Pastors

Error message

The World We Made: Coming soon...

UPDATE: There’s been lots of interest in this podcast, with about 2000 listens from 30 countries and counting! If you haven’t subscribed yet, we’ve added a few links to make it easier for those of you who aren’t on iTunes, which is most of you. (Welcome non-Apple fanboys.) Don't miss an episode. Scroll down and subscribe now.

"These are the confessions of American Christians recovering from American Christianity. This is the world we made."

Warhorn Media is pleased to announce a new podcast hosted by Jake Mentzel and Nathan Alberson and featuring Tim Bayly. The World We Made is designed to help ordinary American Christians think through the difficult issues we face in our culture today. Season 1 is about homosexuality.

Over the course of the first season, we talk with Tim about how we went from having anti-sodomy laws in all 50 states (just 50 years ago) to where we are today. What are the changes Tim has seen in his lifetime? What exactly do they mean? What part did the culture play and what part did the church play? How are regular Bible-believing Christians supposed to respond? What has Tim learned as a pastor to help equip us for the challenge of ministering to men and women tempted by homosexuality?

These are the questions we'll be unpacking over the course of eight 20-minute episodes. We'll start out slow and easy, and things will pick up steam as we get closer and closer to the end. You won't want to miss it, so check out the trailer (above), and go ahead and subscribe now in iTunes or Android (or wherever you listen to your podcasts—Google Play Music, Stitcher, TuneInRSS feed) so you're ready when the first episode drops (July 17). 

android-button.png subscribe_on_itunes_badge-420x153.png


Standing in the gap: what does it mean?

Nobody standing in the gap in the wall

Nobody standing in the gap. Nobody rebuilding the wall. But what need? There are no enemies visible (yet).

(By Joseph Bayly, posted by TB) When discussing what is unique about our church, one of the things I often bring up is the concept of "standing in the gap." I'm referring to a biblical analogy of a protective wall around a city. If the wall is broken in a certain place, that is a gap in the wall. In case you are wondering, gaps are not good. In the book of Ezekiel, God uses this analogy and we see three things that faithful men do to "stand in the gap"...


Arsene Wenger and pastoral leadership...

Here are some good statements on leadership by embattled Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. Exchange "church" for "club," "session" for "board," "pastor" for "manager"...

A strong club is people who make the right decisions. That's why I think the board is important and the manager is important in a football club. And what has gone wrong in modern society? ...


On the occasion of Michael Farris leaving HSLDA: thoughts on the church's reformation...

Neither the slaughter of one-quarter of our children we liltingly refer to as "abortion," nor the promotion of sodomy and the denial of First Amendment rights of Christians who object to it, will be repealed in our courts. Any remedy will have to be legislative.

Legislation, though, depends upon the will of the people and at this point we, the people, do not have the will to stop either of these obscenities. Nor very many others.

How might this change?

The history of the early church shows the way. The men who knew Jesus went out preaching, and in time the Roman Empire turned away from effeminacy, sodomy, female rebellion, and child slaughter that was characteristic of their pagan religion.

Now, though, Christendom is in its death throes. Seventy-five years ago, J. Gresham Machen said America was living...


Warning isn't easy...

We think we don't need warnings, but we do. Just like the Christians pastored by the Apostle Paul in the decadent Roman Empire, we need our pastors warning us house to house, day and night, with tears.

But we have no patience for it. Transfer us to Ephesus under the pastoral care of the Apostle Paul and listen to us whine. "Why does he want to meet with me? I don't need to meet with him. If he has something to say, he can text me. Has my wife been talking to his wife? Why can't she keep her big mouth shut?"

We want a reputation for authentic spirituality and deep theological insight, so we update and tweet spiritual-sounding quotes that make it seem as if...


Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...

Addition not subtraction. Triangulation. The Third Way. These are terms of political tradecraft. They signify the politician's transcendence above the liberal-conservative divide. Working in government, I see this principle in constant operation. 

A politician can triangulate in the mix of policies he adopts. For example, an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy means the politician supports traditional oil and gas exploration as well as ethanol subsidies, all while paying lip service to renewable solar and wind power. This strategy lowers the decibel level from environmentalist opponents if not neutralizing them entirely. 

A politician also triangulates with rhetoric. He need only strike the right pose and emit the proper buzzword. From illegal drugs to education to welfare, a politician can navigate beyond any seemingly binary framework by talking of and emoting compassion. If he's really sophisticated, a politician utters certain phrases that are seemingly insignificant and benign to almost everyone while being fraught with meaning when decoded by a special interest group. This is what the political class calls...


