Articles
Articles from Sola 5 Pastors
Holy hatred: Introduction
Jesus was once asked what is the greatest command in Scripture. His answer was simple: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He said that this is “the great and first commandment” (Matthew 27:36–40). Love...
Profaning the Name
There is a misnomer in Christian circles that all sin is equal in the eyes of God. This is perhaps based on a misunderstanding of texts like James 2:10, which reads, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” James’s point is...
Where Have All the Pastors Gone?
“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the...
Good News!
What a week it’s been! Since last Thursday’s “night of the long knives,” South Africa has been battered on the financial markets, downgraded to junk status by one financial institution, moved to a vote of no confidence concerning our State President, called upon to...
Tight-Lipped
I have at times been chided for being tight-lipped about my family. That is, since I am careful to prudently guard my family’s privacy, I have historically been cautious about what I share with others concerning family matters. Of course, when I have sensed that we...
Pastoring, Not Pestering
There is perhaps a fine line between pastoring and pestering. If so, I want to work hard on staying on the correct side of that line. But it is not always easy. One man’s concern is another man’s violation of their conscience. How does a pastor avoid being a bother,...
Doing Heaven’s Work In Hell’s Headquarters: How Not To Become a Worldly Church Like Pergamum
I once visited a site of one of John’s seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), but I never made it to Pergamum. Or so I thought—until I began studying this church in Revelation 2 and learning about that ancient city, and exploring why Jesus would call this...
And Yet
Australian theologian Peter Tong is concerned about bad theology being perpetuated via the Internet. He, along with many pastors—including this one—is concerned that an overreliance, and an overexposure to the internet, can be unhealthy. In the book Women, Sermons and...
Facebook and Me
Conrad recently added a blog post recalling how he first came to join Facebook, and reflecting on the benefits he has reaped over the years. As I commence 2017, Facebook is among the many blessings I am thanking God for. Let me explain. My journey on Facebook began a...