The monk Martin Luther wasn’t looking for a gracious God but the real God.

A brief reflection on the challenge of loneliness in pastoral ministry and the blessing of sharing in Christ’s interests.

Like me, many seminary graduates wish they could return to seminary and do it all over again. The time spent exploring the Bible, history, and theology while in conversation with professors and classmates is difficult to recapture once you graduate.

College freshman, you are about to step onto a bustling campus. Your heart will be tugged in different directions as excitement and anxiety rush through your veins. You will have new subjects to learn, events to attend, and friends to meet.

“This world is no friend to grace.” With these words, Eugene Peterson begins his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society.

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim 1:5). The apostle Paul, in one of the most informative biblical books on pastoral ministry, gives this charge to his beloved child of the faith, Timothy.

How do I know if I am called to ministry? What is the pathway to becoming a pastor? How can I grow and explore my gifts? These are some of the most common questions and considerations of those contemplating seminary. As Christians, our primary calling is to follow Jesus. First and foremost, we are made followers by him and for him.

Chad Vegas speaks at the WSCal 2024 Robert G. and Nellie den Dulk Lectures: Semper Reformada and Ministry. The lectures hope to address the question: what gives ministers and elders the courage to reform the piety and practice of the church entrusted to their care?

Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson delivered the annual Robert G. and Nellie B. den Dulk Lectures on Pastoral Ministry on Friday and Saturday, March 17-18, 2023, speaking on “A Christ-like Ministry.”

In times of distress, darkness, and hopelessness, the Psalmist exhorts believers to turn to the Lord and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. God who is faithful will answer and will show his people His salvation.

As stewards of the gospel, Christians are called to share in Christ's afflictions in order to take His gospel to the nations.

God led his people through the rushing Jordan River to demonstrate that his power and presence are more than sufficient to meet his people’s needs. We serve a God who takes a particular delight in ordaining difficult circumstances to serve as the perfect context in which he proves his unrivaled power on our behalf.  

Saving faith is vindicated by Spirit-wrought good works.

Dr. Bitner reads through the letter of James in its entirety in this special morning devotion.

In the story we see the hopelessness of seeking salvation through the law and the beauty of salvation found in Jesus Christ. He is the merciful king who seeks, saves, and loves us.

James compares two forms of God’s law, the royal law that condemns us for just one sin and the law of liberty by which God shows us mercy. We who are under the latter law must speak and act mercifully.

Psalm 61 provides the believer a wonderful roadmap for prayer, bringing us back into the way of trusting God when we cry out for guidance, remember his faithfulness, and long for his presence.

God is working all things for our salvation, but the path that gets us there is rarely that of least resistance. In Exodus 2, we find the crooked roadmap that prepares Moses to be the savior of Israel–prefiguring the cruciform itinerary that leads Christ to be the Savior of the world.