Donations

Thank you, Crossway Fellowship, for supplying the funds to insulate our building and install new windows. This gift will prepare the grange to retain the conditioned air once the HVAC is installed. We are so grateful for your generosity that helps with this up-front cost.

Thank you, to the electric guy - who shall remain anonymous - who pulled a $400-$500 meter/disconnect panel off the back of his truck and gave it to the church. He said it was better than what we were trying to install. We agree, it is better. As a service provider, electric companies don’t install the panels, so we wondered why he would even have one on his truck. We are redoing all the electric in the building. God knew we needed a more awesome electric meter/disconnect panel.

Thank you, to someone named Bill, who is donating a wireless receiver and pack. We don’t yet have a sound system, but this the first piece of the puzzle.

Thank you, patriarchs of Covenant Baptist Church, who are purchasing hymnals and psalters for us to use in our Sunday morning worship.

Thank you, Jesus, for using these people to bless Your church.

HOT and Glorious

We met for the first time on Sunday in the historic Zion Grange building. We have no AC in the building, and the temperature was in the 90’s. It was HOT! It reminds me of Paul writing, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison 2 COR 4:17.”

We do have a working toilet so the affliction is bearable. Despite our experience of a little bit of affliction, there was a lot of glory in our gathering. Now, glory is not just singing worship songs together. However, as Covenant Baptist Church was singing God’s praises, the Zion grange must have seemed to have its own voice. I wonder if the neighbors stopped to listen as they heard a new sound floating through their windows. I wonder if they recognized the melody as we sang all 6 verses of “The Church’s One Foundation.”

Someday we will have AC in the building, for now we sweat and sing. He is worthy, and He is building His church.

I preached on Ephesians 3:20-21. The sermon asked, “How does Christ receive glory in the church?”. The church takes what the Father has given and we magnify or multiply it as an act of love and devotion. The church adorns her King as a beautiful bride… one that He has created, redeemed and sanctified.

You will have to wait to listen to our sermon recordings… we don’t even have a sound system yet. They are coming soon!

Zion

Last week we met for our first Sunday morning home worship gathering. Covenant Baptist Church is born.

“It was a great day yesterday! I thought the service was beautiful, faithful, and organized.” - Josh Rice

“Thank you men for leading our worship of The King this morning. It was a sweet time! May we always fear God rather than men!” - Jake Rice

We are working on the historic Zion Grange building where we hope to meet this Sunday. Renovation began with removing the paneling on the walls. We will paint the shiplap beneath with clean white paint. We are getting AC soon, but our first couple of meetings will be warm. We also need to address some broken pipes so we can turn on the water to the bathrooms. Our hope is to use the building and in the process find and repair all its issues before our public launch in September. Lots of excitement. Lots of work. Bless the LORD he is building His church.

I’ll post picture of the progress!

Big News

For those of you following our story this will be a “youge” post.

We are happy to announce our church plant has a name. We would like to introduce you to Covenant Baptist Church of Northwest Arkansas. We have the website up at www.covenantbaptistnwa.com. Our church plant is located in Springdale, Arkansas, and we plan to launch services in September. Sunday will be our first home church meeting at the home of Lanny and Kathy Rice.

Pray for us as we gather that God would root and establish us in Him. Our logo is an olive tree and that is how I am picturing this new church. We will need nourishment and the tender care of our gardening God.

I read this today: Psalm 119: 124 “Deal with Your servant according to Your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.125 I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies!” This is our cry, that Covenant Baptist Church would serve the LORD in the strength it receives from a deep understanding of God’s Law-Word.

We will begin renovation on our leased space this summer (the lease is $0). We will add some mini-splits to air condition the space and we need to purchase some basic sound equipment. We will also put in a lot of sweat and labor to paint and do minor repairs. We estimate our up-front cost will be $13,000 to $15,000. If you can help us financially please contact me or use our church giving platform that will be added to the church website very soon - hopefully tomorrow.

If you have questions - reach out to me. There is so much to tell, I would love the chance to give you more details!

Update End of May

I can see people checking in on my blog with website analytics, and I guess it is your interest in reading a new church planting update. Church planting, so far, has been lots of fast and furious progress interspersed with lulls that make us wait. We are in one of those waiting times, but I look forward to sharing really amazing updates that we see on the horizon.

