|
|
|
 |
FALL 2007 What Is A Pastor? |
|---|
 |
||||
From The Editor |
It seems an amusing quirk of providence that I find myself the editor of The Spurgeon Fellowship Journal. Amusing, firstly, because I am no scholar. Amusing, secondly, because I have no formal training in the literary arts. Rather, I am a pastor who just happens to be a faculty member of a seminary in the Pacific Northwest—a jewel of theological education that, to the glory of God, is being steadily rediscovered: Western Seminary... |
|||
|
||||
Feature |
Many pastors face an identity crisis. They ask themselves, “Who am I? Why should the people in my congregation listen to me? What is my identity as a minister of Christ?” As Neuhaus notes, “It is not an academic exercise but a day-to-day struggle to make sense of who we are and what we are doing. Of its importance, Oates writes, “If you are to do your work well, refreshing strength must be afforded you from a coherent vision of your identity..." |
|||
|
||||
Interview |
R. Kent Hughes has been engaged in pastoral ministry for forty years. He is the author of numerous books, including the highly acclaimed Disciplines Of A Godly Man, and several commentaries that reflect his many years of diligent expositional ministry. Having just retired from twenty-seven years as the Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, Kent and his wife, Barbara, are now making their home in Spokane, Washington. Last August I spent a couple of hours with Kent talking about his experiences in the pastoral ministry... |
|||
|
||||
Excerpts From A Sermon |
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” So reads the opening line of Charles Dickens’ famous novel A Tale of Two Cities. Doubtless that simple paradoxical summary could be displayed to describe many periods of history. Nazi Germany, for example, 1932-1939. It was the best of times. The corruption and the ineffectiveness of the Weimar Republic were done away with. Currency was stabilized. The shame of the Treaty of Versailles was being removed. Youth had a sense of direction again. The industries were flourishing. The economy was doing well . . . But freedoms were dying. The churches were being domesticated. The shadow of the Holocaust lay just over the horizon. In fact, just around the corner was World War Two and a mighty bloodbath. It was the worst of times... | |||