The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-09/07/2016 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BGEA releases new My Hope film 'Decisions' by Diana Chandler Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) -- As evangelist Billy Graham approaches his 98th birthday, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) has released a new video in the My Hope outreach that has reportedly led more than 10 million to Christ internationally. Graham's son Franklin delivers the Gospel in the new evangelistic film "Decisions," a 28-minute free resource featuring diverse Americans who accepted Christ as Savior during Franklin Graham's 50-state Decision America Tour still in progress. "I've been talking to people about the importance of decisions. I see thousands of people faced with a choice … and I want [them] to know the truth," Franklin Graham said of his outreach. "Any time you have a crowd of people, I can guarantee there will be somebody in that crowd that doesn't know Jesus Christ. So, every time I'm at the microphone I'm going to give the Gospel." In his tour, the younger Graham is preaching and hosting prayer rallies in every state capital, urging Americans to pray, vote and engage in politics to uphold biblical principles. The tour has attracted crowds of thousands since it began Jan. 5 in Des Moines, Iowa, and is set to end Oct. 13 in Raleigh, N.C. The film is available by free download at MyHopewithBillyGraham.org and will be broadcast on local and Christian television networks beginning Oct. 10, BGEA vice president Steve Rhoads said in a press release. "We are very happy to offer this resource to the church which will powerfully present the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Rhoads said. "The church in the United States has a unique opportunity at this moment to proclaim Jesus, who offers hope and redemption to a lost world. We pray that the good news will be preached and that God will bring a revival to His people." The patriarch Billy Graham, who turns 98 on Nov. 7, is not featured in the film, although he has spoken in earlier My Hope offerings. Franklin Graham said his father, who led millions to Christ during a 60-year international evangelistic ministry, today ministers mostly through prayer. "He lives with limitations typical of old age -- his eyesight is very poor, his hearing is not good, and he uses a wheelchair. Someone is with him in the house at all times," he said of his father in a July letter to friends and supporters. "His ministry now is praying, and he looks forward to reports of what God is doing around the world. He always responds by saying 'Praise the Lord' as he points upward." Launched internationally in 2002, My Hope has presented the Gospel in 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and debuted in the U.S. in 2013 with "My Hope America." More than 350,000 churches and 4 million individuals have participated in the evangelistic outreach, BGEA said, and more than 10 million individuals have made decisions to receive Christ, including 160,000 in the U.S. "Decisions" follows My Hope America films "Value of a Soul" (2015), "Heaven" (2014) and "The Cross" (2013). BGEA is accepting pre-orders at MyHopewithBillyGraham.org for a free DVD version of Decisions, including a special 30-minute program that goes behind the scenes of the tour, slated to ship in early fall. Meanwhile, a new film called "The Worth of a Soul" will release this fall in the United Kingdom in conjunction with My Hope U.K. The last film in the series to feature Billy Graham was Heaven. The patriarch doesn't expect anyone to remember him now, Franklin Graham said on his July 1 Decision America stop in Juneau, Alaska. "So he'll say, 'If you meet anybody who remembers me, tell 'em hello,'" he said of his father. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Pastor, be true to God and yourself by Daryl C. Cornett Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday HAZARD, Ky. (BP) -- I believe a pastor often wrestles with his own identity because of the desire to be a successful pastor. Invariably, pastors experience the pain of comparison and the pressure of producing quantifiable results (i.e., more attendance, more baptisms, bigger budget, etc.). All of this can sometimes lead to momentary panic attacks riddled with self-doubt while chasing the latest fad. Today, it seems that a pastor must be a social media guru, a master of marketing, an effective motivational speaker and, of course, the latest version of cool. It may feel that way because that's what we tend to see when we view the pastors of the seemingly most popular churches. In the middle of all this, just relax and remind yourself of truth with which to anchor the ministry. First, be yourself. God did not decree that a certain personality was required to be an effective pastor. It's extremely easy to confuse ministry success with personality. You and I don't have to be a certain type in order to be a good pastor. Don't conform to a stereotype, whatever that may be in your mind. Be comfortable in your own skin. Be authentic. Be yourself. Trying to be