- RSS FeedSubscribe
- « Previous PostThis Week's Sponsor: Adopting for Life
- Next Post »Leadership in the Home - A Godly Man Leads
A La Carte (12/2)
- 12/02/09
- 8
The Country Parson
Tim Keller: “Young pastors or seminarians often ask me for advice on what kind of early ministry experience to seek in order to best grow in skill and wisdom as a pastor. They often are surprised when I tell them to consider being a ‘country parson’ — namely, the solo pastor of a small church, many or most of which are in non-urban settings. Let me quickly emphasize the word ‘consider.’ I would never insist that everyone must follow this path. Nevertheless, it is worth thinking about. It was great for me.”
Free Audio Book
This month’s free audio book at ChristianAudio is The Brothers Karamazov. You and I both know you’d never read it, so why not download it and listen to it?
Google Zeitgeist 2009
Google maintains its annual tradition of releasing the year’s Zietgeist report. “Another year has come and gone, and as always, we’re taking a moment to look back at the happenings of 2009—the people, events and memories that made this year unique. Each year, we examine the billions of queries that people around the world have typed into Google search to discover the zeitgeist—the spirit of the times. As we welcome the new year, we hope you enjoy this glimpse at the past.”
Patriarch
WORLD has a profile on J.I. Packer. They break the news that in the future Packer may release a systematic theology.
NEXT 2010
NEXT has just released information about their 2010 conference (including the speaker list which, as always, is excellent).
Tim Keller: “Young pastors or seminarians often ask me for advice on what kind of early ministry experience to seek in order to best grow in skill and wisdom as a pastor. They often are surprised when I tell them to consider being a ‘country parson’ — namely, the solo pastor of a small church, many or most of which are in non-urban settings. Let me quickly emphasize the word ‘consider.’ I would never insist that everyone must follow this path. Nevertheless, it is worth thinking about. It was great for me.”
Free Audio Book
This month’s free audio book at ChristianAudio is The Brothers Karamazov. You and I both know you’d never read it, so why not download it and listen to it?
Google Zeitgeist 2009
Google maintains its annual tradition of releasing the year’s Zietgeist report. “Another year has come and gone, and as always, we’re taking a moment to look back at the happenings of 2009—the people, events and memories that made this year unique. Each year, we examine the billions of queries that people around the world have typed into Google search to discover the zeitgeist—the spirit of the times. As we welcome the new year, we hope you enjoy this glimpse at the past.”
Patriarch
WORLD has a profile on J.I. Packer. They break the news that in the future Packer may release a systematic theology.
NEXT 2010
NEXT has just released information about their 2010 conference (including the speaker list which, as always, is excellent).
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
New to the site? You can get
This is a guide written
Comments (8)
Heh. I did read it, just last year, and that book is huge. I can’t imagine how many hours it would take to listen through. Well worth it though; Dostoevsky is one of the more profound and insightful thinkers I’ve encountered, and the number of ways in which he anticipated twentieth century philosophy and countered it is astounding.
Color me confused. Tim Keller recommend a ministry in the countryside? Don’t get me wrong; I like Keller. But if I had a fiver for every time I’ve heard him make disparaging remarks about Christians who choose to live in the country rather than the city, I could retire!
In my Intro to Philosophy class as a freshmen in college we were given the assignment of reading an excerpt from the Brothers Karamazov. That excerpt was the single argument that challenged my belief in God to any degree at all in college. I tossed and turned the night after reading it for hours, struggling with it…of course, the excerpt we read in our textbook conveniently left out Dostoevsky’s powerful response to the argument, I had to find the whole book and read it for myself and its well worth the effort though.
I was forced to read The Brothers Karamazov in 2 weeks while in college; yes, all 1054 in 14 days. It was one of the top 5 most important books I read during my time at Auburn University. One of my favorite books of all time.
war eagle
Dan, do you have any direct quotes of Keller’s “disparaging remarks” or any citations thereof? I know he says Christians shouldn’t avoid the city, but I can’t think he’d disparage those who choose not to live there.
Thanks for posting the “Country Parson” article.
I pastored a small, suburban church for 8.5 years. Although I resigned due to weariness, I will treasure the lessons learned and perspectives gained through the experience. It has humbled me and helped me to see the shortcomings of man (including my own) and the greatness of our God.
I would not buy a theology text from Packer, I am afraid he would have the imprimatur on it