Jared C. Wilson

What Jesus is saying is that marriage is meant for this age to point us to the reality of that age. How does it do that? There are so many broken marriages and always have been since the fall, but it wasn’t originally like that. And even the best marriages, even the ones that last “until death do them part,” are often fraught with conflict or hurts or just disappointments. But that wasn’t the original design. The original design—that man would leave his parents and cleave to his wife and become “one flesh” with her—was meant to be a reflection of God’s loving commitment to mankind.

It’s easy to believe that once you graduate, get married, get a better job, settle down, or [insert whatever other milestone you’re hoping to reach next], you will have more time to focus on Bible study, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines. Quite the opposite is true.

FTC.co asks Jared C. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Spurgeon College and Writer-in-Residence at Midwestern Seminary, what advice he would give a new pastor who already wants to quit.

Beginning pastors aren’t often prepared for these unspoken agreements. Veteran pastors still struggle with them. But there are a number of “job hazards” that come with the pastoral territory for which every minister should be aware and to which every minister should adjust. Here are just three:

An older friend of mine told me a story once about having cheated on his wife with a secretary at his workplace. He’d committed this sin more than 30 years ago.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Gluttony is the big fat elephant in the room of the evangelical church. I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon or lesson on gluttony when I was growing up, despite the fact it was rampant all around us. I remember plenty of talk on the dangers of sex and alcohol and even rock and roll music, but nary a word on over-indulging in food.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) – One of my favorite bands from high school, Christian alt-rock supergroup The Lost Dogs, had a song on one of their albums titled “Jesus Loves You, Brian Wilson.”

Encountering a beggar, Jared Wilson writes, may point toward a larger realization of God's grace.

Scripture teaches that heaven is "richer than our four-dimensional space, more vibrant, more colorful," Jared Wilson writes, noting that a grasp of heaven's glory can change everyday life.