@RTSCharlotte 2019 Year in Review
Well, it’s New Year’s Eve. It’s the time of the year to be inundated with “Best of” stories and “Year in Review” segments, dutifully cataloging everything that happened in pop culture or politics.
But, what if a “Year in Review” was about more than Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian? What if we did a year in review about what God had done in the prior year? Or, more to the point, about how God has been at work in our ministries this year?
Of course, God has been at work in countless ways around the globe this year, most of which I could never know about. But, I can speak … Continue reading...
Is It a Waste of Time for Seminary Students (and Pastors) to Learn the Biblical Languages?
It’s that time of year again.
A few weeks ago, a new crop of seminary students began the grueling month-long experience of Summer Greek. And, like all seminary students before them, they will begin to ask the question of why studying these ancient languages even matters. After all, a few years after graduation all will be forgotten. In the midst of a busy pastoral life, who could possibly maintain proficiency in the languages?
As a result of these questions, some students decide (very early on) that the biblical languages are just something to be endured. They are like a hazing ritual at a college fraternity. No one likes it, but … Continue reading...
7 Tips on How to Survive an Ordination Exam
It’s that time of year. Most seminaries, by now, have had their graduations. Celebrations and congratulations have been passed around, and rightly so. Graduating is a big accomplishment.
And although seminary itself is quite the challenge, something more formidable (at least in terms of stress) awaits most students. The dreaded ordination exam.
This is the time when a candidate stands up in front of the presbytery (perhaps with 50 -75 elders in attendance) and is publicly examined, probed, prodded, and picked at for several hours on a variety of topics ranging from church history to sacraments to eschatology to the famed Book of Church Order.
And from candidate’s perspective, it … Continue reading...
Yes, There are ‘Thorns’ in Vocational Ministry Too
Last week, The New York Times published an insightful and intriguing article by Charles Duhigg entitled, “Wealthy, Successful, and Miserable.”
Duhigg, himself a graduate of Harvard’s Business School, explores the level of job satisfaction attained by America’s highest achievers. These individuals, on the surface, look like they have it all. Impressive degrees, high-power jobs, and lots of money.
Surely, if anyone would be happy, it would be these folks. And yet, Duhigg discovers, most of these folks are profoundly miserable.
It turns out that our modern era’s unprecedented economic success is matched only by the unprecedented amount of job dissatisfaction that has come with it. Professional disappointment is … Continue reading...
Are We Allowed to Use OT Figures as Moral Examples?
For years, I have heard people say it. In books, in articles, in podcasts. Again and again, we are told that preachers cannot use OT stories as moral examples.
Why? Because it breaks the rules of Christ-centered preaching. If we talk about OT figures we can only discuss how they point forward to Christ. If we use them as a moral example then we have simply become moralists.
Or so we are told.
Now, it should be acknowledged that the motivation here is commendable. Yes, we want to preach Christ (though we need to define what that means more carefully). And yes we don’t want to advocate some sort … Continue reading...