July 2009
July 2009
In this issue:
Editorial: God our Creator: What a comforting thought!
I’m inviting you to plan for a special worship service on October 24, 2009. The theme? Worshiping God as our Creator.
Prayer-saturated preaching
The importance of prayer for the preacher, the hearers, and the community: An interview with Alvin VanderGriend
I was taught to pray from childhood. My parents encouraged me to pray when I got up in the morning and when I went to bed at night. They led us in prayer before and after each meal. I am deeply grateful for what I learned about prayer through my Christian upbringing. Some important foundations were laid. But there was a lot about prayer that I didn’t know. I didn’t know that prayer was all about relationship, a love relationship with God. I didn’t know that I had to ask for spiritual blessings in order to receive them. I didn’t know what a difference intercession could make.Creation, the Sabbath, and worship
The author invites us to rediscover the majesty and power of
our Creator God as we study His handiwork.
A pastor’s struggle toward preaching stewardship principles
When pastors talk about the need for personal financial faithfulness, what are church members thinking? This story
sheds light on that question.
The pastor and the law: Challenges of pastoring in a legally charged environment
There was a time when the pastor’s work could be done with
little fear of litigation or having to get involved in the legal issues impacting the church. But times have changed.
“A little bit of the Second Coming now”
Is it possible to model Christianity without engaging in social
responsibility and the personal sacrifice that accompanies it?
How to become an authentic Christian leader
What are five qualities that people expect from their leaders?
Book Review: The Creative Suffering of the Triune God: An Evolutionary Theology
Gloria L.Schaab uses the results of Arthur R. Peacocke's theology to develop a view of divine suffering from an evolutionary perspective that supposedly is more defensible than those proposed by traditional Christian theodicies.
Book Review: Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn’t Last and What Your Church Can Do About It
Mark DeVries’s Sustainable Youth Ministry is a careful, thorough study of youth ministry and how the local church can systematically develop a long-term approach to
ministering to and with the youth of that congregation and community.
Pastor's Pastor: What pastors owe to their associate leaders
In order to effectively labor, pastors must place their associates in the best possible position. What, then, do they owe those who assist them?