October 26, 2011 by
Tony Reinke
Categories: Pastors College
This week Mike Bullmore is lecturing in our Pastors College on the theology and practice of the spiritual disciplines in the Christian life. Bullmore is a frequent teacher in the Pastors College, is a former professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and since 1998 has led CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
He began the course with a clear definition of the sometimes fuzzy concept of spirituality: “Christian spirituality is the pursuit of godliness.” And after reading “the key text for this course” (1 Timothy 4:6–16), Bullmore said to the pastors-in-training,
There’s a lot at stake in your godliness. There’s heavy, weighty things attached to your personal pursuit of godliness. This week is all about attentiveness to your spiritual life—the pursuit of godliness. The most important factor in your pastoring is not your gifting; it’s your godliness. And that’s the most important factor in your parenting, and your being a husband. Your people are going to appreciate your gifting and your wisdom, but what they will look to, and long for, is your personal godliness.
Proverbs 14:26 is directed towards fathers: “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.” I think the same thing is true in pastoring. It’s a leadership issue. A man who fears the Lord has a fortress. And for your people that will be a refuge.
Bullmore later quoted Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s famous adage: “My people's greatest need is my personal holiness,” a sentence where, Kevin DeYoung once wrote, “almost my whole philosophy of ministry is summed up” (DCIC, 26).
No doubt this will be a rich week of leadership training. For more on the topic you can listen to Bullmore’s 105-minute message “Spiritual Disciplines” recorded at his church in June. See here.
September 7, 2011 by
Tony Reinke
Categories: Pastors College | Resources
We’re marking the launch of the new Pastors College class by introducing you to a few visiting professors from recent years. Last week we shared an interview with Dr. Andreas Köstenberger. Today we meet another intriguing professor, Dr. John D. Woodbridge.
Day-by-day, Dr. Woodbridge serves as the research professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, where he has taught since 1970. In the past, among many things, he has served as a senior editor at Christianity Today.
As impressive as details are themselves, they comprise only a slice of a very interesting life. Here are a few other facts I’ve learned about this man over the years:
- Woodbridge has lectured on French history, in French, at the Sorbonne in Paris.
- Woodbridge taught himself to play the piano and in 1965 he wrote a score he titled "Sans Vous" ("Without You"). The score was ostensibly stolen by a composer and used in the 1983 TV mini-series "The Winds of War." The theme song sounded oddly familiar to Woodbridge when he heard it. In 1991 a federal jury in L.A. determined that the composer had in fact plagiarized his song. High praise! He still composes (but not regularly).
- Woodbridge is a descendant of Jonathan Edwards.
- His grandmother was a first cousin to Woodrow Wilson and introduced Woodrow to his first wife.
- His father, Charles, served on the faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary in the very early days and taught church history.
- His father was a personal friend of J. Gresham Machen and served as one of Machen's trial lawyers. In his will, Machen left Charles with money and his personal copy of the trial records.
- His father led a World War II hero to the Lord. As thanks, the officer gave him Hitler's personal pistol, taken from the Fuhrer's apartment in Munich. With Maurice Possley, a Pulitzer winning journalist, Woodbridge wrote and recently released the book Hitler in the Crosshairs: A G.I.'s Story of Faith and Courage about the soldier who had accepted the suicidal mission to take out Hitler in his Munich apartment. The pistol given to Charles was later stolen from the Woodbridge family home in Savannah, Georgia, was sold around, and is presently in a private collection in California.
The Woodhouse family history is remarkable as Dr. Woodbridge’s gifts as a historian himself. We are grateful to have his experience and expertise in the Pastors College once again when he teaches Church History 2 (May 15–18).
A few years back we took the opportunity between classes to discuss matters of the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture — one area of his expertise (among many!). He is the author of three valuable books on this topic:
In the studio we asked him:
- What threats to Scripture most concern you today?
- What are the pastoral implications of the doctrine of inspiration of Scripture?
- Describe for us how inerrancy has been debated in church history.
- Who are some pastors in church history who functionally modeled a high view of Scripture?
- For a pastor who lacks a conviction about the power and authority of Scripture, what would you say to him?