Here is what is happening. On the home front, we have furniture in our home. I can say home now because it is starting to feel like our home with familiar items emerging from boxes. These items are parked in temporary spots till Kristen can determine where they are supposed to go. But, as each thing comes from the storage facility and is emptied, it feels more like us here. My dad and I finished framing the laundry/pantry and covered the walls with shiplap. Our punch list still includes upper cabinets in the kitchen, new countertops, molding, and a sliding barn door so guests can't see into the laundry/pantry area. We are not finished, but we could invite guests over at this point.

Kristen is just returning from Oregon, where our other car has been parked. It will be nice to have our other car as Kristen has started work for the pregnancy clinic, Loving Choices. She is working part-time as their Development Director. I'm jealous because she has an office.

As far as the church planting is concerned, we are waiting for some things to fall into place. As we wait, we are developing relationships with those who will be our core team. I am still making contacts and inviting them to the new church, which is awkward because we are not meeting yet. Even so, people are interested. I look forward to our first gathering where our cries as a new church will glorify the living God who has made us and has called us his very own.

Keep checking in. I promise to post as soon as I have new information to share!

Bart

Hey, I know you…

Kristen and I were just at Sam’s Club. It seems Sam’s Club (or Costco) is the public watering hole for our cultural wasteland. Everyone seems to go there to fill a shopping cart with supplies during the week, so you have an opportunity to see literally everyone.

Kristen went for a cart while I got in line at the customer service desk to return some shoes for my mom. As I am waiting, a guy carrying a baby approaches the woman in front of me. He looked so familiar but the baby threw me because the person I know doesn’t have a baby. Suddenly I over came my doubt and said, “Hey, I know you!” After an awkward pause they looked at me and said, “Hey what are you doing here.” These are people we knew from Denver. We haven’t seen them for 3 or 4 years. Jonah had worked with Isaac, my son, in the youth ministry. Jonah’s mom and dad, Wendy and Marcus, are also friends of ours. We discovered that, Jonah and his wife, Rachel now have a child and live in the same town as us. We had a quick reunion and exchanged numbers. We will have lunch soon and invite them to launch a church with us. Who knows maybe they will say, “yes.”

We are planting a church but God is doing it.

Bart

Conference Weekend

Kristen and I are in Autin TX this weekend for the Theonomy and Postmillennial Conference that Right Response Ministries is hosting. I haven’t been to a conference since starting our work in the Seattle area. I am looking forward to using this opportunity to learn and grow in these areas. A conference is also a good time for me to do something besides remodeling and allowing my ankle to heal. The speakers include Dr. Joseph Boot of the Ezra Institute, Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries, Joel Webbon of Right Response Ministries, and Dale Partridge of ReLearn.

Since we are staying with Kristen’s sister, Courtney Sprague, and her family, we brought Kristen’s mom down with us to Austin for a visit. In addition to the conference, we are looking forward to seeing a few old friends from our ministry days in Austin (as time permits.) Of course, we would love to see everyone, but we need to get back to NWA and our work there.

On the church planting front, Josh Rice and I have started reading through Galatians and plan to meet soon to begin sermon prep for that series. Does that mean we have a date to launch a church plant? Well, there are some details to be worked out about timing so, the answer is “Not yet,” but we are getting ready.

Stay tuned and keep praying for us. More to come soon!

Ankle Update

I’m in bed resting my foot tonight. I have a little pain during the day but using it leaves my foot a little swollen and bruised in the evening. Of course, I’m limping around doing stuff all day long. All in all, it is improving and I have full range of motion…just need a little more time healing. All that to say, “Thank you for praying for my ankle.” God is answering.

Update 4/24/23 - Ankle

Pray for my ankle. Isaac came to visit this weekend and wanted to go climbing with me. I took a bad fall and rolled my ankle. Right now it is swollen and stiff but I can walk on it with a limp. I am trying to stay off it but there is a lot to be done. Pray the swelling goes down and that I can return to work.

Bart

Update 4/21/23 - Who is Josh Rice?

First, we are still renovating. We have two chairs in our living room but no other furniture. The good news is that the plastic sheeting has come down because we are not creating lots of dust. Walls are down and tile flooring has been removed. We are painting and prepping the floors for new vinyl plank flooring.