Phil Jensen talks about his mistakes...

Here's a good interview with my friend, Phil Jensen, of Sydney, Australia. Phil and his wife, Helen, spent a weekend with us in Bloomington twenty years ago, and we've often been helped by our conversations then as we have done the work of ministry in a university community.


Daddy Tried...


You blew it...

We had our largest attendance at a pastors conference yet, this year. Over a hundred and it was a joy to be together, although the work was hard. So this post doesn't come out of disappointment in our numbers.

Sometimes a pastor needs to say to his people, "you blew it."

So, permit me to say to those of you who should have been here for the conference on child abuse and incest, you blew it. And I'll go further than that: it's my conviction that some of you didn't attend, not because you thought the conference wouldn't be helpful, but because you knew it would be. You're a pastor, elder, elder's wife, or women's ministry director and you simply didn't want to spend time thinking about how best to discover and minister to those children in your congregation who are being raped by their father, uncle, brother, or molested by their sister. 

It's easier not to know, isn't it?

Well, you can take a mulligan...


Sexual Abuse in the Church: conference audio available...

Here's the audio from our 2016 Shepherds Conference, "The Enemy Within: A Conference on Sexual Abuse in the Church." I'd particularly recommend "Recognizing Sexual Abuse" and "Shepherding the Sexually Abused."

Please let us know any criticisms or suggestions you have for us. We'll be doing a similar conference next year on the church's ministry to those suffering the gay/lesbian/transexual/BruceJenner/bisexual temptations. Here's the conference title and dates:

Not Ashamed: Gospel ministry in a post-Obergefell world

February, 15-17, 2017

Here then are the audio files for this year's conference on the sexual abuse of the church's children...


The Apostle Paul was a comedian...

Few books have been more helpful to me thinking through the work of the ministry and the hypocrisies always clamoring for my devotion than Soren Kiergegaard's Attack Upon "Christendom". Here's an excerpt...

Tags: 

Jameis Winston and Lovie Smith...

Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions, The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels, The fathers have not turned back for their children, Because of the limpness of their hands...  - Jeremiah 47:3

The biggest name in the NFL draft this year is Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston is no Andrew Luck golden boy. He brings some baggage including a civil suit alleging sexual assault (authorities declined to file criminal charges), some pranks and tirades, and conviction a year ago for stealing crab legs from a Publix.

Naturally, then, NFL general managers and coaches are scrutinizing Winston. After last year's tsunami of criminal charges causing the season of shame that came to a fitting end with Darth Hoodie winning the Super Bowl, no one wants to bring a Johnny Manziel into their locker room. And since the Tampa Bay Bucs have the first draft pick this year, it's Tampa Bay's GM Jason Licht and Head Coach Lovie Smith who have been spending time and money looking into Winston's character.

Lovie's been around for 19 NFL drafts and he says he's never seen the level of investigation of a player that Winston is being put through. GM Licht reports the Bucs have talked to...


Mute dogs unable to bark...

His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

"Come," they say, "let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so."  - Isaiah 56:10-12

One of the most discouraging aspects of the church today is the refusal of shepherds to say God's "no" as well as His "yes," and to say it in person as well as from the pulpit. We are mute dogs unable to bark.

The Holy Spirit commands us...


Coming to your church tomorrow: how will you love her...

The souls who call themselves "transgendered" are ho-hum on campuses today. Here's an excerpt from an IDS (Indiana Daily Student) article about a young women at Indiana University who grew up in a Christian home in a nearby town and is trying to delete her womanhood: 

Though Whaley identifies as a man, his parents, legal ID and the U.S. Army still use female pronouns in reference to him. Luckily for him, his girlfriend Haylee Mclain and his best friend Chelsey Eads see him as the person he is striving to become.

“I grew up in a Christian family, so it’s a little bit difficult for me,” Whaley said. “First coming out as a lesbian then coming out as transgender, it’s a little hard, and it’s getting harder now that I’m getting older.”

...When Ash decided to come out to his parents, they were less than accepting.


Sticks and stones don't break my bones but names do always hurt me...

I felt the death of Joe Sobran keenly a few years ago. Three of us took a road trip out to D.C. for Joe's wake. We were grateful to meet some whose names we had heard through the years, but the occasion for the trip was sad and remains so to this day. Who is there to teach us a Christian view of culture and politics today? Certainly no one even close to Joe and the best of those with claims to fill in the gap Joe's death left among us are Roman Catholics. I've long recommended a rule of thumb that a man would do well to make the pilgrimage to Rome for instruction in culture, economics, politics, and moral theology, but for his doctrine and salvation he must live in Geneva.