something you're not is just too exhausting and not sustainable. Know what God wants you to fulfill as a pastor. As far as I can discern from the Bible, there are only two absolute and irrevocable responsibilities. A pastor must provide accurate information to the congregation with the Bible and provide the proper inspiration with a godly lifestyle. Every time a pastor stands before the congregation to give a sermon, whether to a packed house or faithful few, his job is to accurately preach the Word of God. He must rightly understand it himself so he can effectively teach it and appropriately apply it. God uses the truth in the Bible to transform people and grow them in Christ (Hebrews 4:12). The pastor is the one who equips believers for service (Ephesians 4:11-12). The pastor is the one charged with teaching what is right and warning about what is wrong (Titus 1:9). This is a tremendous responsibility and the pastor's primary task (1 Timothy 5:17-19). Other necessary matters are not unimportant. You'll have to organize, administrate, make visits, cast vision and keep repeating what is important. However, you can and should get others to help with many of those tasks. But you must never allow secondary things to take away from your primary responsibility -- to teach the people God's Word to the best of your ability. Don't slight your preparation time. Make sure the congregation understands this. And I must never forget that my authority to preach God's Word rests on my living a life that is worthy of imitation (Hebrews 13:7). I may be an amazing communicator, effective organizer, and abound in charisma, but if I am not being the man God says I must be, the ministry will come crashing down in time, crushing many of those who had trusted me. Pastors must live in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. I don't believe this is an exhaustive list, but the idea of above reproach comes through loud and clear. The pastor is to be the example to the flock (1 Peter 5:1-4). A solid preaching and teaching ministry must be upheld by an authentic man of God who pursues this high calling with earnestness. He must bring himself into constant submission to God's Word as he teaches it to others. To be above reproach neither means to be beyond criticism nor implies perfection. However, it does mean that no one can legitimately point out a disqualifying character flaw. All believers should strive for this, but pastors must be this. We pastors must be happy with allowing the great God who called us to use us just the way He made us. We must not insecurely think we must be a certain kind of personality to be effective. We must remind ourselves to work hard at preparing and delivering thoroughly biblical sermons that expertly expound the text and apply it properly. And we must set the moral example so that we can confidently say to our flock, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). The church belongs to Jesus. He established it and is coming back one day for it. In the meantime, He gave to His church pastors. He has given to pastors a sacred authority to lead. We should fulfill it with no fear of man or culture, but only with the fear of the Lord to whom we will give an account (Hebrews 13:17). And we should pursue it with all confidence in the God who called us. Be of good cheer fellow pastors! And any time you're feeling unsure, unequipped or just out of touch, remind yourself of your job. Preach the Word. Set the example. Be yourself. The rest is just details. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Making the Bronx 'a better city' through discipleship by Mark Kelly Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday THE BRONX, New York City (BP) -- You've seen the pictures: burned-out buildings, junk cars littering vacant lots, drug dealers loitering on street corners. You've seen the news: In a single sweep recently, police arrested dozens of gang members accused of multiple murders, including the slaying of a 92-year-old woman. But the police can't fix the Bronx. Social workers can't heal the New York City borough, located north of Manhattan. Politicians? Israel Kelly has a better idea: the ABC Movement. ABC -- "A Better City" -- is a vision for planting neighborhood churches in every one of the New York City borough's 25 zip codes. "The authorities haven't been able to change the city," Kelly said. "But the Gospel is able to." Kelly, a native of the Dominican Republic, has started his movement in the heart of the Bronx: zip code 10458. It is home to about 79,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Hispanic. The bivocational church planter's work is assisted by the North American Mission Board's Send City initiative, which seeks to strategically move churches and individuals into 32 of the largest population centers in North America. Kelly's strategy for making the Bronx a better city wasn't to "launch large" with lots of attenders and a buffet of program options. Instead, he has focused on building deep disciples who will multiply in their own neighborhoods. It has taken seven years of patient work among badly broken people, but Kelly is beginning to see the fruit. 