Ministry

In his first sermon on our Lord’s prayer in John 17, Anthony Burgess (d. 1664), preacher and delegate to the Westminster Assembly, makes the case why prayer is necessary to all preaching. “If therefore we would have our preaching and your hearing do any good, be powerful to a heavenly alteration...

This week on Theology on the Go, Dr. Jonathan Master is joined by Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn. Dr. VanDixhoorn is Associate Professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C.. He is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM) and the University of Cambridge (...

Discipline is hard–giving it and receiving it. Knowing the reasons and realities behind it doesn’t necessarily help, either. Perhaps you’ve cringed when reading: “Endure discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline (Hebrews 12:7/MEV),”...

One of the basic practices in the Christian life is prayer. It is a spiritual discipline that is instilled in us from our earliest days. It is uttered in private, in family devotions, and in various public settings for numerous occasions, both within the church and outside of it. Moreover, it is...

One of the more visible repercussions of the Protestant Reformation was a reconfiguration of the furniture found within local churches. Throughout the Medieval period it was the Table of the Eucharist that sat center-stage, the literal and liturgical focal point of the Roman Catholic Mass. It was...

The term discipline is an elastic term. We can speak of the discipline of a particular subject, activity or skill, such as the discipline of music, or running, or brick laying. Still further we can speak of discipline in terms of consequences brought for bad behavior, and for the purpose of trying...

It is said that a visitor to C.H. Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle once asked Spurgeon to tell him the key to his ministry’s great success. In answer, the famous preacher took the visitor to a basement room where a group of church members bowed in intercessory prayer. “Here,” he explained, “is...

Several years ago, I gave a lecture on the threefold office of Christ, Christian ministry, and the marks of a true church. During an interview that followed, I was asked a question about the marks. I replied with a standard answer, repeating something of what I had said in my lecture, that a true...

For those familiar with Thomas Chalmers, his name immediately conjures up a plethora of thoughts regarding his stature as a Christian leader and also his gifts and achievements in the work of the church. He was a man of exceptional ability, but he was also profoundly concerned for the needs of...

This week on Theology on the Go, our host, Dr. Jonathan Master is joined by Dr. Barry York. Since 2013, Dr. York has been professor of pastoral theology and Dean of Faculty at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. However, before serving the seminary, Dr. York was sent to...