the text is communicating. This is a move directly to application (Begg and Prime’s “preaching”), and the meaning of the text may or may not actually be connected to this application. A common occurrence of this is found in popular devotionals, where a small portion of Scripture is used as a proof text for a large portion of self-help material. To do this in a sermon is to skip the first step of expository preaching, which is determining what the text says. This is a hermeneutical mistake. We must first understand what the text says before we can grasp what it means for us and then apply it to our life situation. Our purpose in preaching isn’t to look at the issues of the outside world and develop a sermon that addresses those needs, using Scripture as a spiritualizing starting point. Rather, Scripture is the starting point, and the portrait that it paints for us gives us God-Communicated ideas in the world of Scripture that can then be applied to our lives in the world of today.
To do this all effectively the preacher must not only exegete the text of Scripture, but he must also exegete his people. Prime and Begg suggest that these two things come together in the task of preaching and the best preaching occurs when the preacher knows his people well because he knows how best to balance the tasks of teaching (explaining the text) and preaching (exhorting the wills of the people). They state that the “more we know the people we teach, the more sensitive we will be to the necessary mixture of teaching and preaching required in every message.”[32] I think that this is vitally important, and it underscores my belief that the task of preaching is ultimately the responsibility of the pastor(s) of the local church body, who must know his God, the Scriptures, and his people to be an effective preacher for the people. This also provides grounds for a key belief that I maintain that a Biblical church is a smaller church- it is impossible for a pastor to know all of the people in a larger or mega-sized church. He cannot exegete the people if he does not know them. The pastor must know his people to fulfill his call to preach effectively.
In John Stott’s classic work Between Two Worlds, he writes: “[t]he essential secret is not mastering certain techniques but being mastered by certain convictions. In other words, theology is more important than methodology.”[33] Pastor Tony Merida comments that there are many convictions that the preaching pastor should have including that they “go to the pulpit because they love the Bible; not go to the Bible because they love the pulpit” and that personal holiness is what maintains ministry.[34] What Stott is suggesting about theology being more important than methodology is about how our theology informs our practices. For Merida, these are personal convictions that shape our character. This resonates with me because it speaks to the right order of our passions concerning the preaching ministry. If these are disordered, then the message is distorted. In our contemporary situation, an unfortunate abundance of examples has proven just how much and how often a lack of personal holiness has destroyed the preaching ministry of many pastors. I believe that personal holiness is the pathway to steering clear from compromise; that is, the preacher must practice what he preaches. Ultimately, this occurs through a reliance on the grace of God, the relationship that we have with Christ, and the practice of obedience as a hearer and doer of the Word. When this comes first, holiness is practiced, ministry is maintained, and the preacher is effective in his calling and task.
Shepherding the Flock: Nurturing the Congregation
“Those particular people within the whole church who have been especially set aside to look after what concerns us as creatures who are going to live forever.”
– C. S. Lewis[35]
The pastor is more than a preacher and a teacher, he is also a shepherd. As Eugene Peterson puts it, he is a spiritual director who meets the needs of another person by helping them pay attention to what God is doing in one (or both) of their lives and to respond to it by faith.[36] He defines this task as:
Teaching people to pray, helping parishioners discern the presence of grace in events and feelings, affirming the presence of God at the very heart of life, sharing a search for light through a dark passage in the pilgrimage, guiding the formation of a self-understanding that is biblically spiritual instead of merely psychological or sociological.[37]
Thus, shepherding the flock is helping people work through the circumstances of life from a theological perspective. That is why spiritual direction is an apt description of the task. Furthermore, it coincides with the principle of knowing your people as a primary catalyst for writing effective sermons. A preacher who doesn’t know his people is just that… he is a preacher, not a pastor. A pastor recognizes that a ministerial call during the preparation of a sermon is not an interruption because the people are the ministry not the tasks of the pastor. Therefore, he sees as a primary pastoral objective is to see his people “progress in the faith so that their joy in the Lord Jesus Christ overflows (Philippians 1:25-26).”[38] Thus, the people will glorify God and enjoy him. This is the goal of spiritual direction, and it is what it means to shepherd God’s people.
