Andrew S. Tunnell

Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church Tuscumbia (PCA). Founding Member & Contributor @theritagepres.

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

@blpjr77 Great to meet you, brother.

[βλ Peters @blpjr77]

Grateful for the fathers and brothers of the PCA and for the Lord’s provisions for the expansion of His kingdom.

[Charlie @LAChas77]

Old Bama: Gulf Shores ca.1980

[byFaith Online @PCAByFaith]

Overtures Committee voted to recommend answering Overture 37 from Pacific Presbytery, “Amend BCO 9-3 to Allow Women to Serve as Ordained Deacons,” in the negative. The vote was 115-14-1. We will provide the grounds for the vote in our daily recap. #PCAGA

[Creeds & Confessions @CreedConfession]

“The very worst sin that’s ever been committed was the murder of the Son of God. The very best thing that’s ever happened on this planet was the death of the Son of God. And if God can make the worst thing the best thing, He can make your disappointment, even your sin, even your foolishness, work together for good.”

– Stuart Olyott

[Cody Bockelkamp 🛋️ @praximtheology]

Phenomenal. Truly phenomenal @Jacob_Hale

This is writing that speaks to my soul.

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

@Jacob_Hale Wonderful job, brother. Wow.

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

"Though the sun will rise tomorrow in the same way it does on every other day of the week, le us remember that tomorrow is the Sabbath of the Lord. Help us, O Lord, to recognize that it is a high day, holy and honorable to you. Do wonders among us tomorrow."

- Matthew Henry

[Albert Mohler @albertmohler]

"If you care about the shaping of society, if you care about righteous laws, if you care about whether unborn human life is going to be defended or expended, if you care about the definition of marriage, guess what? You're political."

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

“Christians should understand clearly the part which belongs to the congregation in "preaching". If the preacher were simply a speaker or a rhetorician, then the listeners would be an audience and no more. Even then we would need to be attentive, interested listeners. But there is a very true sense in which both the preacher and the members of the congregation are "hearers". Both are in the presence of God to understand what the will of the Lord is, as it is given in his written Word. The preacher is not only standing before the people as one who "tells", but as one who transmits. God is the One who is actually speaking. Therefore the congregation, though silent, are actually participating in receiving what God has to say.”

https://t.co/hXAs2nbJzZ

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

@DemarsSean I don't need to go to the doctor. Jesus is the Great Physician.

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

Daniel Baker (1791-1857) was a great pastor and evangelist in the South. He ministered to various congregations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia. Many have noted his preaching and teaching gifts, as well as his sincere evangelism. He was also an exemplary father. On May 3rd, 1843, he wrote to his 18 year-old son, William. After a few words of encouragement to his son on the importance of physical exercise, he ends his letter this way:

“Be sure to write to me soon, at this place, and communicate every thing which you may deem interesting. Tell me all your wants, and be free in writing on any and every subject. You know, my son, that your father loves you very tenderly; and nothing interesting to you can be uninteresting to him.”
(Making Many Glad, 301).

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

"Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God" (Ps. 139:19)

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

The Rape Gang Inquiry Report.

https://t.co/EuKgGWBRhS

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

What relationship does the pulpit have to the pastorate? How is the pastor to preach to and shepherd his people?

Charles Allen Stillman (1819-1985) answered these questions in an 1881 address to the students of Columbia Theological Seminary during the celebration of its semi-centennial titled The Pulpit and the Pastorate.

“He must know the Scriptures; but in order to expound them clearly, truly, and in an edifying manner, their contents must assume, in his mind, the shape of a well-defined, connected, and harmonious system. He learns that system in the Seminary and in his study; but when He goes before his people, he puts the various truths of that system in forms which are adapted to popular edification. He simplifies them by explanation, amplification, and illustration, bringing them down to the comprehension of all classes. He teaches them in their application to the experience of men, their trials, wants, duties, interests, and sins. He uses them to show the way of salvation, to guide and stimulate to holy action, to promote spiritual growth, and to comfort troubled hearts. This is what we understand by Pastoral Theology. It is theology in all its depth and grandeur, but in the hands of the loving, sympathizing, considerate pastor laboring for the spiritual good of all classes of his flock. The doctrines are the very same which it required intense wrestlings of thought as well as prayer and faith to learn; and yet he now breaks down these loaves into fragments and distributes them to his hungry hearers.”

