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Christian Living

How Does the Spirit Create Zeal in Pastors?

A weary and discouraged pastor who sees the title of this chapter might be tempted to stop reading, thinking, “I was zealous once. But now I’m ill-tempered and just plain tired! Zeal means trouble. Zeal causes pastors to be burned out, cussed out, or thrown out by the sheep or...
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Christian Living

Twenty Benefits from the Lord’s Supper

Our Reformed and Puritan forebears were fond of calling the Lord’s Supper a feast. They viewed it as a feast given by the Lord of hosts, the faithful, covenant-keeping God, who, in Christ Jesus, is the author, founder, master, and divine host of this feast. He provides this feast “of...
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Christian Living

Receive Criticism Realistically

Coping with criticism in the ministry requires a healthy reckoning with reality. Perhaps this strikes you as a strange point for us to make at the beginning of a section on practical principles for handling criticism. What does reality have to do with properly receiving verbal critique? There is an...
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Christian Living

Preach Christ

A healthy church is one that is shaped by the gospel. Our people need to see the beauty of Christ. Nothing will enable them to lovingly and humbly give and receive constructive critique more than heart-searching, expository gospel preaching. This is our great task and privilege as ministers—to proclaim Christ....
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Christian Living

Prayer is amazing, glorious, delightful work.

Prayer is amazing, glorious, delightful work. Yet apart from faith in Christ, prayer is also difficult, demanding, and in many ways impossible. There is not a believer on earth that cannot sympathize with that. So, though I may have bordered on the idealistic in this closing chapter, my aim is...
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Christian Living

Taking Hold of God in Prayer

Deep within us, we know that it is impossible to solve prayerlessness by our own strength. The sacredness, gift, and efficacy of prayer are far above human means. God’s grace is necessary for prayerful praying. Yet grace does not passively wait for God to strike us with revival. We must...
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Christian Living

Practical Benefits of Psalm Singing

Albert Bailey rightly concludes that Calvin’s theological beliefs about the Psalter helped unite the Reformers and Puritans around the conviction that “only God’s own Word was worthy to be used in praising Him.” Psalm singing was important to Calvin and the Puritans, however, not only because it is biblical and...
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Christian Living

What does our Sabbath-keeping look like?

I ask you in love, and I ask myself, What does our Sabbath-keeping look like? Do you look forward to it? Do you awake on Sunday morning with the first thought in your mind, “What joy, because it is the Sabbath today. I get to go up to God’s house....
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Christian Living

The Cultivation of Friendship in Marriage

Cultivation is rooted in farm work. Seed is sown, and tender plants spring up. They cannot flourish if they are not cultivated. Cultivation is rewarding work, for it results in an abundant harvest, when God gives the increase. But it is hard work. Nobody wakes up one morning and is...
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Christian Living

The Joel Beeke Interview on Family Worship

We recorded a video interview with Joel Beeke on the topic of family worship, a spiritual discipline very close to his heart and the topic of a few of his books. We’re sharing that with you here on The Heritage Blog in case you haven’t seen it, along with a...
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