I was greatly blessed listening to this sermon by my PRTS colleague, Dr Jerry Bilkes. If you are feeling fearful and needing an injection of courage, this sermon will put steel in your spine. “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

My son, Angus, sent me this beautiful song with the suggestion that it would be suitable for a husband to sing to his wife with depression (and vice versa), or for a church to sing to people who have suffered loss.

“I’ll be your voice till you’re able,
And I’ll lift up your hands when you can’t.”

And here’s the touching story behind the song.

Blogs

A Letter to the Church: The Problems of Moral Failure and Misconduct Are Real and Must be Addressed Now
“Although quite simplified, let me offer a starting place for both pastors and church leaders who now face very difficult questions from their congregants and for congregants who have more questions than answers.”

After 50 Years of Ministry, 7 Things I Would Tell Ministerial Candidates Today
“From an older pastor to younger ones: some wise counsel from a pastor who served the Church faithfully for 50 year.”

Suicide, Depression, and Pastors: One Way Church Members Can Help
“Yet, these pastors tell us, the greatest pain is not the criticism and cynicism by some of the members. The greatest pain is when the “good members” remain silent, when they do nothing to come to the aid and defense of their pastors. The good members don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to incur the wrath of the pastor attackers. They think they are maintaining unity. Instead they are tearing down their pastor with their malignant silence. Their efforts to maintain peace sow the greatest seeds of destruction.”

How Reformed Churches Are Growing on the Arabian Peninsula
So encouraging.

Why Pastors Should Consider Preaching (At Least) 5 Minutes Shorter
“Here’s the bottom line: there’s no need to preach for an hour when 40 minutes will do. The truth is most people will be glad for a shorter sermon. The parents with children in the pew certainly will be. Your wife just might be too. And the nursery workers will rise up and call you blessed.”

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, September 2018
The September issue of Tabletalk considers the Christian life as a life lived between two worlds.

Cringing at Church: What It’s Like as an Autistic Person in Your Congregation
What an eye-opener.

Real Sermons Are Not Lectures or Moral Stories | Desiring God
This is an important contribution from Burk Parsons:

“I think what happens is that pastors begin to feel the pressure to have this perfectly polished message, so it ends up looking more like a lecture, more like a lesson that could be taught really in any Sunday School class. It becomes that rather than a sermon as a part of the worship service.”

Kindle Books

The Forgotten Trinity by James R. White $1.99.

Called to Create: A Biblical Invitation to Create, Innovate, and Risk by Jordan Raynor $1.99.

This is one of the most powerful sermons I’ve heard in years. It’s entitled, ‘Preach The Gospel To Yourself When Your Soul Is Downcast,’ and was preached by Pastor David Sunday, a dear friend and a Christian brother I greatly admire and respect. It’s the kind of sermon that took years to prepare and I pray it will get a wide hearing and help thousands of souls. The Scripture reading starts at 2.13 and the sermon at 7.04. You can listen to the audio here.

Here’s the video for Expedition 29 in Exploring the Bible. If you want to bookmark a page where all the videos are posted, you can find them on my blog, on YouTube, or the Facebook page for Exploring the Bible.

If you haven’t started your kids on the book yet, you can begin anytime and use it with any Bible version. Here are some sample pages.

You can get it at RHB, Westminster Books, Crossway, or Amazon. If you’re in Canada use Reformed Book Services. Some of these retailers have good discounts for bulk purchases by churches and schools.

Blogs

Final Installment: Songs from The New City Catechism
“It’s taken nearly two years, but Songs from The New City Catechism is now complete. All 52 questions and answers from The New City Catechism have been set to music word-for-word.”

Can Someone Be Spiritually Healthy and Still Experience Mental Health Challenges?
“My prayer for this article would be that it: (a) encourages sincere Christians who feel undue guilt for persistent mental health struggles that their personal devotion does not remedy, (b) equips pastors to think more robustly about how their preaching and teaching influences church members with mental health challenges, and (c) increases the quality of one another care that exists in small groups and other settings by improving the understanding of the intersection of mental health and spiritual maturity.”

Eight Ways Church Members Can Help Pastors Avoid Burnout
The eight tips are:

1. Let the pastor know he should not be 24/7
2. Be an encourager
3. Insist the pastor takes some time off
4. Respond to critics for your pastor
5. Become a prayer intercessor for your pastor
6. Help protect the pastor’s family
7. Find ways to help the pastor’s family have fun times together
8. Pay your pastor reasonably

Some PhD FAQs
Kevin DeYoung continues his series on the pros and cons of a PhD.

Pride and the Preacher
“One of the greatest problems for preachers is pride.  It is an insidious and relentless foe that will look to creep in at every stage of a life spent in ministry.  What might we be proud about?”

The Sacred Trust of Pastors and Christian Leaders
“Ministry is not just a task. It is a sacred trust between the under-shepherd and the flock that has been entrusted to him by God. To misuse and violate that trust to achieve sexual conquest, or even emotional dependence, is a particularly deplorable behavior.”

New Book

The Man of God: His Calling and Godly Life: Volume 1 of Pastoral Theology  by Albert N Martin. I cannot commend this highly enough. I heard Pastor Martin’s pastoral theology lectures on tape over twenty years ago and have longed for the day to see them in print.

Kindle Books

Mindscape: What to Think About Instead of Worrying by Timothy Z. Witmer $2.39.

Unashamed: Healing Our Brokenness and Finding Freedom from Shame by Heather Davis Nelson $2.99.

Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman $4.99.