Who is Josh Rice? Josh is an elder at the local church that we are attending. I first met Josh on our visit in February. He immediately asked me to email him everything about us church planting, our planning, timeline…everything. He emailed me back that he was feeling the call to plant a church in East Springdale and that his timeline had been accelerating. Our email exchanges quickly turned into dinner at his home where we discovered that we were very like-minded in our planting desire, theology and philosophy of ministry. Of course, we have differences but they are minor compared to our similarities.

I had breakfast with Josh last Wednesday and things have definitely been happening. He has secured an old grange building. It used to be an old school house but it looks like a country church. The owners are leasing it to the church plant for free. He then invited me to join him on an epic run to Lincoln Arkansas where we loaded 30 pews, a pulpit and a communion table - also free. After getting a blow out on the highway and unloading at the church building, he dropped me back at my car around 10PM. He and a few others went back for the last 9 pews. Those pews were heavy!

Im not quite sure if I am to partner with Josh to plant this church OR if I help him start and then branch off a new church plant at some point. Pray for wisdom as we proceed but it feels like my work is being laid out before me. Josh is excited to have a partner because even though things are happening, he knows the work of starting a new church is daunting. The plan is to launch this fall, perhaps September or October.

I will post more details later. If you have questions just email me!

Bart

Moving In - Update 4/12/23

Nothing extraordinary to report, but I wanted to update anyway. We are moving in and doing repairs/remodeling on our home. I am grateful for my father who arrived our first day here and has been very helpful and knowledgable. We move from project to project getting things done. Kristen has been working to establish/re-organize our kitchen - not in the kitchen - so we can work on the kitchen. I am grateful for my brothers who have come and help as well.

Thank you for those who are praying. Pray we get our home in working order so we can focus on church planting. We are moving forward onne step at a time.

Moving Update - April 7th

The Lord finally released us from Wyoming. I have that feeling of disorientation that makes you keep asking, “What day is it?” All I know is that we are here by the grace of God. Your prayers have literally carried us and guarded us all the way. I can’t begin to tell all the near misses and potentially disastrous events that happened on the road, but God has gotten us here to Arkansas.

We are about to leave for a walk through on our home, go to closing and then begin to unload the truck. We are exhausted from the intensity of the road with its constant rush of adrenaline. Our bodies are catching up to the fact that we have arrived so we feel a bit fried. Continue to pray for us that God would settle us in to begin the planting process. Even now he is starting something new.

Moving April 4th

Winter storm Vanessa has us trapped in Rock Springs WY. I-80 is closed and we are in a comfortable hotel waiting for the storm to pass. Thank you for your prayers. Yesterday was another harrowing day on the road. Kristen and I were having trouble with our windshield wipers freezing. They don’t work well to clear your vision when they are solid chunks of ice. We stopped at a truck stop and bought new anti freeze wiper fluid and new blades. This helped a little. We passed some really ugly wrecks.

We are safe. Keep us in your prayers as we begin to travel again.

Move day Update April 2

We made it to Boise. God answered prayers and got us over Snoqualmie pass on dry roads. However the blue mountain pass appropriately named “Dead-man’s pass” was a test of my prayer skills. I thought about Paul’s shipwrecked journey as we drove white roads and I asked God over and over to clear my windshield of snow because my wiper blades were frozen. “Lord, I need to see!” He got us ahead of the storm and a break in the dark skies shone blue again. Hwy 84 was closed after we passed over. Kristen stopped for food while I kept going and the storm caught her again. Your prayers got us to our resting spot. Thank you Crossway and friends every where. Keep us lifted up cause we have 2 days to go. Bart

Church Planting Update March 27th + Prayer request

Moving is not the most enjoyable process. It is a lot of work and planning. We are one week away from our move to North West Arkansas (NWA). 95% of our things are packed, so we are using paper plates and cups and looking at boxes everywhere.

Many have asked how our last week will look as we wrap up ministry and life in Lynnwood. You can find us at the online prayer gathering on Tuesday, we will be at youth group on Wednesday, and I will have one last fire-pit with the guys on Thursday to finish 1 John 5. Then, on Friday, I fly to Boise ID. to rent a truck and drive it back to Lynnwood. Saturday will be a loading day. Sunday, we will attend Crossway Fellowship one last time and leave promptly after the service ends. Perhaps, the church will gather outside and wave us on, weather permitting.

