Theology

by Kevin T. Bauder

When I accepted my first senior pastorate, I thought that I had no illusions about ministry. I had grown up in a pastor’s home, been through four years of Bible college (which took me six years to finish), completed four years of seminary (M.Div. and Th.M.), served in an interim pastorate, worked as a pastor of youth and music for two years, and taught Greek and theology in a Bible college for two years. I thought that I knew what I was getting into.

I was wrong.

Within a month, I felt completely overwhelmed. I had no idea that pastoral ministry involves constantly juggling a dozen time bombs, any one of which has the potential to destroy the church. I had no clue about the depth to which depravity has affected the lives of Baptist church members or about the horrendous moral and spiritual problems that I would be forced to confront. I had no way of guessing how petty and vituperative God’s dear children could be.

I was not ready.

Of course, most of ministry was not the “bad stuff.” Most of it was very, very good and tremendously fulfilling. The church to which I was called was not a bad church—it was just an ordinary one, with all the usual quirks and foibles.

But I didn’t know that.

Reviewed by Douglas Brown

Always Reforming: Explorations in Systematic Theology. Edited by A. T. B. McGowan. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007. Paperback, 368 pages. $26.00

(review copy courtesy of InterVarsity Press)
Purchase – IVP | CBD | Amazon | WTS

Contributors: Gerald bray, Stephen Williams, Robert L. Reymond, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, A. T. B. McGowan, Richard C. Gamble, Henri Blocher, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Cornelis P. Venema, and Derek W. H. Thomas.

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.

by Kevin T. Bauder

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

by Kevin T. Bauder

Pauline Perspectives on the Holy Spirit, the Contemporary Church, and a Postmodern World

“That was then. This is now.”
by Dr. Sam Horn

Read Part 1.

Pauline Perspectives on the Holy Spirit, the Contemporary Church, and a Postmodern World

“That was then. This is now.”

by Dr. Sam Horn

“If we are going to count for much in the post-modern world in which we now live, the Spirit must remain key to the Church’s existence.” —Gordon Fee

The New England Theology: From Jonathan Edwards to Edwards Amasa Park. Edited by Douglas A. Sweeney and Allen C. Guelzo. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006. 320 pages. $29.99/hardback.

(Review copy courtesy of Baker Academic.)

Purchase: Baker Academic | Amazon | CBD

Special Features: Bibliographic references and index

A Study of Godliness and Contentment from the Pastoral Epistles

“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6, KJV).

The last time I wrote for SI, I wrote about something big—mega-ministry. I tried to show that God can do great and mighty things in and through us, no matter the size of our congregation. Today, I write about something else that is big. In the passage I quoted above, the apostle Paul said that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The word great is the Greek word “megas,” and the word gain speaks of “an acquisition.” Most of us will never be able to participate in a multi-billion-dollar corporate acquisition, but according to this verse, godliness with contentment comprises a “mega-acquisition.” By God’s grace we can and must have godliness with contentment in our lives.

The Importance of Godliness

Godliness is a reverence and respect for God that manifests itself in a life that brings glory to His name. There’s hardly a week that goes by that we are not made aware of some case of moral collapse in the family of God. The practice of godliness is the need of the hour for every believer. Notice some things Paul said about godliness in his two letters to Timothy.