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The Master's Seminary Blog

The Resurrection: "According to the Scriptures"?

  • Technical
  • Herald Gandi

This article explores the background to Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Old Testament points to the resurrection of Christ. It considers connections between Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 22, as well as Isaiah 53:10-11 and Daniel 12:2-3.

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Knowing and Loving Your Leadership

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  • Steve Swartz

This article encourages pastors to love know and love those who serve in leadership positions with them in the church. It illustrates the point with Colossians 4:7-14, where Paul provides an excellent example of this issue.

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Overcoming Youth and Inexperience in Ministry

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  • Jonathan Rourke

How does a young minister grow in his office? This article considers the counsel of the apostle Paul to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:1-2.

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Do Your Hermeneutics Hold to Sola Scriptura?

  • Popular
  • Abner Chou

This article makes a case for sola scriptura by showing how Scripture is the beginning, middle, and end of ministry. This doctrine determines whether one's ministry is effective or not, since it determines our hermeneutics—how we study the Bible.

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The Wretched Art of Loveless Discernment

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  • Reagan Rose

How exactly should we be contending for the truth? This article makes a plea for practicing discernment in love, with precision, humility, and sorrow.

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Thus Sayeth the Pastor: The Nature and Limits of Pastoral Authority

  • Basic
  • Austin T. Duncan

How would you describe the nature of the pastor's authority? This article shows that authority in the church is a delegated authority, limited by the Word of God, Christ-like in its demeanour, honouring to the freedoms of the Christian, and concerned with obedience to God and not the pastor.

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The Cure for Spiritual Amnesia

  • Popular
  • Reagan Rose

Do you notice how many times the Lord in Scripture commands his people to remember the things he has done for them? Our fallen nature results in us being plagued with spiritual amnesia, with forgetting who God is and what he commands of us. This article calls the believer to remember God's Word and works, and thereby be encouraged.

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What Does It Mean to Be Part of God's Kingdom?

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  • Bryan Murphy

This article explains how the Lord Jesus defined in his Sermon on the Mount what it means to be part of the kingdom of God. Kingdom citizens recognize their sin, see the perfection of God, have a pure heart, and conduct themselves with the fear of the Lord.

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Preach the Gospel, Use Soap If Necessary

  • Popular
  • Faly Ravoahangy

This article discusses the spread of the gospel to Madagascar in the 19th century.

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1 John 3:1 – The Life-Changing Reality of God's Love for You

  • Popular
  • Rich Gregory

This article discusses the depth of the love of God as described in 1 John 3:1.

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William Carey: The Morning Star of Modern Missions

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  • Brad Klassen

This article presents an overview of the life of William Carey, the so-called father of modern missions.

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How to Listen to an Expository Sermon

  • Popular
  • Reagan Rose

This article discusses ways to help in our listening to sermons. It discusses first the goal of listening, and then advises on how to listen actively: take notes, listen with questions, and listen like a Berean.

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John 21:16 – Shepherd My Sheep: How to Lead Biblically

  • Popular
  • Irv Busenitz

This article draws applications from John 21:16 for what servant leadership is supposed to look like. The qualifications for leadership are a love for God, a model of service, and a crucifying of the self.

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The Perfect Model of Ministry

  • Popular
  • Bryan Murphy

This article discusses two key principles from Matthew 13 that come from the perfect model of ministry, Jesus Christ: he loves the lost, and preaches the truth. The article encourages the same for all ministers, while directing them not to cater to unbelief, and to understand that people will respond in different ways to the truth.

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Handling the Hard Passages (Part 2)

  • Popular
  • Abner Chou

This article considers some challenging areas of Scripture, to show how to think through difficult questions and also why the answers to these questions are beautiful. Areas considered are creation in Genesis 1, Old Testament law, and the conquest of Canaan.

