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Jan 13, 2025 | 
credomag.com | Spencer McCorkel |Coleman Ford
Author and naturalist Peter Steinhart says, “Maps are a way of organizing wonder.” The Nicene Creed, written in 325 years then ratified and expanded in 381 at the Council of Constantinople, represents a doctrinal map seeking to organize the greatest Wonder within all the cosmos: the Triune God. It is not a replacement for the Wonder itself but helps pilgrims on the journey towards the Celestial City.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
crossway.org | Coleman Ford |David Murray |Shona Murray |Peter Orr
Pastors are EmbodiedThe things that contribute to pastoral burnout, to me, are very simple. It’s an inattentiveness to one’s capacity, one’s ability. It’s maybe taking on false notions of what you are called to do as a pastor. Maybe you grow the church to a certain amount or have a certain kind of budget or building plan or something like this, when that may not be what the Lord is calling you or your church to.
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Sep 2, 2024 | 
pastortheologians.com | Coleman Ford
Learning the Art of Arts Coleman Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite join the podcast to discuss their recently published book Ancient Wisdom and the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers(Crossway, 2024). They talk about why the wrote the book and the need that it meets for busy pastors today. Why should we learn the art of soul care from the church Fathers? What corrections can they bring to contemporary models of pastoral ministry?
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
crossway.org | Coleman Ford |Shawn J. Wilhite
This article is part of the Dear Pastor series. Dear Pastor, James tells us, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Paul exhorts the church to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). Conceit and selfish ambition are destroyers of godliness; they spread like wildfire through a church or ministry, burning and destroying souls in their path of savagery. Pride hurts the church.
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
theaquilareport.com | Coleman Ford |Shawn J. Wilhite
Early Christian pastors dug a deep well of theology to bring forth water for the care of souls, and we can glean many insights from this tradition that will help us deepen our ministry, enrich our theological reflection, and vivify our spiritual communion with God. Early in ministry, Shawn and I often heard, “The pastor is supposed to do such and such” regarding various extrabiblical tasks. Several people had expectations that were not rooted in a biblical vision of the pastoral office.
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Aug 3, 2024 | 
crossway.org | Coleman Ford |Shawn J. Wilhite |Paul Tripp
This article is part of the Dear Pastor series. Dear Pastor, In the past five years alone, how many of you reading this article have questioned your calling, lost ministry friends and co-laborers, or have grown generally weary? Perhaps there is a growing awareness of discontent within your church, and you are tempted to ignore the issue or throw in the towel altogether.
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Jul 30, 2024 | 
crossway.org | Coleman Ford |Shawn J. Wilhite |Ray Ortlund
Bibles Books Tracts Articles Donate By Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite, Foreword by Ray Ortlund ... Show All Recovering the Wisdom of Early Christian Figures to Effectively Shepherd Modern Churches
In addition to the regular demands of preaching and shepherding, modern pastors feel undue pressure to entertain congregants and increase attendance numbers. Often, churches resort to the latest business models to keep pace.
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Jul 28, 2024 | 
crossway.org | Coleman Ford |Shawn J. Wilhite |Gavin Ortlund |Collin Hansen
The Role of a PastorEarly in ministry, Shawn and I often heard, “The pastor is supposed to do such and such” regarding various extrabiblical tasks. Several people had expectations that were not rooted in a biblical vision of the pastoral office. It certainly took time for us to learn (and continue to learn) how to remain teachable to some and lead others toward a biblical vision of the pastoral office. But, in general, too many items have been added to the pastor’s job description.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
christianitytoday.com | Coleman Ford
arly on in my reading and study of early Christianity, I was struck by an assertion from an unnamed author writing to a man named Diognetus in the second century. This author, in his Epistle to Diognetus, declared that "what the soul is to the body, Christians are to the world."The author was getting at a paradox resting at the heart of our faith: Christians dwell in the world, yet in the beliefs they confess and the virtues they seek to model, they also transcend the things of this world.
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Feb 23, 2024 | 
thegospelcoalition.org | Coleman Ford |Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra |Ronnie Martin |Richard Osborne III
Many Christians think of apologetics as the elite playground for a few select Christian philosophers—and we haven’t been picked for the team. We may appreciate those who do it, and occasionally pass along their YouTube clips, but we think we’ll never be effective at defending the faith. We feel inadequate, uninformed, or ill-equipped for the task of apologetics. Sure, we might read a book about sharing our faith or attend a class on evangelism, but apologetics? That’s for “those people” over there.