We will travel 7hrs. back to Boise ID. on Sunday to arrive at our overnight stay. Monday, 12hrs. driving will get us to Denver CO. where we will stay with our son Isaac. Tuesday, another 12hrs. will get us into NWA. On Wednesday, we will get up and do a walk-through of our new home in Siloam Springs AR. Our closing will be sometime after the walk-through, and then, the unloading will begin.

We want to thank all those who have helped us pack and all those who will help us load on Saturday. Our task is exhausting, and we cannot do it alone. Kristen and I, also want to thank Elaine and all those who sent us off yesterday at Crossway! What a wonderful time of encouragement - it felt like the church gave us a big hug (and we received many individual hugs). Thank you, Crossway for loving us so well.

We are on the move….

HOW YOU CAN PRAY!

1. Pray for Bart as he goes to Idaho to get the rental truck this Friday! Pray that it is not windy. Pray that the passes are clear.

2. Pray for us as we travel Sunday thru Tuesday. Pray that it is not windy. Pray that the passes are clear. Pray for our vehicles.

3. Pray that God would prepare a people to join the new church plant. We are excited to see where and who God calls to His new body.

Church Plant Update - Feb 2023

Our send off Sunday is March 26. We will begin packing our moving truck the following week and then we are driving to Arkansas. Please be in prayer for our move.

We just returned from a trip to Arkansas. Our main focus was to spend time with our realtor and find a home. We looked at many homes but none stood out, and we eliminated almost everything that we looked at. However, God had another purpose for us. We made some amazing connections with people who were excited for us to plant a new church. We don’t know how these relationships will develop but we continue to connect with people who want to help us plant. This is so exciting as we watch God go before us. Psalm 127:1 continues to resonate in my mind. “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

This weekend was the 3 Strand network retreat. The network church planters here in the PNW are committed to coaching me via zoom on a bi-weekly basis. I am encouraged to have such great advisors who have all successfully planted churches.

Today I preached at Communion Church in Mount Vernon. What a wonderful church. Everyone was so encouraging and willing to partner with us in through prayer and support. Over the next three weeks, I will be preaching at Crossway as Moises travels to Mexico. Then on March 19th, I will preach at Roots Church in Stanwood WA. Somewhere in that busy schedule we will fly to Sacramento to interview the NAB and see if they are a good fit for us as a church planting partner.

Pray for us! 1. Pray we find a home in Arkansas. We may need to wait until we arrive in April and rent while we look. Pray we have wisdom and patience to wait on God’s provision. 2. Pray for us as we discern where in NW Arkansas the Lord will have us plant. The possible areas to plant a church have changed a bit to either Fayetteville in the south or Bentonville in the north. Pray that we are united in this decision. 3. Pray for our move. March 26th will come quickly. The next update will be from Arkansas.

Why Plant A Church?

I recently sat in a tavern with my friend Jim. I looked across the table and simply asked, “Am I crazy for thinking about planting a church?” Jim did not hesitate in his response. “Everyone who plants a church is a little crazy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.” My memory may not be exact but that was the general sense of the exchange.

Honestly, I have struggled to see myself as a church planter. My understanding has been that successful church planters were those ministers who had a strong marketing or entrepreneurial personality. Since these are not strengths I could claim, I ruled myself out of church planting. Despite my feelings of being unqualified, the prospect of planting has been a reoccurring question in ministry. At one time, I considered God might use us to plant a sister church, but our church leadership at the time did not share that vision. I took their response to be an external confirmation of my standing internal assumption that God did not plan to use me to plant a church.

So, why the change? What would cause me to accept the challenge at this time in my life? As I begin to form answers to those questions several ideas come to mind. First, we have felt compelled to move from the Seattle area to be closer to family in Arkansas. However, finding a church position close enough to have a significant impact in their lives has proven to be difficult. In eight months of searching, we had not found any opportunities within a reasonable distance of our family—even when extending our search through networking. Second, the churches with whom we had applied and interviewed revealed differences in theology, polity and philosophy of ministry. As a result, we determined, or it was determined for us, we were not a good fit. Even so, this began to give us a new perspective. We could be in a unique position to plant a church which is not being expressed in that area. Third, for the first time in my ministry career we have people and a church who are excited to support us in planting a new church. In previous churches, planting was not a priority that was being considered by church leadership. So, the church planting conversations or offers to partnership with financial support never happened. However, we now have a church that desires to send us out to establish a new kingdom outpost. This partnership has been life-giving for me. I feel propelled by a flood of energy and excitement coming from others who desire to see us plant. It is clear, God’s time for us to plant is now, in this crazy season. It is God who is shaping us on a very personal level and leading us to prayerfully pursue the amazing opportunity to plant a brand-new church. 