'It's time to go out' He began with a family Bible study -- just his wife Eunice and their three children. They prayed together and studied God's Word. They stepped out onto the street and talked with the people they met. They asked people how they could pray for them, shared the Gospel and invited them to study the Bible. It took four years to baptize their first three Christians. It took another two years to baptize the next four. Then in January 2015, in their first meeting as a congregation, Kelly baptized nine. Now the church numbers 75 committed disciples. Since the first of the year, they have baptized four people and now plan to have baptism services every three months. The method is intentional. Each Sunday, adults and children focus on a passage that church families have been studying all week. Parents read the Bible with their children each day, morning and evening. They memorize a key verse together and discuss a set of questions. Small groups of five people, called "La Mesa" -- in English, "the table" -- study the same passage in their neighborhoods. "The table is where we sit down with each other," Kelly said. "The table is where we eat, where we celebrate, where we talk about our frustrations and what strengthens us, where we have accountability. "Our church is a group of families that grows in the Gospel," he added. "We sit at the table and invite others to eat." And then they get up from the table and go out. "The last week of the month, our people have to go outside," Kelly said. "Go to a restaurant, sit down and buy food for someone else who goes there. Let them know we are here to serve and to share the faith. "Some of the guys are giving away tea and coffee and chocolate on the streets. It's not accidental," Kelly said. "We have to stand up and say, 'It's time to go out, to pray and to find somebody to share with.'" 'Our strongest tool is prayer' When they strike up conversations on the street, people open up about their problems and welcome prayer. "It's rare that we pray for someone who is not broken and crying," Kelly said. "They call out to you on the street and ask you to pray. So we stand there and pray on the street." They pray about financial problems and depression. They pray with people who are lonely and feel life is not worth living. They pray with parents who can't control their teenagers and see them taking up with gangs. Sometimes people respond to the good news that Jesus changes lives. People like Jacqueline, who cried all the time, or Carmen, who was constantly depressed. Now they are Christians who are working their way through the church's yearlong spiritual maturity class. "Our strongest tool is prayer," Kelly said. "On Tuesdays we have a prayer concert that mixes music and prayer. Every Wednesday we pray for people in different houses." Little by little, the ABC Movement grows. Kelly dreams of the day when disciples begin to multiply and the Gospel begins transforming the Bronx. "All our effort is being put into the Scripture and we connect with people outside to bring them into this culture of discipling that we are building," Kelly said. "This kind of church takes time and a lot of prayer, a lot of obedience. "I say to people I don't want to bring you information. It's not about knowledge. The Gospel brings transformation," he added. "My main concern is to evangelize the entire Bronx, so they know about Jesus." -------------------------------------------------------------------- 500-year-old Torah scroll 'gift of a testimony' by Andrew J.W. Smith Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) -- A complete scroll of the Torah dating to the 16th or 17th century was given to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in a presentation at Alumni Memorial Chapel, Sept. 1. President R. Albert Mohler Jr. accepted the scroll, which contains the first five books of the Old Testament, from Ken and Barbara Larson, thanking them for their contribution to the seminary's understanding of the Bible. "We promise to be good stewards of this gift," Mohler said of the scroll, which was laid out for public viewing on a table in the front of the chapel. "We're thankful to the Lord for putting this on your heart, and even in the moments before chapel this morning, it was very clear there is an immediate magnetic draw of Christians in seeing the Word of God in this way." The Larsons, who currently live in Florida but travel around the world frequently -- including to Israel on 11 different occasions -- said they have purchased 50 different Torah scrolls with the intention of giving many of them to evangelical seminaries. Southern Seminary, located in Louisville, Ky., is the 27th seminary to receive a scroll from the Larson family. The gift is one of only a couple scrolls from this region of the world during this time period. The scroll comes from southern Italy and dates around the time of Martin Luther's death, said Scott Carroll, a biblical scholar of ancient manuscripts who has built the Van Kampen Collection and the Green Collection -- the two largest privately-held collections of biblical materials