Worship for Dummies: The Regulative Principle Made Simple
God created man for worship. Jesus declared that the Father is seeking worshippers who will worship Him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Not surprisingly, the Shorter Catechism begins by affirming, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” But this raises the question, “How should God be worshiped?” To be more precise, “What kind of worship pleases God?” The answer is vital. Thankfully, it’s not that complicated. Even a child may understand. Read more 
“Joy Comes in the Mourning”: How Jesus Wipes Away Tears
Do you know what it’s like to feel the sorrow of a bereaved mother? A mother’s life is wrapped up in the care and well being of her children. When those children are taken away from her or, worse, when they’re wantonly slaughtered before her eyes, it’s like ripping out her heart. She feels empty. She feels as if she no longer has any purpose for existence. Perhaps you’re experiencing that kind of grief. You’ve not been bereaved of your children, but you feel the same kind of empty sorrow. You feel hopeless and without purpose in the world. Read more
Making Disciples: Purposing Reproduction and Practicing Replication
Pastor Bob Selph of Grace Baptist Church in Taylors SC gave two lectures on the subject of “making disciples” for our course on Church Ministry. In the first lecture entitled “Purposing Reproduction,” Bob discusses the biblical basis and importance of discipleship as a vital facet of the church’s ministry. He focuses on the practical ways in which the pastor and church members may disciple one another in his second lecture entitled ”Practicing Replication.” If you’re a church leader and are seeking to equip the saints for works of ministry as well as training future gospel laborers, I heartily commend these lectures. Read more
Our Church’s Journey in Evangelism – Gary Hendrix
Our recent module on church ministry included an emphasis on evangelistic outreach. We invited Pastor Gary Hendrix, who has over 30 years of pastoral experience, to address the topic and to share with our students his church’s journey in evangelism. In this lecture Pastor Hendrix emphasizes the importance of pastors training and mobilizing their people to engage the lost with the gospel in ways that are appropriate to their gifts, maturity, and the providential opportunities God has placed before them. If you want your church ministry to cultivate an outward focus, I highly recommend the free video message below. Read more
The Three Dimensional Church – Ted Christman
Reformed Baptist Seminary invited Pastor Ted Christian to serve as one of five lecturers for its recent module on Church Ministry. In the lecture below Ted explains how the church’s vision, mission, and strategy are grounded in its identity. Moreover, he argues that the church’s identity also constrains a three dimensional focus that is upward (worshiping God), inward (building up one another), and outward (ministering to the lost). Read more
Contextualization & Church Ministry: Seven Ingredients
I would define biblical accommodation as a self-conscious and self-denying accommodation of the gospel messenger and the gospel message in biblically informed ways in order to enhance the gospel’s intelligibility and to remove any unnecessary obstacles that may prevent the target audience from hearing, understanding and/or receiving the gospel. Below I explain and expound the seven elements that make up this definition. Read more
Contextualization & Church Ministry: No Compromise!
In our previous posts we highlighted the importance of contextualization for church ministry (Part 1) and offered a basic working definition of what it entails (Part 2). However, since some have used “contextualization” to justify unbiblical ministry philosophies and practices, we need to provide a fuller exposition of what it is and what it’s not. We’ll focus on the latter below, showing that true contextualization doesn’t equate “compromise.” Read more
Contextualization & Church Ministry: The Basic Idea
At its most basic level the verb “to contextualize” means to put into context, and it’s usually referring to some mode or form of communication, whether a speech or text. In theological discourse “contextualization” is defined as “the attempt to adapt the expression of theology [i.e., the message of the Bible] to a given time, place, culture or audience.”1 Read more
- Millard Erickson, Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology, 36. [↩]
2013 Winter Module: Church Ministry
Grace Baptist Church of Taylors, South Carolina will host Reformed Baptist Seminary‘s 2013 winter module on “Church Ministry” on the week of January 14 thru 18. Lecturers will include Pastors Bob Selph, Ted Christman, Matt Foreman, Chad Clint, and Bob Gonzales. Below are some of the topics that will be covered: Read more
Pastoral Theology: Free Video Lectures!
Earlier this year, Reformed Baptist Seminary invited Pastors Bob Selph, Tom Ascol, Gary Hendrix, and Donny Martin to lecture on various topics related to pastoral theology. These four men combined represent over 125 years of ministry experience and addressed topics like “Shepherding the Flock,” “Christ as the Pastor’s Center,” “The Pastor with the Lord’s Army,” and “The Preeminence of Grace in Pastoral Ministry.” We also invited Dr Mark Ward Jr to address the benefits and dangers of technology in a two-part series, which he entitled, “Technology Giveth, Technology Taketh Away.” Read more
