The Anonymity of Pastoral Work

November 14, 2022 Nate Holdridge

In our modern age, talk of pastoral work as anonymous work seems like a stretch. Maybe the pastor in a rural town on a dusty road is anonymous, but pastoring seems to be about as public as you can get these days. We live in a time when pastors are out front, obvious, visible. Many encourage us to leverage social media to minister to people (at best) or build a platform for ourselves (at worst). I mean, we live in the age of the celebrity pastor, so how can pastoral work ever be anonymous?

Pay Attention to Your Listeners (Acts 14:8–10)

October 12, 2022 Nate Holdridge

During their first ministry trip together, Paul and Barnabas arrived in a city named Lystra. As Paul addressed a small gathering, a man sat near him. Born without the ability to develop, he listened as Paul spoke. As Paul scanned the faces in the crowd, the Spirit locked him onto the man. (2 Minutes/500 Words)

Archival Post & Podcast: Joshua's Little Spoken of Preparation

June 22, 2020 Nate Holdridge

Joshua's Little Spoken of Preparation

Archival Post & Podcast

It is easy to think God shoves His people into the deep end without any training or preparation. He does, after all, use the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty, the foolish to confound the wise. So we might easily imagine He just takes a brand new novice believer and chucks them into the deep waters of life and ministry opportunity. But, though God loves to take us way outside our comfort zone, He also prepares us for that moment. The disciples of Christ were prepared. The prophets were prepared. David and Moses and Noah were prepared. Privately, God builds up His people before their public work. (7 Minutes/2000 Words)