@DZRishmawy In a healthy way, this trepidation keeps me focused on "Thus says the Lord" proclamation and less focused on "I think" or "in my opinion" statements.
Providentially preaching 2 Cor. 13:11-13 on this Sunday, (Trinity Sunday). I'm packing the liturgy as full of the trinity as possible. Join us if you're able as we confess a wonderful mystery!
@AndrewMillerOPC My take was basically sorrow that makes Christians run to Jesus is the only profitable sorrow. I think that incorporates Lamentations. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus’ sorrow precedes his work (there in microcosm) but also his suffering precedes his glory.
1/2 "For only in respect to sins is sorrow a profitable thing; as is evident in this way. He that sorrows for loss of wealth repairs not that damage; he that sorrows for one deceased raises not the dead to life again;
2/2 But Paul with his gospel lens knows the truth of it all. The substance of the glory, joy, of unimpeded fellowship and approval from God makes the greatest earthly burden a feather.
1/2 I don't think most of us, most days, would write or think how Paul does. Calling his suffering a "momentary lightness of affliction" which prepares us for "an eternal weight of glory." Most of us think of suffering as the weight and glory as a fleeting momentary lightness.
If you view pastoral ministry as a primarily a theological / mental exercise, then how do you pastor those with a keener theological mind? Pastoring is far more than being "right" about a passage, it is about pointing people to Jesus right in the midst of their current struggle.
1/4 "O LORD Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
3/4 “As a prophet John has only one foot in the old covenant; the other is in the new. He is the last prophet, the forerunner. His birth and office are on the threshold between the two testaments.” ~ François Bovon