Closeness Comes Through Fire: How Suffering Conforms Us to Christ
Here Ed Welch notes, “Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) believed the cannonball that broke his leg was essential to his spiritual awakening. For Martin Luther, it was the threat of lightning. What unites them is that they are part of a common Christian tradition that teaches an uncomfortable lesson: suffering sanctifies.”
8 principles for pastoring in a political age
These are some helpful thoughts and reminders on what the role of the pastor is and is not in this political age.
John Calvin: The Struggling Pastor’s Best Friend
“But Calvin’s ministry was opposed for most of his time in Geneva, and he wasn’t even made a citizen of Geneva until five years before his death. So in addition to being a great theologian, Calvin was an opposed pastor who suffered much at the hands of his own people and spent the lion’s share of his ministry not getting his way. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that Calvin wrote a great deal about the peculiar sufferings that attend pastoral ministry. We can see Calvin as a profound resource both for the work of modern pastoral ministry and for the various trials that attend ministry.”