You can download or listen to the 15-minute audio recording here:
September 2, 2011 by
Tony Reinke
Categories: Pastors College | Resources
This week classes began for the 2011–2012 class of the Pastors College class. And each year the PC curriculum includes classes by experienced seminary professors who are invited to teach on targeted subjects. Last year one of the highlights was hearing Dr. D.A. Carson lecture on the Epistle to the Hebrews to a room full of nearly 100 pastors from Sovereign Grace churches. This year we are honored to have Dr. Thomas Schreiner teaching a course on one of the Pauline Epistles and Dr. Steve Nichols teaching Church History 3 (a course that may or may not include a little history of Blues music).
With the start of the new year we thought you may be interested to hear a few interviews we’ve done with visiting lecturers in previous years.
Today we’re posting a conversation we recorded with Dr. Andreas Köstenberger, Senior Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology and Director of Ph.D. Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2009 he traveled to the Pastors College to teach a course on the Gospel of John, one of his specialties which is evident in some of his book projects:
- A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters: The Word, the Christ, the Son of God (Zondervan, 2009)
- John, in the Baker Exegetical Commentary series (Baker, 2004)
- Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective (Baker, 2002)
- Father, Son and Spirit: The Trinity and John's Gospel, in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series (IVP, 2008)
During a break in his course lectures we pulled Dr. Köstenberger into the recording studio and asked him questions about the Gospel of John, its theology, themes, and structure. Questions included:
- What is it about the Gospel of John that has led you to do so much work on it?
- What are the similarities and differences between the Gospel of John and the synoptic gospels?
- What are some distinctive themes in the Gospel of John?
- You say that John uses different literary devices to communicate his theology. In what ways?
- How is the Gospel of John structured?
You can download or listen to the recording of the 20-minute conversation with Dr. Köstenberger here:
August 30, 2011 by
Tony Reinke
Categories: Pastors College
Today marks the beginning of a new Pastors College academic year. We’ll introduce the students in a moment, but first, here is the class by the numbers.
Of 23 students:
- Ages range from 24 to 56 years old
- Twenty-two are married, with marriages ranging from 3 to 31 years
- Ten states are represented, as well as five countries besides the U.S.: the Philippines, Germany, Bolivia, England, and the Dominican Republic
- 15 of the students have prior pastoral experience and 1 is a senior pastor
- 8 students are in our church-planting track
As you can imagine, the ten-month Pastors College curriculum is an intense experience for these men and for their families, on top of settling into temporary homes and for some a new culture altogether.
Please take a moment to look over the class roster and to pray for these men and for their families.
| Student name | Sending church |
|---|
| Josh Anderson |
Sovereign Grace Church (Oswego, IL) |
| Dan Birkholz |
Grace Bible Church (Philadelphia, PA) |
| Jeff Boettcher |
Sovereign Grace Church (Marlton, NJ) |
| Jim Brown |
Crossway Community Church (Niceville, FL) |
| Keith Bunting |
Crossway Church of Lancaster (Lancaster, PA) |
| Jeff Carlson |
Grace Church (Frisco, TX) |
| Matt Chapman |
Grace Church (Bristol, England) |
| Greg Dirnberger |
Faith Baptist Fellowship (Sioux Falls, SD) |
| Nilo Ebo |
His Dwelling Christian Church (Cebu, Philippines) |
| Rolando Espinal |
Palm Vista Community Church (Miami Lakes, FL) |
| Andrew Kalvelage |
Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA) |
| Markus Kniesel |
Arche Church (Hamburg, Germany) |
| Ben Kreps |
Living Hope Church (Harrisburg, PA) |
| Danny Lee |
Sovereign Grace Church (Oswego, IL) |
| Ken Legan |
Oasis Church (Chaska, MN) |
| Josh Murphy |
Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD) |
| Dave Odom |
Third Baptist Church (Murfreesboro, TN) |
| Jason Russell |
Brandywine Church (Downingtown, PA) |
| Jason Stubblefield |
Palm Vista Community Church (Miami Lakes, FL) |
| Emmanuel Suarez |
Grace Community Church (Souderton, PA) |
| Oscar Vargas |
Iglesia en la Paz (La Paz, Bolivia) |
| Zach Varnell |
Cornerstone Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN) |
| Matthew Wireman |
Third Avenue Baptist (Louisville, KY) |
This week at the Pastors College, C.J. Mahaney will teach a course about Pastoral Ministry based on the Bible's keystone biblical metaphor for pastoral leadership, the shepherd. Drawing from Scripture and his own experience, C.J. will lead the class in a study of the shepherd metaphor and its implications for pastoral ministry and modern pastoral challenges.