in the world. The 106-foot scroll, which was opened to the book of Exodus during the presentation, is a complete copy of the Torah and contains 688 corrections -- which ought to strengthen the Christian's confidence in the Word of God, he said. "[The corrections] should be welcomed by us," Carroll said. "It was a community process to make sure that the Torah was 100 percent correct, and it is. But it wasn't done magically by a sofer or scribe, it was done by hard work by the community." Mohler accepted the scroll on behalf of the institution, calling it "not just the gift of a text, but the gift of a testimony." The scroll was crafted in southern Italy during a time of intense Jewish persecution, Carroll noted, and the survival of the scroll testified to the importance of Scripture in the community. "I'm incredibly humbled looking at this text," Mohler said. "Imagine what this says about the role of the Word of God amongst God's people -- in this case, the Jewish people reading, loving and preserving the Torah and perhaps defending it with their lives." Founders of the family-owned furniture chain Slumberland, the Larsons first considered investing in Torah scrolls during a trip to South Korea with Christian author Josh McDowell, who they said owns a Polish Torah and uses it as an apologetic tool for establishing the reliability of the Scriptures. On a previously scheduled trip to Israel with their family a few months later, Ken and Barbara Larson decided to start buying Torahs, and gifted the first one to Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. Barbara Larson attributed their ministry to initially agreeing to join McDowell on a trip to Tajikistan -- a trip that never materialized but led to a substitute trip to South Korea, and eventually to a brand new phase of ministry. "Our love for [giving] God's Word came out of just saying yes to God on one thing," Barbara Larson said. "Now here we are, we've been to 27 seminaries gifting Torahs, and we just see through these seminaries how God is working." The scroll will be housed in the Archives and Special Collections office in Southern Seminary's Boyce Centennial Library, where students and faculty can conduct further research. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Eternity meshes with flood relief in Louisiana by Baptist Message & BP Staff Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday ALBANY, La. (BP) -- Floodwater stopped two feet short of the church building where Bethlehem Baptist was sheltering 350 survivors of the onslaught of south Louisiana's flooding. The reprieve gave student minister Jase Shawley a chance to deliver a Sunday sermon, the day after the survivors' sudden evacuation Aug. 13 -- a reprieve that affected eternity for some of the evacuees. Southern Baptist relief efforts, such as Bethlehem Baptist's shelter in Albany, extend to food preparation and chaplaincy for survivors and first-responders as well as mud-out and cleanup for flooded homeowners and churches, now totaling 155,000-plus residences in 20 Louisiana parishes and, for Louisiana Baptists, 70 churches. Among other initiatives: the provision of 100 fans and 45 dehumidifiers distributed through Louisiana State University's Baptist Collegiate Ministry led by Steve Masters, whose home was ravaged by nearly six feet of floodwater. The fans and dehumidifiers made their way to Baton Rouge from Bogart, Ga., where collegiate minister Sky Pratt at Prince Avenue Baptist Church initiated the project. Masters described the fans and dehumidifiers as among "the flooded homeowner's greatest needs.... It is of critical importance in rebuilding to have the moisture out of the studs and walls of a house. Any type [of unit] will work." Masters, who continues coordinating the collection, can be reached at 225-964-0830. And the Louisiana Baptist Convention is continuing its efforts to partner flood-stricken churches with healthy churches for recovery and rebuilding. For information, go to https://louisianabaptists.org/churches-can-help-churches or call 318-446-3242. "Please, please come," Gevan Spinney, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, urged Southern Baptist volunteers in comments to the Baptist Message, the convention's newsjournal. "Thank you for what you've done in March in response to the floods in the northern part of our state," Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church in Haughton, said. "Please come and give to help us help the state recover from this [mid-August] flood. We need you." Spinney added, "Those yellow shirts [worn by Baptist volunteers] are a reminder throughout our state that we are not alone in this." For Jase Shawley, the shelter at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Albany extended beyond flood relief to spiritual celebration. Shawley had wrapped up his sermon to evacuees when a church member relayed a request from a nearly-blind woman and avowed atheist named Cindy. "She really wants to speak with you about her salvation," Shawley was told. Later that Aug. 14 afternoon, he shared the plan of salvation with Cindy, who surrendered to Christ as her Lord