Stillman then raises a difficult and convicting challenge to these pastors in training:

“How can he warn, exhort, and invite sinners to Christ unless he has felt the plague of his own sins, the sorrows of personal repentance, the desolation of a conscious helplessness, the fitness, power, and preciousness of Christ as his own Savior, and the peace of God shed abroad in his own soul?”

But the preacher’s preaching must not rest alone on his own personal experience and knowledge. The pastor has, by virtue of his office, a window into the lives of his flock, and from them he will learn much:

“His intercourse with his people in their varied and often striking experiences develops to his view innumerable applications of divine truth, which are often new and surprising… It reveals the work of the Holy Spirit as he takes the things of Christ and shows them to the soul. Religious experience is a large volume; it has many chapters and numerous graphic illustrations; and it is the diligent and faithful pastor who sees most of it, and learns its lessons most fully.”

“He is no longer a mere sign-board. He is a guide, who goes along with them, and shows them the very way they must travel.” Let us take this encouraging challenge from Charles Stillman. Pastors – let’s get to work preparing for Sunday, but remember not to neglect our flock, because they need spiritual guidance and support that can only come from a shepherd who is with his sheep. Churchman – let’s get to work for Sunday by praying that our pastor would receive wisdom and insight from the Holy Spirit to preach Christ and Him crucified to us, but don’t neglect to open your hearts and homes to him, the under shepherd sent by Christ to shepherd my soul.”

If you want to read this work in its entirety, you can pick up The Pulpit and the Pastorate today @logcollegepress

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

This devotional, taken from William Plumer’s Commentary on Romans 8:1, shows the intimate and inseparable link between the believer’s justification and sanctification. Readers will be encouraged to rest in the finished work of Christ, and pursue holiness by God’s grace and the Spirit’s power.

https://t.co/9V5I3xaN8x

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

I know this is crazy, but I think the civil magistrate should suppress this.

[Protestia @Protestia]

At a Canadian church, during the offertory, a drag queen traipses throughout the sanctuary, collecting dollar bills from the congregants and 'pastor', and then stuffs them into his bra.

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

Christian character is the most valuable asset that a person can posses. In this review of The Formation of Character, Bret Waldrep retrieves vital and timely wisdom for readers that will prove a practical help and encourage perseverance “in a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil. 2:15) https://t.co/hot9hHFrFJ

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

Dabney defends the sincere and free offer of the gospel, showing how God can truly pity sinners while sovereignly saving only the elect. @theritagepres

https://t.co/PYA0nxRBuk

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

“God is a God of both infinite justice and infinite benevolence and compassion. We should never seek justice at the expense of pity. … The Calvinist should be a staunch proponent of both God’s sovereign grace for the elect as well as His pity toward the non-elect. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah. 2:9, Psalm. 3:8, Acts 4:12)
https://t.co/NaMZoLw5oY

[Andrew S. Tunnell @drewtunnell]

At the heart of Southern Presbyterian theology is the majesty and love of God and the personal piety of the believer.

[The Heritage Presbyterian @theritagepres]

A prayer by William Swan Plumer (1802-1880) based on John 10:11, “I am the good Shepherd”. He intended this prayer to be used by Christian parents and their children.

O God, we are sinners. We have all gone astray like lost sheep. It is of thy mere mercy that we have not perished long ago.
We would have thee for our Shepherd. Do thou feed us, and protect us, and guide us. Let us not fall a prey to him who goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Put thy spirit within us. If we go astray, bring us back. When we are faint and thirsty, O lead us to the still waters of salvation. Grant that we may find food for our souls in thy precious word. Help us to love thee more and more. Let us not incline to our own ways or to our own wills. If we are brought into any danger, do thou be with us. May we all belong to that one fold, of which there is but one Shepherd. We ask all for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.