Church Planting?

Kristen and I are investigating church planting in Northwest Arkansas. We are in the very preliminary stages. Our plan would be to move to Arkansas soon with the understanding that it will take a couple of years to build a core team. Church planting is slow great commission work that requires a mature, motivated and outward-focused core to build a church that will reach the unreached and the unchurched.

Our church here in the PNW is supportive and they desire to partner with us as our sending church. Join with us in praying. We need to immerse our plans in prayer. We are convinced that God will need to open doors and encourage us despite our fears and despite the presently unforeseen obstacles. HE alone can create a new church and cause it to come to life. Without him we can do nothing. Please pray for God’s will to be accomplished through our efforts.

More to come later. This was just a quick update.

As we continue to move forward, this website will change focus. The new purpose of the site will provide updated information on a new church plant in NWA rather than a online resume for existing churches.

Reach out to us via email or phone. We need your support and encouragement and would love to hear from you!

-Bart

The Pastor as Public Theologian - Part 2

I have taken up “The Pastor as Public Theologian” again after being distracted for a time in ministry work and elder prescribed reading.  I realize that my first post was a hopeful introduction and that many readers would want to know what further gleanings were gained upon finishing it.  There is a lot in this book.  This book requires me to read at a slower pace so I can process the depth of the content being discussed.

The Pastor as a Prophet, a Priest, and a King 

We are familiar with these roles being associated with Christ, the Good Shepherd. The book explores how the Pastor as an under-shepherd to the good shepherd reflects a lesser extent these same roles.  I was challenged in each of these roles to see myself and my work among those whom I shepherd.  I must think of myself in a priestly role to those under my care bringing them closer to God through the regular sacraments.  I must think of myself in the role of prophet to those whom God has given to declare the truth of God and call for repentance. I must think of myself in the role of a king for those whom God has asked me to lead, steward, and protect with every decision. These roles operate in obedience and dependence upon the Good Shepherd 

A history of the Pastorate

A history beginning with the early church fathers through modern times demonstrates the importance of pastors. I especially appreciated the portions describing Jonathan Edwards views on pastoral ministry. Many of Edwards’ quotes were new to me on this subject. Edwards had a bold view of his role in the church and society.

In his own preaching, Edwards felt no shame in relating all areas of life to God. If an area of God’s created order seized his attention, he felt glorious freedom to situate it within his God-centered worldview and preach it to his people. This was the outworking of being a gospel minister, the figure who served the kingdom of Christ, which stood over the world, ruling it. Two centuries before Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper would picture Christ saying “Mine!” over all his creation, Edwards was already calling “His!” in his preaching and writing. (p. 85).”

I often feel the hints of caution to declaring the truth of God as it relates to certain topics - even though the scripture speak plainly about them. The subjects of politics, sexuality, and racial reconciliation have become no-no topics for pastors and sermons today. These cultural issues are too uncomfortable so the preference is to avoid them. Edwards would disagree with these modern opinions. God has a lot to say about these topics today and his truth needs to be declared by bold preachers who walk in Edwards’ footsteps.

The Pastoral perspectives section

These sections written by various pastors offer practical ideas given through real pastoral experience. Things I have gleaned from these pastors:

1. Do not feel bad or guilty for making time to think theologically and prepare theological sermons that speak truth to our world. There are a lot of ministry needs that demand time from pastors and this must be prioritized.

2. That there is a theology of technology that is derived from the scriptures. The way tools, weapons, and chariots were used in the Bible gives us an understanding of how we use iPads and Livestreams.

3. Genesis 1-3 speaks to many of our cultural issues today. This should be a sermon series in every church that grounds our cultural discussion. This section of our Bibles needs to be well worn through the frequency of putting it before our people to root it in our minds and hearts.

4. “True faith is life-changing faith” (p. 97). Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). The fruit of faithful pastoral theologians is not smart people, the fruit is demonstrated by changed lives.