and Savior. "Cindy told me she didn't know what had happened [in turning to Christ] but it was something like she had never felt before," Shawley recounted. "She told me she had grown up being taught God didn't exist. But now her heart was telling her He was real. "Watching somebody who literally had nothing to do with any form of church or [with] praying -- until that morning -- and then watching her say, 'Lord, I need You,' just hours later was beautiful." For seven days, the church was immersed in a ministry of feeding evacuees and sharing the love of Christ -- even seeing an impact after the shelter closed Aug. 19 when a number of evacuees returned for Sunday morning worship Aug. 21, with 11 coming forward during the altar call. "It was beautiful to see 11 people come down and say they are giving their lives to Christ," Shawley said. "As much as it was a blessing for them," he added, "it was a blessing for us. This was something our church needed to see, that He can move mountains.... We were truly the body of Christ to multitudes who needed a touch of His hand." In Denham Springs, interim pastor James Carson at Northside Baptist Church voiced a call not only for recovery help but also for soul-winners. The church, where most of the 80-plus people who attend on Sundays are age 70 and above, was invaded by nearly four feet of floodwater. "We as a church are looking at this opportunity not only of ministering to the physical needs of people but more importantly to the spiritual needs and trying to win people all over this community to Jesus Christ," Carson told the Baptist Message. "And we welcome any soul-winners to come and join us in this effort.... "There are many in our community who are unchurched and unsaved," he said. "We want our church to have a positive impact on those who are hurting in order to build relationships ... that will result in sharing the Gospel message of salvation to the unsaved and to reclaim those believers who are unchurched." For volunteer chaplain Wayne Barber, the same spot in a Lafayette restaurant became a special place for a team from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. "There were three people in a row at the same booth, three days in a row, all accepting Christ," Barber said. "It was amazing how we were going down the road and the Holy Spirit nudged us to go in there, even though we really hadn't planned to at first." The team's witness yielded nearly 40 professions of faith during their week of outreach in the flood zone. "Every night when we go to bed we pray the Lord would prepare divine appointments the next day," Barber said. "When we meet up, we have the strength to be the Christians we can be." Even a robbery failed to deflate the resolve of Crossgate Church to aid its community of Robert. A piece of equipment used to load supplies for delivery, a 521 Loader valued at $2,500, was stolen from the church on Aug. 18. "We have 10,000 houses that flooded in Tangipahoa Parish and this piece of equipment was needed to help them," pastor Louis Husser said. A sister church's deacon chairman, Carl Richardson of Lee Valley Baptist in Loranger who works for a tractor supply and equipment company, heard about the situation and contacted Lee Valley's pastor about the church providing funding for a new loader. Richardson described the gesture as a way to pay forward how a number of churches had aided Lee Valley when it was about to close its doors in early 2015 and had $200 in the bank. The church's membership has risen to 40 after sliding to 15. "Our church was able to put our arms around a sister church and be a blessing to them," Richardson said. "[W]hat an awesome feeling it was to know God allowed us to be used, and we give Him the glory for it." Information about the Louisiana Baptist Convention's relief initiatives, as well as a link for providing financial assistance, can be accessed at LouisianaBaptists.org/DisasterRelief or the Baptist Message website, BaptistMessage.com. Protocol for disaster relief volunteer deployment by the Louisiana convention entails completion of a sign-up form posted at https://louisianabaptists.org/volunteerDR. An area coordinator then will contact groups/individuals about key locations where assistance is needed. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Discerning ministry call focus of new book by T. Patrick Hudson Date: September 07, 2016 - Wednesday KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Jason Allen believes there are 10 questions that will help a Christ-follower decide whether or not they are being called by God into the ministry. In the book "Discerning Your Call to Ministry," Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's president poses questions to help students, aspiring pastors, and even current ones, grasp whether ministry is for them. Within the 154-page work, Allen gleans from Scripture, church history, and his own personal experience as a former pastor and seminary president to offer a proper view of the pastorate, assisting readers in making an informed, confident decision about their service to God. "The impetus of this book stems back