Anyhow, in celebration of the...


PCA pastor says Jesus' manhood is catching up with the world's...

Presbyterian Church in America pastor Rich Bledsoe, one of Dr. Leithart's Theopolis Institute men, posted a piece on sexuality I take as typical of the posture of PCA and Oatmeal Stout Federal Vision pastors toward today's sexual anarchy:

PARAGRAPH ONE:

I would like to beat a very old drum here, one that I beat a lot, but only because it has proven so illuminating to me. Back to Barfield’s “original to final participation”. Along with everything else, masculinity in its original natural form is dying.

Masculinity in its "original natural form" was created in the Garden of Eden by God. It started dying immediately after the Fall of Adam when, speaking to God, Adam blamed his sin on "the woman You gave me." Masculinity's original natural form was created to bear responsibility—not claim victimhood—and so masculinity started dying with the Fall.

Yet masculinity has also been being reborn since the Fall, generation after generation as men are born again. As Scripture says, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation," so throughout history the power of the Holy Spirit has been conforming men to the image of Christ. Certainly He is "masculinity in its original natural form."

Sadly, Rich doesn't say a word about the Holy Spirit's work renewing masculinity among men of God. He only says masculinity is dying...


Holy Living, Holy Dying...

CNF_Site-Banner_PastConf2015-2.jpg

Brothers, when the subject was chosen for this year's church officers and pastors' conference, we knew it would be a hard-sell. If American culture hides death, why would we pastors be any different? We don't want to go to a conference on death and dying. We look at Jeremy Taylor's Holy Dying1 and wonder who on earth came up with that title? Surely not the marketing department!

And if I tell you the book was published back in the late sixteen-hundreds and is one of the all-time best-sellers of Christian devotional works, we smack your foreheads and exclaim, "Well that explains it! Lots of people died back then. What was their life expectancy—like thirty-five years? They had to talk about death and dying, but today we live in a happier time and pastors conferences shouldn't depress me. I need encouragement! Life is hard! Serving a church is hard!"

So why did the Puritan pastor, Jeremy Taylor, title his classic Holy Dying?

Because Puritan pastors used to spend themselves...


Early bird registration ends soon...

This is the last week to enjoy the early bird discount on our upcoming conference for officers of Christ's church. Prices go up beginning February 1, so register now and prepare to enjoy three days of fellowship, good food, and good teaching aimed at equipping us to better minister to those in our churches who are preparing for death or grieving the death of a loved one.

Whether you're a pastor, elder, or deacon who has been in ministry for years, or are a student preparing for ministry, we'd love to have you. The topics will be very practical—what you need to know in the hospital room, what you need to know about funerals and graveside services, what you need to know about cremation, and what you need to know about the biblical ethics surrounding the end of life, for instance.

Click here to register and find out more about our speakers, topics, and schedule. Early bird pricing is only $75 for regular attendees and $60 for students.

Click here to read my much longer pitch on why I'm excited about this conference, and why you should consider coming.


Homosexuality and effeminacy: Roman Catholics vs. Presbyterians...

The man at the top of the Roman Catholic Church calls himself "Francis," and since he assumed the Papal throne he's done everything possible to show himself a man of the people, a populist. Soon after his election he was questioned about a mafia of gay priests in his castle, the Vatican,1 and he responded, "Who am I to judge?" Perfect pitch among the postmoderns.

Francis's predecessor, Benedict, spoke very differently about lesbianism and sodomy. It wasn't his thing to ingratiate himself and pander to the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, but rather to love them; to pastor them, calling them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Prior to being elected Pope and changing his name to Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger was the cardinal presiding over the Vatican's Congregation for the Sacred Doctrine of the Faith. In that capacity he issued the very helpful Christian witness concerning homosexuality...


Clearnote Pastors Conference: The Last Enemy...

CNF_Site-Banner_PastConf2015-2.jpg

I’ve been in ministry for about seven years. That’s not very long, but long enough to learn death is one of the most difficult things we deal with as pastors. Maybe I could summarize my ministry to college students like this: You’re going to die. And then you’re going to face God. Repent, put away childish things, and grow up.

Fact is, college students don’t really believe in death because they don’t really see death. It’s hidden from them, just like it’s hidden from the rest of us: behind hospital walls and in the sewers beneath our abortuaries. We hide our eyes from it—except for movies and video games. We can sustain the illusion that all is right with the world for only so long before our bad consciences and conflicted hearts need a two-hour cathartic release. But then, death is shoved back into hiding again, tucked neatly in its plastic case and tossed on the shelf.

Until the real thing strikes...