Jared Sparks 
2012 was the year of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I read Preaching and Preachers the year before and good thoughts of MLJ were fresh in my mind. Then a pastor/friend encouraged me to read the book Joy Unspeakable. When he told the premise of the book I immediately associated it with my Pentecostal education. Joy Unspeakable is …
2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 1 Cor. 16:12 “No concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, …
I met Jordan the year before. I entered into our first real conversation with my future wife as a nervous wreck. A group of us went to a Jason Morant concert (What happened to that guy?) and afterward, in typical post-concert fashion, we went to Denny’s to get a grand slam and a crummy cup …
I made it through the first year of pastoral ministry largely with the aid of naivety. Better said, grace-given naivety. But then came year two. Year two was similar to year one. We were having a good time and God was being faithful in spite of our ridiculousness. But year two was also very different …
My first year of pastoral ministry was insane. I mean insane! Let me clarify. I was 24, single and fresh out of Pentecostal college (Lee University). All I knew of preaching was what I heard from Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler. Theologically, I had just been rescued from Rob Bell, Greg Boyd, and Open Theism. …
June 2018, marked 10 years since my ordination into pastoral ministry. I look back over those years and can’t help but cringe and smile. I am sure of it, it has been a decade of stumbling forward. Well, to be honest, sometimes stumbling backward. A lot of stumbling and countless mistakes and sins. But I …
“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me…Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in …
1 Corinthians 16:9 “For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Typically, when we consider God opening a door, adversaries are not among the first thing that we think about. I mean, if it read, “A wide door for effective work has opened to me, and …
“With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel” – 2 Corinthians 8:18 There we have it — a biblical “celebrity preacher.” This famous gospel man was very well known among all the churches. From Jerusalem to Ephesus to Berea, Christians flocked to hear this …
Eugene Peterson’s The Contemplative Pastor has been so helpful to me. It contains one of the best chapters I have ever read, titled “The Unbusy Pastor.” In that chapter he talks about the scandal that is the busy life. Consider this excerpt: “The poor man,” we say. “He’s so devoted to his flock: the work is endless, and he sacrifices himself …
1) Pastor, You Are Not Alone “For they say,’ His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 2 Corinthians 10:10 Pastor, know that you are not alone. You’re not the only one who has had church folk talk badly about you. Paul did as well. …
My first several years of pastoral ministry were difficult. Not because of the work, mind you, but because of a lingering, unanswered question, “What should I be doing?” Studying and preaching seemed to be a given, but what else? Discipleship, prayer, hospital visits, and evangelism seemed like good things too, but things kept falling through …