Beyond our enrolled Pastors College class, we're honored to have 42 other pastors attending the class as guests. Please join us in praying for these men as they study together this week:
|
|
- John Koh
- John Lenfestey
- Jon Hansel
- Jose Mendoza
- Jose Mercado
- Ken Mellinger
- Kurt Weaver
- Larry Malament
- Luke Middleton
- Miguel Nuñez
- Nathan Fancher
- Niwlton Jaquez
- Peter Privitera
- Rolando Espinal
- Ron Boomsma
- Sam Shin
- Shannon Day
- Steve Heitland
- Steve Shank
- Trey Richardson
- Vince Hinders
|
Also, if you're a member of a Sovereign Grace church, thank you for supporting your church and Sovereign Grace Ministries so that we can provide training opportunities like this class. If you're interested in other ways our Mission Fund is invested, you can browse our Mission Fund pages or watch the Donor Updates category on this blog for related news.
February 24, 2011 by
Andrew Mahr
Categories: Pastors College
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This week our Pastors College is honored to have Dr. D.A. Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, teaching a course on Hebrews. Nearly 100 pastors from various Sovereign Grace churches are here for the course.
The lectures aren't being recorded, but you get some insights from the class by following Twitter updates from C.J. Mahaney's research assistant, Tony Reinke. Some excerpts:
In this year's Mission Fund materials we alluded to ongoing training opportunities that our Pastors College provides for pastors in Sovereign Grace Ministries. One of the most strategic elements of that ongoing training is the Preaching Practicum, a three-day workshop where a small group of pastors get to preach and evaluate sermons with the help of C.J. Mahaney and Jeff Purswell. This is a relatively new initiative for the Pastors College, and this week we are hosting 17 Sovereign Grace pastors (along with current Pastors College students) for our third one.
If you're a member of a Sovereign Grace church, thank you for your help making training like this possible. We have gotten wonderful feedback so far on the usefulness of past Preaching Practicums, and they really are a direct result of your support of your pastors and giving to our Mission Fund.
Below are the men in attendance this week, along with Twitter links where available. Please pray for them, as well as C.J. and Jeff as they lead the training.
December 9, 2010 by
Sarah Lewis
Categories: Pastors College
Please join us in praying this week for 19 senior pastors who are attending our second Preaching Practicum, hosted by the Pastors College. The Preaching Practicum started yesterday and ends tomorrow around noon.
We believe that as preaching goes, so goes a church. So one of our priorities is to train pastors to "preach the word" faithfully, passionately, and humbly (2 Timothy 4:2). The three-day Preaching Practicum is set up as a lab: ten pastors preach a sermon to the class. After each sermon, Jeff Purswell, C.J. Mahaney, and the rest of the class evaluate its strengths and weaknesses and give pointers for improvement.
Our prayer is that these 19 men experience what Ian McConnell did at our last Preaching Practicum in January: "I was surprised that although it was in an academic environment, it was so much more than that," he said. "It turned out to be an environment where God's Spirit met with us through the preached Word and ministered grace to our lives in some very dynamic and discernable ways."
Will you join us in praying for these pastors? Specifically, please pray:
- that these senior pastors will be encouraged and strengthened for the task of preaching
- that Jeff and C.J. will have wisdom to lead the practicum well
- that these three days will bear long-term fruit in the 19 churches represented
Thank you!
Photo: Zac Martin, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace City Church (Brooklyn, NY)
Sovereign Grace churches pursue missions primarily through church planting. Church members get involved in a number of ways—joining a church-planting team or supporting pastoral training for international church planters are only a couple of examples.
One specific way church members participate in our mission is by giving to our annual Mission Fund. This year, the Mission Fund supported church planting and pastoral training in 21 countries.
In this eight-minute video, C.J. outlines some ways the Mission Fund has been used over the past year. The whirlwind tour includes church plants in Australia and Burma, an unusual opportunity for the Pastors College, and disaster relief in Haiti.
A version with Spanish subtitles is available on Vimeo.
This is the second of two videos being shown in Sovereign Grace churches this month as part of our annual Mission Fund Presentation. The first one, highlighting a church plant in South Korea, was posted two weeks ago.
Our online Mission Fund Report gives more details about how the Mission Fund is being used. Check it out for stories of church planting and gospel witness as close by as Arlington, Virginia, and as far away as Sri Lanka.