Tag Archives: Pastoring

The Highest Motive for Missions

Posted on by under John R. W. Stott

If God desires every knee to bow to Jesus and every tongue to confess Him, so should we. We should be ‘jealous’ for the honor of His name—troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be given the honor and glory which are due to it.

The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Only one imperialism is Christian, and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire or kingdom. Before this supreme goal of the Christian mission, all unworthy motives wither and die.

John Stott, The Message of Romans (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1994), 53.

HT: Of First Importance

Pray for Your Pastor

Posted on by under Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Let me take the opportunity in this post to plug one of my Twitter accounts. Follow me on @prayer4pastors. On Sunday mornings I text these prayers to Twitter as well as to several pastor friends to encourage them as they prepare to enter their pulpits.  Retweet the prayer to your pastor to let him know that you are praying for him.

A congregation that does not pray for the ministry of its pastor is no longer a congregation. A pastor who does not pray daily for his congregation is no longer a pastor.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

The Deeply Personal War of Pastoral Ministry

Posted on by under Paul Tripp

Perhaps we have forgotten that pastoral ministry is a war and that you will never live successfully in the pastorate if you live with a peacetime mentality…. The fundamental battle of pastoral ministry is not with the shifting values of the surrounding culture. It is not the struggle with resistant people who don’t seem to esteem the gospel. It is not the fight for the success of the ministries of the church. And it is not the constant struggle of resources and personnel to accomplish the mission. No, the war of the pastorate is a deeply personal war. It is fought on the ground of the pastor’s heart. It is a war of values, allegiances, and motivations. It is about subtle desires and foundational dreams. This war is the greatest threat to every pastor.

Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 98.

The Great Design for the Christian Preacher

Posted on by under Cotton Mather

The great design and intention of the office of a Christian preacher are to restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men; to display in the most lively colours, and proclaim in the clearest language, the wonderful perfections, offices, and grace of the Son of God; and to attract the souls of men into a state of everlasting friendship with Him.’

Cotton Mather in John MacArthur, 1 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 199.