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."...
Thanks to John Starke for posting what is my favorite stand-up comedy act and making it relevant with regard to the way in which people use social media these days. What Starke notes is an ever present danger in a day of instantaneous publishing. You can read the post and watch the video here....
Keep ReadingThe church I grew up in on St. Simons Island, Ga. has recently called my friend Alexander Brown to be their minister. Alex is originally from Dundee Scotland. During his university days he was a member of St. Peter's Free Church where Robert Murray McCheyne once ministered, and where David Robertson is currently pastor. Pray for Alex as he labors to grow and shepherd a chu...
Keep ReadingIf you are a minister or member of the PCA, or a sister NAPRC denomination, you have most likely heard about the proposed strategic plan. The plan was drafted by a members on the Strategic Planning Committee of the PCA, and was presented by Dr. Bryan Chapell. You can watch the the videos of the entire presentation here. Roy Taylor, the stated clerk of the General Assembly ...
Keep ReadingJohn 1:51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." John 3:13-15 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him ma...
Keep ReadingThis cut scene from the movie We Were Soldiers is sobering. The husband of the woman singing the solo (though she doesn't know it yet) is killed in that Sunday battle, and he will never return home. This same dreadful loss happens to many of the young women sitting in that little church. In the face of pain like that, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood a...
Keep ReadingKenneth Kang-Hui, a ruling elder in the PCA in New York City, has given us a very helpful analysis of N.T. Wright's recent lecture at Redeemer Presbyterian Church's Center for Faith and Work. Here is the full review: "N.T. Wright made a splash Tuesday night in New York City as the guest lecturer at an event sponsored by the Center for Faith and Work (CFW), the marketplace ...
Keep ReadingDavid Wheaton, over at The Christian Worldview, is giving away 10 tickets to this year's Ligonier National Conference. You can read the details and enter the contest here....
Keep ReadingThis is a very thoughtful and needful post by Burk Parsons on the need we have to ask for and listen to wise counsel. It is essentially a practical application of what the Proverbs have to say on this matter specifically tailored for ministers....
Keep ReadingRon Gleason’s new biography, Herman Bavinck: Pastor, Churchman, Statesman, Theologian (Phillipsburg, NJ: PR Publications, 512 pps., $29.99, paperback, available May 31, 2010) is a warm and inviting portrait of one Holland’s most influential Reformed theologians. Bavinck’s theology is rigorous yet deeply concerned with the quality of the life of faith a...
Keep ReadingIf Abraham could hand his wife over to other men--two times!; if Isaac could show partiality to Esau; if Jacob could deceive his brother and steal the birthright; if Gideon, Barak, and Jephthah could doubt the promises of God; If Samson could give his strength to pagan women--twice!; if David could commit adultery and premeditated murder, and in pride count the number of I...
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