The Pastor as Theologian

(Jesus asked Peter), "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
- John 21:17

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
- Acts 20:28-30

“Every pastor is called to be a theologian. This may come as a surprise to those pastors who see theology as an academic discipline taken during seminary rather than as an ongoing and central part of the pastoral calling. Nevertheless, the health of the church depends upon its pastors functioning as faithful theologians – teaching, preaching, defending, and applying the great doctrines of the faith.”
- Al Mohler, He is Not Silent, p. 105

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Last night I made the mistake of lingering on cable religious programming, and this more out of curiosity than anything. It wasn't pretty. One program seemed to be all sunshine and butterfies with its ‘pastor’ preaching a prosperity message, and the other was a long and impassioned appeal for money by an evangelist, suggesting that there was a blessing in the making if you’d only send him money. One only has to make a cursory view of both the Old and New Testaments to see the low regard God holds for religious leaders that take their role lightly and lead His people astray. Truth be known…it’s a frightening prospect and one that causes me to tremble. The pastor is called to faithful shepherding, which means he must understand the Scriptures and care for the flock in a manner that reflects the care and love of Christ. The pastor must guard, protect, lead, instruct and defend the flock, essentially in his tasks emulating the Great Shepherd, because the day will come when the pastor’s faithful shepherding and his adherence and faithfulness to proclaim the gospel message will be judged. The pastor must know what God’s word teaches and he must instruct faithfully. He must be a theologian. Really, all pastors are theologians. It’s just that there are good ones and there are bad ones. It’s a frightening prospect, but the health of Christ Our Redeemer depends upon my faithfulness as a theologian. May God give much needed grace.

Trembling in the pastoral task,

Pastor Dan

The Great Equalizer

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
- George Orwell, Animal Farm

"To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:"
-2 Peter 1:1

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
-Romans 3:21-23

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."
- Galatians 3:28-29

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,
At the end of the day you and I are no different from one another. In the Christian faith there are no Christians more equal than others. The gospel speaks to us as the great equalizer. On the one hand it shows us all our desperate need of the gospel as a result of our own incited rebellion against God and in our federal representation in Adam, and on the other hand the gospel calls attention to the all-encompassing sufficiency of Christ's substitutionary death for every sinner. The problem is the same and the remedy is the same. We all have sinned, we have all fallen woefully short. There is no room for arrogance or boasting amongst us. There is no room for looking down our noses on our brothers and sisters. There is no room for condescension. There is much room for humility and preference for one another. We're all in the same predicament and understanding our own great need of Christ and His gracious provision for us will go a long way in how we treat one another and prefer one another. The temptation is to draw lines, make comparisons, point out deficiencies, and excuse our own shortcomings. The gospel speaks to our need and to Christ's satisfaction. What initially appears to be differences in race, gender, social standing, et al, are really unimportant. In our greatest need we are truly no different from one another. Seeing this and believing it will change us. We are no different from one another; we are heirs together of the same promise.

Equally in need and equally justified with you,

Pastor Dan

Art Azurdia on Worship and John Piper on Gospel Expansion in Our Families

Dear COR Family and Friends,

Today at The Spurgeon Fellowship at Western Seminary our friend Art Azurdia gave a two-part message on worship from Revelation 4 and 5. I want to commend these great messages to you. They can be heard here http://www.thespurgeonfellowship.org/meetings/media.htm . These will change your perspective on worship.

Also, on today's Desiring God blog John Piper gives wisdom for families....

Never Let the Gospel Get Smaller
Posted: 16 Mar 2009 11:42 PM PDT
(Author: John Piper)

Here is a simple exhortation that I have been trying to implement in our family:
Seek to see and feel the gospel as bigger as years go by rather than smaller.

Our temptation is to think that the gospel is for beginners and then we go on to greater things. But the real challenge is to see the gospel as the greatest thing—and getting greater all the time.

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,
grace gets bigger;
Christ gets greater;
his death gets more wonderful;
his resurrection gets more astonishing;
the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
its global extent gets wider;
your own sin gets uglier;
the devil gets more evil;
the gospel's roots in eternity go deeper;
its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.
So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart.

Pray that it won't. Read solid books on it. Sing about it. Tell someone about it who is ignorant or unsure about it.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel.... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Copyright 2009 Desiring God,

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1687_Never_Let_the_Gospel_Get_Smaller/


Desiring to make the gospel larger in our families,


Pastor Dan

Militant Ministry

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."
- 2 Timothy 2:3-4

"And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?"
- 1 Corinthians 14:8

"The Church in the present dispensation is a militant Church, that is, she is called unto, and is actually engaged in, a holy warfare. This does not mean that she must spend her strength in self-destroying internecine struggles, but that she is duty bound to carry on an incessant warfare against the hostile world in every form in which it reveals itself, whether in the Church or outside of it, and against all the spiritual forces of darkness. The church may not spend all her time in prayer and meditation, however necessary and important these may be, nor may she rest her oars in the peaceful enjoyment of her spiritual heritage. She must be engaged with all her might in the battles of her Lord, fighting in a war that is both offensive and defensive."
- Louis Berkof, Systematic Theology, p. 565

Lead on, O King eternal,the day of march has come;

henceforth in fields of conquest, thy tents shall be our home:

through days of preparation

thy grace has made us strong,

and now, O King eternal,we lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal, till sin's fierce war shall cease,

and holiness shall whisper the sweet Amen of peace;

for not with swords loud clashing,

nor roll of stirring drums,

but deeds of love and mercy,the heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal: we follow not, not with fears;

for gladness breaks like morning

where'er thy face appears.

Thy cross is lifted o'er us; we journey in its light:

the crown awaits the conquest; lead on, O God of might!

-Lead on O King Eternal, Ernest W. Shurtleff, 1888

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

One of the phrases handed to us by our predecessors in the faith describes the Body of Christ as the 'church militant'. Far from being descriptive of the church as a belligerent combatant, this term simply means the church marches to an entirely different set of orders and submits to a different Commanding Officer than the rest of the world. As she engages the battle the church must look and act different than the world around her. She gets her directives from the reigning King. The church cannot be a passive observer of culture or remain indifferent to battles within her walls. Whether we like it or not God has called us to engage in offensive and defensive warfare both inside and outside of the church. We are the church militant and God has called us to faithful engagement. As good soldiers we must ask what will our roles will be in the church militant.

Serving as a soldier together with you,

Pastor Dan

Thankfulness Becomes Us

“Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
-Psalm 106:1

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
- Colossians 3:16

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
- Revelation 7:9-12

“Praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In prayer we act like men; in praise we act like angels.”
-Thomas Watson, A Puritan Golden Treasury

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

What is it that sets us apart from other sentient beings? Apart from the obvious, some have said that only man has the capability to think God’s thoughts after Him. I’m also of the opinion that intentional thankfulness separates us from brute beasts. We are those who declare gratitude to God for His manifold kindness. We contemplate God’s mercies and then verbalize thankfulness. The character of the Christian is one of pervasive and effusive gratitude. We simply cannot help it. In the great work of the gospel thankfulness is a work of the Spirit of God in the heart of the Christian. In fact, an unthankful Christian is a contradiction in terms. Our thankfulness is to be shared with others and is to be infectious, as Christ’s word dwells within us. Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians is this, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7) Receiving Christ and walking in him, rooted and established in the faith, is to provoke us to great thanksgiving. In a world where thankfulness is often a rarity, for the Christian thankfulness becomes us.

Thankful for Christ-directed thankfulness,

Pastor Dan