Consider these statistics: 42% of pastors considered quitting in the last year. 50% of pastors do not make it past five years in ministry. 80% do not last ten years. We are seeing an epidemic of pastoral burnout in our day. Why? In their new book The Unhurried Pastor (The Good Book Company, 2024), Brian … Continue reading Redefining What it Means to Be Productive in Ministry
In his new book Love The Ones Who Drive You Crazy (Crossway, 2023), Jamie Dunlop makes a bold claim: Churches should be united around Christ alone, not Christ plus other shared convictions. And yet, when churches do this well, they are ripe for conflict. If we are truly committed to welcoming those with different opinions … Continue reading How to Love Fellow Christians, Even When They Drive You Crazy
One of the most central figures of the Swiss Reformation was a man named Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli spent twelve years shepherding the people of Zurich. He led and taught them how to properly worship, how to love and believe the Bible and how to live out the gospel. He helped Zurich understand Reformation. Even though he … Continue reading Ulrich Zwingli: A Life in Conflict
Evangelism is an important part of the Christian life. It is through evangelism that the gospel has made its way around the globe and down through the ages. Yet, many Christians find it difficult to evangelize. There are many reasons for this, however, evangelism must remain a central pillar of the Church in order to … Continue reading Biblical Encouragement When We Are Discouraged with Evangelism
We live in a very divided age. Yet, this should not surprise us because, wherever there is human civilization and at least two differing opinions there will inevitably be divisions. In any given society there will be division politically, socially, economically, ideologically, morally, and religiously, etc. Unfortunately, the division doesn’t stop with the culture at … Continue reading What Should We Do When Doctrine Divides the People of God?
In 2022, RFTG published an article featuring the 9Marks Church Questions Series. These short helpful booklets tackle big questions that face the church today. Our article featured several titles in that series. However, we thought it would be helpful to pull one title out of that series to feature on its own. On the whole … Continue reading How We Can Love Church Members with Different Political Views
This year was a great year for books! There were many excellent books released in 2023 that prove helpful for followers of Jesus to think biblically. RFTG is only able to review and recommend a tiny fraction of the many books that were released this year. However, we thought it would be helpful to release … Continue reading RFTG Best Books of 2023
What if the weekly Sunday morning worship gathering of your local church wasn’t just something you attended each week, but something you looked forward to and prepared your heart for each week? What if it became for you the central event of your week, every week? How might that change your experience of going to … Continue reading Preparing Your Heart For Sunday Worship
As we celebrate the 506th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, we look back on the legacy of the movement he started. One of those legacies is the Reformed system of theology that was distilled by another reformer John Calvin in his classic work Institutes of the … Continue reading Theology Must Drive Us to Worship
What comes to mind when you hear the word Puritan? Do you think of old men in black robes, funny hats, and big collars? That picture is the most common caricature of the Puritans. There is also a misconception that a Puritan is someone who thinks that “somewhere in society, someone is having fun” and … Continue reading Learning to Follow Jesus from the Puritans
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways…” (James 3:1-2a, ESV). So begins one of the most widely quoted scripture verses regarding pastoral ministry, and it is truly excellent advice. I have heard it said … Continue reading The Joy-Filled Journey of Pastoral Ministry
Attending a Baptist seminary, I became familiar with Leon McBeth’s book A Baptist Heritage. The 800+ page text teaches one about Baptist history while sharing insights about other denominations. Sure, it has its flaws, but no book is perfect. Despite its imperfections, it would be great if each Christian denomination had texts summarizing its history, like A … Continue reading The Heritage of Anglican Theology
