Jeremy Walker posted on twitter recently that a particular challenge with modern pastoral visiting is the phenomena of the TV being on continuously in the background. Now, I presume that by “modern” he’s referring to the past 50 years or so because this isn’t a particularly new thing. Steve Kneale has written here about why… Continue reading Why it might be good to switch the TV off when the pastor visits
Category: pastoral-care
Is a husband his wife’s saviour?
Well the fire started the other day concerning sex, relationships and salvation doesn’t show any signs of dying down. Rachel Denhollander shared this from John MacArthur as another example of problematic teaching about marriage. Now, to be fair to Josh Butler whose TGC article kicked off this whole debate, I think that he might say… Continue reading Is a husband his wife’s saviour?
My sadness may commend the Gospel
Jesus is described in Isaiah 53:3 as a man of sorrows,[cand acquainted with[ grief;” We would do well to pay attention to this as it provides the starting point to the other side of the coin to Lloyd Jones’ comments about the failure of unhappy Christians to commend the Gospel. Jesus himself experienced suffering, sorrow and… Continue reading My sadness may commend the Gospel
When my unhappiness does not commend the Gospel
Remember that Martyn Lloyd Jones quote I mentioned the other day? Unhappy Christians are a poor recommendation of the Christian faith.” I thought it might be worth digging a little deeper into it. As I suggested in my previous article, it probably works best as one half of a proverbial provocation. On the one hand,… Continue reading When my unhappiness does not commend the Gospel
Can you be an unhappy Christian?
Dane Ortlund, author of Gently and Lowly recently tweeted this quote from Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones. This has ironically left quite a few people unhappy. There is a risk with this kind of statement, especially without nuance and separated from context that it can give the impression that Christians are meant to walk around with… Continue reading Can you be an unhappy Christian?
Before you warn about danger first make sure there’s an ark ready
Noah was called by God to be a witness to the world around d him as the day of judgement drew near and the Flood was about to come. It’s clear from the New Testament that Noah was preaching to the people, warning them of coming danger. This warning came through the fact that he… Continue reading Before you warn about danger first make sure there’s an ark ready
“I’m saying this in love”
It’s the phrase that I suspect most Christians dread to hear but it’s one that I suspect is most used among believers too. Tim Wilson recently asked on twitter which particular Christian cliches irritate us the most and the phrase “I’m saying this in love” and presumably variants on that theme came up. Why does… Continue reading “I’m saying this in love”
Pastoring the grieving
I’m continuing a little series on the day to day work of a pastor and so today we want to think about what happens when a member of the church or one of their family dies. What should you be doing. We cannot be over prescriptive here because every family will have different needs and… Continue reading Pastoring the grieving
On hospital visiting as a pastor
This is prompted by a twitter discussion recently about whether non-conformist pastors opt to wear a clerical dog-collar when visiting the sick. Dog-collars tend to be part of the traditional uniform of the clergy, particularly though not exclusively among Anglicans. A lot of us would tend to frown upon then seeing them as emphasising a… Continue reading On hospital visiting as a pastor
The hard work of the pastor
I think we can fall into one of three traps if we are involved in church pastoral ministry. At the one end of the spectrum are those who see pastors as basically chaplains, nice, homely sorts who are primarily employed to go round and visit the elderly church members and drink copious cups of tea.… Continue reading The hard work of the pastor
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