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Handling the Hard Passages (Part 1)

  • Popular
  • Abner Chou

This article discusses how to handle hard passages or doctrine in Scripture. It exposes the tendencies some have toward these texts, and explains that studying them takes time and effort.

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The Word Became Fresh: How to Preach from Old Testament Narrative Texts

  • Popular
  • Dale Ralph Davis

How do you properly interpret the Old Testament narratives in preparing to preach on them? This article offers several points as exercises in learning the proper interpretation of such narratives.

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The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy: Expository Preaching

  • Popular
  • John MacArthur

This article shows that the only logical consequence of confessing the inerrancy of Scripture is expository preaching. Such preaching is the only method that preserves the purity of Scripture.

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Luther's Personal Reformation

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  • Nathan Busenitz

This article traces the development of Martin Luther from Catholicism to Protestantism, from works righteousness to the discovery of justification by grace through faith in Christ.

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The Price Christ Paid for Your Church

  • Popular
  • Eric Dodson

This article explains by way of 1 Peter 1:18-21 the price that Christ paid for the redemption of the church.

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Cultivating a Berean Mindset

  • Popular
  • Eric Dodson

This article directs preachers on how to cultivate among the congregation a Berean mindset toward the Scriptures: model the mindset in the pulpit, teach the basics, and humbly accept questions and criticism.

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The Bold Legacy of Calvin's Co-Pastor

  • Popular
  • Yorke Hinds

This article describes the friendship of William Farel and John Calvin, along with their reforming work in Geneva.

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John Bunyan, Joy, and Suffering

  • Popular
  • Joe Leinen

This article highlights the story of John Bunyan, how he came to experience joy in his sufferings for the gospel.

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Doctrine in Focus: The Trinity

  • Basic
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article explains the Trinity by outlining from Scripture the reality that there is one true God, and that this one God has eternally existed as three distinct persons.

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Eleven Reasons to Affirm the Deity of Christ

  • Basic
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article outlines eleven reasons from Scripture why we need to affirm the deity of Christ.

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Did the Early Church Teach Transubstantiation?

  • Semi-Technical
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article discusses whether the early church fathers taught transubstantiation. It shows that they ultimately recognized the elements at the Lord’s Supper to be symbols of Christ’s body and blood.

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Should You Use Illustrations from Movies?

  • Popular
  • Jesse Johnson

This article lists several reasons why preachers should not use illustrations from movies in their preaching.

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Ten Reasons Pastors Must Be Prayer Warriors

  • Popular
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article, through the sayings of ministers from church history, provides ten key reasons why ministers need to cultivate their personal prayer life.

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Preaching as an Act of Worship

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  • Eric Dodson

Do you preach doxologically? This article shows how preaching itself needs to be an act of worship.

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Cowardice, Courage, and the Death of Cranmer

  • Popular
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article describes how upon his arrest, the English Reformer Thomas Cranmer first denied the truths he had defended throughout his ministry, and then when made to recant publicly, he refused to do so, leading to his being burned at the stake.

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Hosea: The Drama of Salvation

  • Popular
  • Josiah Grauman

This article shows how the book of Hosea illustrates the salvation story, that salvation is not just a past declaration that makes a sinner righteous, but is an all-encompassing salvation in which God makes sinners the object of his eternal affection.

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Teach Your People to Suffer

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  • Eric Dodson

This article explains how very difficult suffering can be an incredible blessing, and encourages church leaders to prepare their people for suffering. It is a present reality, produces sanctification, increases fellowship, and produces hope.

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Is the Lord's Return Imminent?

  • Popular
  • John MacArthur

This article explains how the New Testament authors could say that the second coming of Christ was imminent, even though now 2,000 years have passed and he has yet to return. The day is still at hand today, since no other events need to happen on the prophetic calendar before the return of Christ.

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The Gospel According to Christmas Carols

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  • Nathan Busenitz

This article shows how Christmas carols can be used to share the gospel. It mentions several of the great carols and the deep truths they convey.

