A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
It is the common lot of those God has called into gospel ministry to become discouraged on account of the challenges and trials that come from serving as a pastor. I can almost always sense when a brother is weighed down by the pressures, demands, and discouragements that come with serving as a pastor of a congregation, because I have known them throughout my own pastoral service. The apostle Paul intimated the challenges that pastors face in the church when he added to the external opposition he experienced from the unbelieving world the care that he had for the church. He wrote, "apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28). So what are ministers to do when they feel overwhelmed by the discouragements of ministry?...
We are meant to know that Jesus had to remain silent when he was judged so that we might have our mouths shut before the just tribunal of God. Then, having heard the sentence exacted against the spotless lamb of God, believers might open their mouths in praise to God for all the ways that He has removed their transgressions and the righteous condemnation that stood against us for Christ's sake. The silence of condemnation belonged to Jesus that praise for justification might be ours. ...
Sadly, many professing believers approach the gifts of the Spirit by overvaluing the idea of the miraculous spiritual gifts (e.g., tongues, prophecy, healing) and undervalue the common spiritual gifts (e.g., salvation and sanctifying fruit). Holding faulty views of the miraculous spiritual gifts is usually due to a failure to grasp the redemptive-historical purpose of the gifts. When we come to understand the biblical teaching about the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, we will better value the greater and continuing gifts in the life of the church today....
When each of the Old Covenant signs (i.e., the rainbow, Sabbath, circumcision, and the Passover) are viewed in light of the fulfillment of all that they typified, we come to understand a great deal about the work of Christ...
As we enter a new year with new personal goals and desires, the Lord wants His people to commit to Christian living among the members of the body. We must resist the urge to look to practices and programs in the local church to live out the Christian life or do the work of ministry for us. Our God has given us the enormous privilege and responsibility of diligently living out, daily, our Christian lives in Christ. Let’s commit ourselves to the practice of seeking to live the organic Christian life in the context of the local church to which we belong. ...
The reason why Mary sang a song of humility is because she was focusing on what God was doing to provide the Savior she needed. Mary had been waiting on God to fulfill the promises that He had made throughout the Old Testament era. Mary doesn't speak of herself or her privileges because Mary was focused on her need for redemption. ...
We rightly wonder of the coming of the eternal Son of God into the world in true human form while wrongly neglecting to wonder at the accompanying role of the Spirit of God in the ministry of the Redeemer....
In many of life’s circumstances, we struggle to understand how we will come to attain the promises of God, forgetting that their fulfillment is entirely based on the person and work of Christ. Jesus has secured an everlasting joy, an inheritance of hope for His people through His death and resurrection. Though we do not now see all that he has for us, we wait for him with patience. We are to be a people who trust in and wait for Christ in faith....
While recent developments concerning the state of Israel have given us reason to revisit this subject--it would do us good to be settled in our minds about the fact that all who are united to Jesus by faith have been made children of Abraham and heirs of God (Gal. 3:29). Believers are the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Phil. 3:20). This is the only Jerusalem that ultimately matters. As John Newton put it, "Solid joys and lasting treasures, none but Zion's children know."...
Over at the Reformed Forum, Jeff, Camden and Jim discuss the subject of whether pastoral ministry consists more of learning or doing. It is always nice when I am not on the show and can sit back and learn from my colleagues on Christ the Center. You can listen here....
Keep ReadingPresbyterian Mission in Haiti (PMI) is asking that financial support for the relief of our churches in Haiti be sent to Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church. If you find yourself wanting to help in some way but do not want to simply send money to an organization you know nothing about, know that PHM and the pastors there need help now more than ever. In the wake of this massi...
Keep ReadingIn his sermon "The Believing Thief," C.H. Spurgeon pointed out the remarkable way that the dying thief, who rebuked the other thief on the cross and asked Jesus to remember him, used the one thing he could to glorify Christ. The man had no use of his hands or feet. He could not response with anything but his tongue. Spurgeon explained, "He had no member that was free excep...
Keep ReadingThe account of Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) is a wonderful revelation of the sovereign grace of Christ in the salvation of sinners. In the context Jesus has told his disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He demonstrates the impossibility (i.e. human impossibility) by the account of the rich, young ruler. He then turns around, almost imm...
Keep ReadingLast May, Kevin DeYoung (Senior Minister of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI) and Lynn McClurg (Vice President of Covenant Eyes) gave a series of lectures on Sexual Sanity at Harvest Orthodox Presbyterian Church. You can listen to them below: Sexual Sanity (session 1) - Kevin DeYoung Sexual Sanity (session 2) - Lynn McClurg Sexual Sanity (session 3) - Kevi...
Keep ReadingJohn Piper recently engaged some of the prisoners at Angola Prison in LAÂ in a Question and Answer time. You can listen to the audio here. You can watch the video here....
Keep ReadingRichard J. Clifford points out some of the similarities between the OT experience of Israel in the Exodus and Wilderness, with the experience of believers in Christ in the NT. He writes: In the Gospels the Exodus appears in the voice of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness and the theme of the Way of the Lord. Matthew and Luke interpret the temptations of Jesus in th...
Keep ReadingDr. David Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, has a blog called Head, Heart, Hand. Dr. Murray is a godly and thoughtful man, who has some edifying and interesting thoughts. You can watch several videos of Dr. Murray speaking on various subjects here....
Keep ReadingFaith Comes By Hearing has compiled their Audio Roundup: Top Audio of 2009 list. A few Christ the Center episodes made the list. We are thankful for all those who have faithfully listened to our shows....
Keep ReadingIt is a rare thing in 21st Century America to hear an anchorman, from a major network news channel, urge someone to turn to Christ. This is precisely what Brit Hume did on this show. Hume went on the O'Reilly Factor to explain his initial comments. I wonder whether Hume is Roman Catholic or Protestant. He definitely professes faith in Christ in this interview. From the ...
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