5. “Theological reflection will never matter to God’s people if they know that it doesn’t matter to God’s preachers.” (p. 99). Preaching must always include passion, an effort to bring theology down to the heart, and a constant redirection of our hearts to the glory of Christ. These elements are vital to communicating theologically.

I am glad to get these thoughts down on paper if for no one else but my benefit. I am realizing now that I am only halfway through the book and yet another installment of this blog will be due as I finish it up.

The Pastor as Public Theologian

I am starting a new book by Kevin J. Vanhooser and Owen Strachan. On the heels of reading Strachan’s book, “Christianity and Wokeness,” I thought I would dive into another one of his books that has been waiting for me in a stack by my study chair. This one is a bit older but already the introduction has me thinking.

The term “pastor” is a metaphor taken from the Latin meaning shepherd. This original metaphor has been overtaken by a host of other metaphors that often leave pastors feeling the enormous pressure to figure out how to operate in a wide landscape of expectations. It leaves me wanting to send a survey monkey link to my congregation asking, "How do you define the role of the pastor?” or “What is it that you think I do?” Vanhooser and Strachen list many of the possibilities. Is a pastor:

CEO?

Theologian or scholar?

Shrewd business man?

Marketing specialist?

Psychotherapist?

Political agitator? 

Revivalist or evangelist? 

“Builder or Architect” of congregations and buildings? 

“Manager” of people and programs?

Negotiator?

Social media influencer?

Diagnostician?

Author?

Team builder?

Professional Christian?

Religious event coordinator?

Story-teller?

Coach?

Social activist leader?

Enigmatic people magnet?

Other _____________________?

Answering this question is essential because it determines how a pastor operates. “It is hard to apply standards of excellence to what pastors do unless we first determine what it is they are (or should be) doing” (Vanhooser). However, the success of pastoral work will be determined by our ability to identify and embrace a biblical vision of this important role rather than blindly grabbing at the diversity of opinions. As we do this we will struggle not to bow to the voice of cultural relevance which uses its controlling influence to demand that we cater to the current felt need (like racism, gender fluidity or politics). We need to understand the grave danger the church finds itself in this ambiguity. A lack of clarity here combined with this pressure can cause a church to drift from its biblical moorings bending to the temptation to draw from other cultural sources outside the Bible to satisfy these voices. For example, consider this quote from Eugene Peterson, 

“The vocation of pastor has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans… I love being an American,…[but] I don’t love the rampant consumerism that treats God as a product to be marketed.”

The defined and undefined vocational role of the pastor is crucial for the church. A wrong vision of the role of the pastor can lead to a diminishing of theological concepts like sin, grace, and God. Therefore, the misdirected pastor can lead a congregation in a direction that is far from a biblical ecclesiastical identity and mission as the blood-brought bride of Christ who is actively taking the Gospel to the world.

Is the function of your pastor clear in your church? Is it communicated anywhere? What does your congregation think your pastor does? Was that clearly stated to your pastor when you hired him or at his last performance review?

It is difficult to nail down a consensus from the list above. The response can become a nuanced hybrid of two or three that will change from congregation to congregation. I have met many pastors and they all have different backgrounds and abilities/giftings that enable them to function differently. However, there needs to be an identifiable role that all pastors fill that no one else can. Biblically, there is a call for pastors/elders to be shepherds. The role of the shepherd is to provide loving care, nourishment, protection, and direction for the flock (1 Pt 5:2, John 21:16, Acts 20:28). We should note that Jesus calls himself the good shepherd and defines the role in contrast to the thief who comes to steal and destroy (John 10). The shepherd spends time and develops trust with a skittish group of animals. Sheep need a shepherd to lead them to places where they can graze because sheep will find a cliff to fall from as easily as finding their next paddock. As my wife, Kristen watches Greg Judy videos on Youtube and I begin to read this book, I am learning the complexity in this biblical metaphor. As I write, I am wrestling to distill my pondering into a calling. Perhaps, you are chewing on it also. It is a great topic to revisit and reflect upon.

I’ll end this post here with the primary pastoral role of a shepherd. I'm particularly interested in how Vanhooser and Strachen develop the communication aspect of shepherding as a public theologian. 

To be a Christian theologian is to seek, speak and show understanding of what God was doing in Christ for the sake of the world (Vanhooser).