Freedom: “from” or “to do”?
I’m so very thankful for faithful pastors, as well as for faithful men who are willing to take on the difficult yoke of becoming pastors. For an example of what I mean by the former, read this posting over at Bloghardt’s Reflector, which came to my attention via an example of the latter, i.e., Outer Rim Territories.
It’s amazing how often Gospel freedom is misused & twisted in such a way as to inject works into the salvation that is truly given by grace alone (through faith alone in Christ alone!). But it is. And it shouldn’t be. As Pr. Borghardt so skillfully proclaims.
-ghp
Properly Valuing Your Pastor
As I continue to dig out from under the backlog of pastor’s blog entries…
HT: Aardvark Alley for a new entry on my blogroll, Rev. Tim May’s On the Lutheran Church and Her Liturgy.
Pr. May has a particularly nice posting from Oct 19, entitled The Gift of Pastors (Eph 4:11-16), in which he expounds in a most edifying way on the subject of properly valuing the God-given gift & blessing of faithful pastors. His words are worth much consideration.
I am constantly aware of the blessing that God has given me & my family in the gift of our pastor (Pr. Joe Ostafinski). A faithful undershepherd is an unfortunately uncommon thing these days. As the sheep are called to judge the teachings of the undershepherd, so are we called to protect him. I consider it an honor to learn from Pr. Ostafinski, as well as to work with him in my vocation as a congregational Elder, assisting him & protecting him as he carries out his vocation as a called & ordained servant of the Word.
As we embark on a new Church Year, let us all be ever mindful of the gift God has given us in our pastors!
-ghp�
On being “pastoral”
A metaphor to which I return quite often is one embodied in the word “pastoral.” It is a Biblical metaphor that can be most succinctly summed up in the phrase, “Jesus is the Good Shepherd.” Unfortunately, I can some (often?) times be overly verbose in how I go about using and/or explaining that metaphor. (I know, I know. Me? Verbose? 
Alas, ’tis true, ’tis true… :lol:)
Fortunately, over at Incarnatus Est, Pastor Alms has just posted a very nicely written entry on Being Pastoral. In it, he does a wonderful job of examining just what it means to truly be pastoral, and how that differs from the milquetoasty definition that carries the day in all too many Christian quarters.
Highly recommended — Check it out!
-ghp
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