Tag Archives: Pastoring

Christ Ought to Be All in a Ministry

Posted on by under J. C. Ryle

I might tell you how Christ ought to be all in a ministry. The great work which ordained men are intended to do, is to lift up Christ. We are to be like the pole on which the brazen serpent was hung. We are useful so long as we exalt the great object of faith, but useful no further. We are to be ambassadors to carry tidings to a rebellious world, about the King’s Son, and if we teach men to think more about us and our office than about Him, we are not fit for our place. The Spirit of Christ, will never honor that minister who does not testify of Christ —who does not make Christ “all.”

original emphasis, J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

The Fear in Leadership

Posted on by under Mark Dever

Leadership is about fearing God more than others do.  Leadership is about  revering God’s name.  Leadership is not about taking pleasure in who God is and what He is like.  Leadership is about making the chief end of your life helping, instructing, and challenging others to revere and delight in God’s name as well.

Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006), 437.

The Reason I Get up in the Morning

Posted on by under Paul Tripp

No matter what is or isn’t working in my ministry, no matter what difficulties or battles I am facing, the expansive glory of God gives me reason to get up in the morning and do what I have been gifted and called to do with enthusiasm, courage, and confidence. My joy isn’t handcuffed to the surrounding circumstances or relationships; I don’t have to have my heart yanked wherever they go. I have reason for joy because I am a chosen child and a conscripted servant of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the great Creator, the Savior, the sovereign, the victor, the one who does reign and will reign forever. He is my Father, my Savior, and my boss. He is ever near and ever faithful. My passion for ministry is not about how I am being received; it flows out of the reality that I have been received by him. My enthusiasm is not because people like me, but because he has accepted and sent me. My passion is not the result of my ministry being as glorious as I thought it could be, but because he is eternally and unchangeably glorious. So, I preach, teach, counsel, lead, and serve with a gospel passion that inspires and ignites the same in the people around me.

Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 122-123.