TPC Pastor's Page

Author: Pastor Rich Lusk

  • The Means of Grace and Pastoral Ministry 

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    1 Corinthians 2:12-13 is a key text for understanding pastoral ministry, especially preaching: “[12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but…

  • Towards a Practical Theology of Covenant Breaking: Nothing Objective Guarantees Subjective Faithfulness

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    A reminder of a point I’ve made many times in various places: Nothing objective guarantees subjective faithfulness. The objectivity of the covenant is real and it matters. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the preached gospel are all gifts, objectively speaking. They are all grace in tangible form. Church membership — life in the body and…

  • ERH

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    Rosenstock-Huessy’s brilliant “cross of reality” is an incredibly helpful way of thinking about life and ministry. The “cross of reality” integrates the tensions of human/Christian experience across time and space. One axis of the cross is the tension between past and future, the other axis is the tension between in-group and out-group. We are constantly…

  • Chilton on Western Civ

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    David Chilton on the blessings of Christian civilization/Christendom: The whole rise of Western Civilization – science and technology, medicine, the arts, constitutionalism, the jury system, free enterprise, literacy, increasing productivity, a rising standard of living, the high status of women -is attributable to one major fact: the West has been transformed by Christianity. True, the…

  • Some Notes on Acts 27-28

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    Some notes on Acts 27-28: *Paul and his shipmates arrive on shore on the 14th day. Whether this is the Sabbath day, the Lord’s Day, or a generic 14th day, doesn’t much matter. What matters is that it is symbolically associated with the Sabbath. *Stoking up a fire on the Sabbath was a capital crime…

  • Usury

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    Ronald Wallace summarizes John Calvin’s view of usury: “For centuries before Calvin’s day, the Church and most other authorities had applied the Biblical condemnation of usury quite directly to commercial practices, and had prohibited loans at interest. Exceptions had been allowed. Interest had been deemed payable, for example, when the loan could be shown to…

  • Emotions

    Emotions

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    Emotions are not neutral. Feelings are implicit, reflexive judgments about ourselves, others, and/or the world. If I love something, I judge it worthy of my love. If I feel angry about something, it is because I perceive a situation as unjust or somehow disordered. If I feel joy, it’s because judge that my experience of…

  • Random Notes on Ephesians

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    In Ephesians 1:3, Paul tells us God the Father has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” A couple notes on this jam-packed verse: 1. Why are the blessings called “spiritual” blessings? The point is not that they are immaterial or non-physical. They are Spiritual blessings with a capital “S.”…

  • Preaching and the Eucharist

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    I don’t think it’s helpful to think of preaching and Eucharist as in competition for the center of the worship service. They go together, as Doug Wilson says, like cooking and eating. The Word makes us hungry for the meal. The Word and Eucharist work together as inseparable aspects of covenant renewal. Each is incomplete without…

  • The Pentecostal Church

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    Pastor Rich Lusk
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    I have preached many sermons on Pentecost over the years. Here are some notes that went with my May 27, 2007 sermon: A few notes on Acts 2, with Pentecost coming up this Sunday: V. 46 says that they ate together with glad and generous hearts. There is an overwhelming note of joy. Earlier in…