Cap-Quotes: Calvin and His Company of Pastors

Cap-Quotes: Calvin and His Company of Pastors

A friend recently recommended I read  Scott M. Manetsch’s book, Calvin’s Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609. How grateful I am for the suggestion. It is a fascinating look into the spiritual life of Geneva during and after Calvin’s public ministry there. Here are a few thoughts from a portion of the book. From the time of John Calvin’s coming to Geneva until the beginning of the seventeenth century, more than 130 pastors participated in what was referred to as Geneva’s Venerable Company of Pastors. These shepherds sought to oversee not only the ongoing work of the Reformation, but the practical shepherding of the churches in and around the city of Geneva. The following are quotes from the book that I have found interesting as to how these shepherds sought to oversee the flock of God among them. So much is the same, little has changed. Regarding one of the final meetings John Calvin had with his colleagues in ministry: . . . he exhorted his pastoral colleagues to be on guard against all religious innovation in the future. “I beg you also to change nothing and to avoid innovation,” Calvin stated, “not because I am ambitious to preserve my own work. . . but because all changes are dangerous, and sometimes even harmful.” 1 On establishing and maintaining right worship: Calvin identified two principal qualities of authentic Christian worship: it is spiritual and it is dependent upon the divine Word. Worship is “spiritual” in that it originates in the ministry of the Holy Spirit who initiates faith in the Christian man or woman and...
Studying and Preaching Overviews of Biblical Books

Studying and Preaching Overviews of Biblical Books

For the past three summers, I have preached overview sermons through the Old Testament. Three years ago I spent the summer preaching through the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible). Last year I taught Joshua through the Kings. This summer I just completed a series through the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel). To be honest, these are some of the most difficult sermons for me to prepare and to preach. The difficulty in study lies in the challenge of covering the entirety of large books in such a short time. Teaching these books is equally daunting in trying to cover large sections of very rich material in a short amount of time and often in what seems such a cursory manner. And yet, every summer, I receive a host of positive feedback from many in our congregation as to the benefit they derive in these overview series. Some have expressed their lack of exposure to preaching through the Old Testament. Others have indicated that they have never seen how a particular book was put together. Still others have mentioned how refreshing it has been to see the central theme of each book and how these books relate to one another. We have found much benefit from the past 3 years of studying the Old Testament together. Why should a preacher/teacher spend time preaching/teaching overviews of biblical books? What steps are most helpful in studying for these sorts of messages? What principles govern how you teach them? Let me see if I can help you with a few pointers from what I have been learning over the...
Preparing for Sunday – Daniel 7-12

Preparing for Sunday – Daniel 7-12

For those attending Summit Woods Baptist Church this Sunday, here are a few ways to prepare. Carefully Think Read through Daniel 7. How was the imagery of Daniel’s vision interpreted for him in 7:15-27? Make a list of what you learn? What is God’s role in the events described in this vision? What phrases do you see in Daniel 7 that would give any indication as to the timing of these events? Read Daniel 8 – how does this vision differ from the one in chapter 7 in terms of its interpretation? What does Daniel 10 suggest about the unseen spiritual world and earthly affairs? What does all of the vast detail in the vision of chapters 11 and 12 reveal about God’s sovereignty over the affairs of history and the future? What indication do you see in Chapter 12 that these events are yet future? Prayerfully Meditate What effect should the kind of detail about historical and future events, like those described in Daniel 7-12, have on your view of God? Your choices? Your anxieties? Your confidence? How should Daniel’s description about the world’s future impact how we view what is happening in our culture now? What would a God-centered response to our own cultural changes be in light of what we read in Daniel? How could Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 assist you in your own approach to confessing sin? How could Daniel’s prophecy as a whole assist you in praying about the coming of Christ? Intentionally Act Pray for Christ’s soon coming. How would he find you if the events of his coming were to begin...
The Musings of An Ordinary Pastor

The Musings of An Ordinary Pastor

Another re-post from over 4 years ago. I post it again as THE CAPRANICA re-launches its regularity as a reminder of what this blog is about. I am an ordinary pastor. That is, I know myself well enough and I have been around enough extraordinary pastors to be well aware of how ordinary I am. The content, regularity, and writing style found here at THE CAPRANICA all document the degree of my ordinariness. Actually, I enjoy being ordinary. Obscurity is often bliss. Normality, more often than not, is a blessing. The front-lines of the ordinary contain enough excitement, challenge, heartache, and doldrum to keep me focused and engaged in the Lord’s work. I have been an ordinary pastor for over 20 years (I began ministry in 1988 in a rural Texas Panhandle church) and I have never been bored with ministry; I’ve always been busy, and I’m as excited today about serving the church as I was twenty years ago when I began. I really do enjoy being among the ordinary. Ordinary is not often publicly celebrated, but ordinary pastors dominate the landscape of church life across our country; we are, by far, the vast majority. In reality, only a small percentage of pastors in the world could really be called or evaluated as extraordinary. I thank God for many of them . The Savior has used (and still does) a few of them in many influential ways in my life and ministry. Yet, most of us who serve the Lord as local church shepherds will not host presidential forums; books will not host our names as authors; national...
A Re-Post for a Sort of Re-Launch

A Re-Post for a Sort of Re-Launch

For many months now I’ve been wanting to take up contributing to my neglected blog presence. As the mayhem begins again, I start with a re-post (from over 4 years ago) of an article on why an ordinary pastor, like me, should regularly blog. Wouldn’t blogging be persona non grata in the life of the truly ordinary pastor? Maybe a few years ago, but no longer. I would suspect that the majority of pastors blogging today are among the ordinary variety. It helps that more than 99% of the pastors in our country are ordinarily flavored, so you would expect that the same percentage of pastors blogging will be ordinary pastors. With that in mind, why should a pastor blog? I wish more extraordinary pastors blogged – I mean really blogged. Not like those guys who have their staff post excerpts from their books. I wish they would actually take a half-hour each day and write something about their life, ministry, personal discipline, reading habits, family life, and the very unique experiences they have in ministry. It’s good to hear from some of the extraordinary guys who share from the overflow of their vast amount of time in the Scriptures and years of experience. But I also like hearing from the average Joe. In fact, I think there are a host of reasons why an ordinary pastor should blog. Here’s my list: It humanizes the ministry, allowing people to see the past the ivory tower facade. It allows you to speak to issues you could not cover in your sermon (even though your sermon was too long already). It gives another...