to memories of confusion and a lack of direction as I was sensing God's calling in my own life," Allen said of the book that was released Tuesday (Sept. 6) by Moody Publishers. "Now, years later as a seminary president," he noted, "I daily receive correspondence from earnest men and women who are at a similar point as I once was. My desire is for them to read this book and obtain clarity, one way or the other, of their calling." The primary audience for the book includes any person sensing a call to pastoral ministry, Allen said. But it also can include those who are already serving in various capacities within the local church and may have incorrectly sensed such a call. "Most Christians have an undeveloped, insufficiently-informed understanding of what it means to be called to the ministry," Allen said. "They are often in their own state of suspended animation, seeking certainty and assurance yet feeling ill-equipped to follow God's call," he said. "These are urgent and consequential deliberations. After all, what could be more unsettling than to embark on the ministry unsure if God is indeed leading you?" Some of the questions Allen addresses in the book include the following: -- Do you desire the ministry? -- Does your character meet God's expectations? -- Is your household in order? -- Has God gifted you to preach and teach His Word? -- Do you love the people of God? -- Are you passionate about the Gospel and Great Commission? -- Are you ready to defend the faith? -- Are you willing to surrender? "God's call is too noble, too consequential, and too glorious to be neglected," Allen said. "Each person sensing a call to ministry must know for sure whether God has called them or not. My aim is to show them that they can." Allen noted, "I cannot be more pleased with the way Discerning Your Call to Ministry has turned out. It has been a privilege to partner with the Moody Publishing team to produce a book that, I pray, will assist Christ-followers who are grappling with the question of whether they are being called by God into the ministry." To purchase Discerning Your Call to Ministry through Moody Publishing, go to www.moodypublishers.com/books/bible-study-and-reference/discerning-your-call-to-ministry2/. EDITOR'S NOTE: Please see recommendations for Discerning Your Call to Ministry from various Southern Baptist leaders below: Russell Moore "One of the hardest questions I faced as a teenager was this one: how do I know if the call I feel to ministry is genuine," said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission. "I wish I had had this book. Jason Allen is an experienced, thoughtful guide on what it means to serve Christ's church as pastors and teachers. This book will not only help young, would-be ministers to discern their calling, but will also equip pastors and church leaders to disciple the next generation." Thom Rainer "How do I know if I'm called to ministry? And how do I know if I'm ready to serve in ministry?" Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, said. "These are two of the common questions I am asked again and again," he said. "Now I have the perfect response: read Jason Allen's Discerning Your Call to Ministry. This book is thoroughly biblical. It is immensely practical. And it is incredibly helpful. It is now my number one recommendation to those who sense God's call to ministry in their own lives." Paige Patterson "Not every day does one hear the wisdom of the ages from one of the youngest seminary presidents in America." Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said. "Discerning Your Call to Ministry is a crisp, phenomenally perceptive introduction to the ministry that ought to be read by every young man considering the ministry. "I am especially thankful for Allen's emphasis on the essential call of God to the ministry and for the importance of the pastor's home," he said. "Headed for the ministry? Drop by this book on your way." John MacArthur "God's call to full-time ministry is a concept few people understand or explain well," said John MacArthur, pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif. "It's not a mystical form of special revelation or an audible voice from heaven. And God doesn't call men to pastoral ministry without gifting them for the task and sovereignly drawing their hearts to the work. Jason Allen skillfully outlines and explains the vital biblical principles for discerning whether a person is truly called to ministry. This helpful handbook answers scores of questions I hear from young men and potential seminary students all the time." R. Albert Mohler Jr. "The Bible reveals both the glory and the burden of the call to ministry, and what we need is a faithful and pastoral presentation of the biblical vision of that call," said R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "Thankfully, that is just what Jason Allen provides in this book. He clears away the confusion and faithfully sets out what the Bible reveals about what we rightly call the Gospel ministry. It is timely and timeless in its approach, and it will be especially helpful to those considering a call to the ministry."