While the centrality of preaching, teaching, and prayer is the pastor’s most important task, it does not mean that personal work with individuals/families is unnecessary or optional. In the first place, the point of those tasks is always for leading the people to God. Also, the same Holy Spirit who inspired Acts 2 and described the work of the Apostles and the functions of the Church, also inspired the pastoral epistles that commanded Timothy and Titus (and all subsequent Christian Elders) to aspire to do personal work.[39] Our prime example, as always, is Jesus who preached to crowds, taught in the synagogues, and had long hours of devotion, study, and prayer but who always spent time with individuals and small groups of people. He made it a priority and so should his under-shepherds. This can look like practicing hospitality in the pastor’s home, loving neighbors with your people, fishing for men with your men, providing godly counsel, sharing God’s truth in difficult situations and/or death, visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, providing for the poor, and being present at critical moments in the life of God’s people. The pastor is a church member who leads and loves his fellow church members. This requires individual personal work. As Fred Melone describes, the pastor only has to do as much work as Jesus did and still does.[40]
The key spiritual disciplines inform the pastor on all manner of tasks associated with pastoral care. Prime and Begg state that the pastor is “a doctor of souls.”[41] In this regard, nothing is more important as intercessory prayer. The pastor pleads before the throne room of God for his people. However, the Bible intake plays an equally important role in preparing the pastor to proceed with discernment and Biblical wisdom and skill to “prescribe the remedy Scripture provides” as a doctor of the soul.[42] Thus, the pastor is through and through a man of the Word and of prayer, but these are means towards the end of making disciples whose lives are crucified with Christ and alive in Him to experience His joy together as the people of God. This happens in the pulpit and in the small moments of the people’s lives.
Conclusion
While the scope of this philosophy of ministry is far from exhaustive, I believe that it shapes the pattern of thoughts and discernment concerning what it means to be a pastor. This, I have gained throughout my training and practice. It is a presupposition that my priority is to be a disciple who follows Jesus- with all that it entails. From there, I believe that a pastor must be saturated in Biblical intake for it is used in every aspect of pastoral ministry. I believe that the people are the ministry, not the tasks of the pastor. I confess that the pastor is a member of the Church who leads and participates in his local church body, all with the intent to Glorify God, through Christ, and to enjoy Him for now and all eternity. I believe that the greatest privilege and task of the pastor is to preach the Word of God to his brothers and sisters. And I believe that the pastor is to lead his people as a nurturing shepherd who offers spiritual direction so that the people of God may see the hand of God in all of life. As an instrument of God, the pastor, as with all other Christians, will do well to pray, read the Bible, and offer the wisdom of God to others. It is the pastors calling to lead in these areas.
[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise notated.
[2] Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pub Co, 1989), 3.
[3] Saint Athanasius, The Complete Works of St. Athanasius (20 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible, trans. Philip Schaff (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Public Domain, 2016), 5.
[4] Derek J. Prime and Alistair Begg, On Being a Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work, New edition (Moody Publishers, 2013), 21.
[5] John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 59-60.
[6] Stan Reeves, The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English (Cape Coral, Florida: Founders Press, 2021), 11.
[7] John MacArthur, Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2005), 11.
[8] John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You (HarperCollins Leadership, 2022), Kindle edition, 70.
[9] MacArthur, 50.
[10] Ibid, 51.
[11] NT = New Testament
[12] MacArthur, 58.
[13] John Blanchard, The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians (Evangelical Press, 2006), 227.
[14] Piper, 2.
[15] Prime and Begg, 85.
[16] Dr. Scott Moody, “The Calling of a Pastor.” Online class lecture, CM7402- The Work of Ministry from Luther Rice College & Seminary, Lithonia, GA, January 16, 2023.
[17] Ibid.
[18] “Dallas Willards Daily Practices.” Online class lecture, CM7402- The Work of Ministry from Luther Rice College & Seminary, Lithonia, GA, February 4, 2023.
[19] David Mathis and John Piper, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines (Crossway, 2016), 30.
[20] I am using this tripartite division of the disciplines based on David Mathis’ division in Habits of Grace.
[21] Reeves, The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English, 11.
[22] Prime and Begg, 62.
[23] Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Enlarged-Revised edition (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014), 82.
[24] Hans Boersma, Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2023), 6-7.
[25] Peterson, 55-56.
[26] Prime and Begg, 86.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Tree of Life version, see Tree of Life Bible Society, https://tlvbiblesociety.org/pages/our-translation
[29] Prime and Begg, 117.
[30] Ibid, 119.
[31] Abraham Kuruvilla, Privilege the Text!: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching, Kindle edition (Moody Publishers, 2013), 104.
[32] Prime and Begg, 120.
[33] John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century (Eerdmans Pub Co, 1982), 92.
[34] Tony Merida, “The Essential Secret of Preaching,” Desiring God (blog), August 19, 2014, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-essential-secret-of-preaching.
[35] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1976), 97.
[36] Peterson, 150.
[37] Ibid, 151.
[38] Prime and Begg, 144.
[39] Tom Ascol, Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry (Cape Coral: Founders Press, 2016), 166-167.
[40] Ibid, 175.
[41] Prime and Begg, 153.
[42] Prime and Begg, 154.