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Christmas, Controversies, and Christ

  • Popular
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article discusses how the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ has been under attack from the very beginning, particularly by the Ebionites, Gnostics, and Arians. It goes on to show that the Scriptures are very clear on the twofold reality that Christ is God with us, for the sake of our salvation.

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When Does Error Become Heresy?

  • Technical
  • Mike Riccardi

This article seeks to show when theological error becomes heresy. It explains what are the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and the distinctions therein between error and heresy.

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Evaluating Seventh-Day Adventism

  • Semi-Technical
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article explains what Seventh-Day Adventism is about, as well as how we should evaluate this movement. It lists three main concerns with the SDA doctrine.

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Ten Questions about Adventism

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  • Nathan Busenitz

This article discusses ten questions about Seventh-Day Adventism, its history and theology, providing citations from various sources along the way.

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The Love You Don't Need

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  • John MacArthur

This article discusses the kind of love we need to show, in light of Ephesians 5:1-3.

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Why These 66 Books?

  • Basic
  • Nathan Busenitz

How can we be sure that the sixty-six books in our Bible are the complete inspired Word of God? This article gets to the heart of why we can be sure: it shows that the Lord Jesus affirmed the Old Testament canon, and authorized his apostles to write the New Testament canon.

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The Fire That Fueled the Reformation

  • Popular
  • Nathan Busenitz

This article explains how it was the Word of God that fueled the Reformation in the 16th century. Ignorance of that Word made the Reformation necessary, the recovery of that Word made it possible, and the power of that Word gave it enduring impact.

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The Minister as a Waiter

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  • Mike Riccardi

This article discusses the responsibility of the minister to serve, and it does so by showing five parallels between the minister and a waiter.

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2 Timothy 4:5 – Doing the Work of an Evangelist

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  • George Lawson

This article considers five ways to do the work of an evangelist, as Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5.

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Mark 5 – Why Jesus Allowed Jairus' Daughter to Die

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  • Jesse Johnson

This article offers a few reasons why the Lord Jesus allowed the daughter of Jairus to die (Mark 5).

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Holy Humour? The Danger of Being Funny in the Pulpit

  • Popular
  • Tom Patton

Should humour always be avoided in preaching? This article shows that most often it should, and gives three reasons why.

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The Pastor's "Typical" Week

  • Popular
  • Paul Lamey

This article discusses how the way in which a pastor schedules his work week is a reflection of his theology and priorities, and it reflects on his family. The author goes on to give several suggestions aimed at encouraging the pastor's heart during the week.

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How Long Should a Sermon Be?

  • Popular
  • Brian Biedebach

This article gives thought to the question of sermon length. It first raises some possible reasons that congregational members may feel a sermon is too long. Then it weighs in on how long a sermon should be, and indicates that the better question is how well the preacher helps his hearers to behold God's glory.

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Helping Difficult Sheep

  • Popular
  • Paul Lamey

This article provides four ways that pastors can help difficult church members in their walk with Christ: listen well, admonish with love, encourage with perseverance, and strengthen with patience.

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Is Expository Preaching Boring?

  • Popular
  • Tom Patton

Is it wrong for Christians to want preaching that is engaging, powerful, and life-giving? Or is that a worldly longing? This article works through the matter by highlighting from Scripture five marks that should characterize every sermon.

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When an Unbeliever Dies: Offering Comfort without Distorting the Truth

  • Popular
  • George Lawson

This article explains how to deliver a funeral message for an unbeliever. It shows that there are words of comfort and truth that can be shared with those who grieve, even when their loved one's eternal destiny is uncertain.

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Praying for Your People

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  • Eric Dodson

This article underlines the importance of pastors praying for their congregation. It looks at various Scripture passage in its consideration of how pastors should pray.

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The Legacy of Long-Term Ministry

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  • John MacArthur

This article makes a case for long-term ministry in one place. It offers four suggestions that may enable one to sustain such a ministry.

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