This is full of pastoral wisdom and gold. If you’re in pastoral ministry, you’ll find these exhortations and encouragements extremely timely and helpful. @heidelcast @PastorPerks @jvfesko @RScottClark podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

"For how comes it that we are carried about with so many strange doctrines, (Hebrews 13:9) but because the excellence of Christ is not perceived by us? For Christ alone makes all other things suddenly vanish." –– John Calvin on Colossians 1:12

“… there was a shift then from being a creedal ecclesiastical faith to an activist faith that we saw with neo-evangelicalism.” @agradio1 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Jesus, the Great High Priest, intercedes for the sake of His disciples, and indeed for the whole church. He prays for His own, those whom the Father has given Him. —Robert M. Godfrey ligm.in/4yNKlaY

“… the notion of the eternal functional subordination of the Son (EFS), which became popular in evangelical circles, has been exposed as a deviation from Nicene orthodoxy and indeed as ironically rather close to a number of the positions the Nicenes were opposing in the fourth century. This debate has proved divisive within certain evangelical circles, such as those in which a form of eternal subordinationism has served as part of the argument for women's submission to male headship.” — Carl R. Trueman, Classical Theology for the Modern Mind, 20.

“After all, if the gospel of Christ preached from his Word—his incarnation, perfect life, redeeming death, glorious resurrection, ascension, exaltation at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and his return to judge the living and the dead—does not hold our interest, then something is quite wrong with either the preacher or the hearer. If the gospel made visible in the signs and seals that God has given his church—water baptism as well as the bread and wine wherein by faith we receive the body and blood of Christ—does not grab our attention, then our priorities are off. If singing and praying God’s Word together with the rest of the saints does not produce any emotion in us whatsoever, then we are likely not participating in it with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength in Spirit and in truth. Indeed, these means that God has granted his church for communicating Christ and his benefits to his elect—the Word, sacraments, and prayer—are not only enough for our enjoyment, but they are enough for our salvation. This should give both the congregation and minister confidence in the sufficiency of God’s Word for the worship of him.” — Scott C. McDermand II, “The Regulative Principle of Worship,” in Remembering the Reformed Confession: Essays on Theology, Piety, and Practice, ed. Harrison Perkins (Heidelberg Reformation Association, 2026), 75.

“If the fathers came back to life today, they would surely be no less persecuted by the Roman authorities than the Protestants were. Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Bucer, Oecolampadius, Bullinger, Capito, Peter Martyr, these were the successors of the church fathers, not the Roman party, which venerated their names but did not follow their doctrine.” — Timothy George, Reading Scripture with the Reformers, 80.

“The Protestant confessions reflected a confidence that the Scriptures teach the truth, which the church needed clearly and comprehensively. All Christians need to know this truth and believe it. This conviction is also reflected in the centrality that Protestants gave to preaching the Scriptures in their worship services.” — W. Robert Godfrey, “Confessions and Reform: An Essay,” in Remembering the Reformed Confession: Essays on Theology, Piety, and Practice, ed. Harrison Perkins, 36.

“… in too many places, nobody's being offered rest.” @RScottClark @agradio1 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

“Commonly, those who lust to govern seize upon apostolic phrases to serve their own desires, such as when the Apostle says: ‘If one desires the episcopate, he desires a good work’ (1 Tim 3:1). But while praising the desire, he immediately transforms what he has praised into fear when he adds: ‘But it is necessary for a bishop to be blameless’ [v. 2]. And as he continues to enumerate the necessary virtues, he explains what it means to be blameless. Therefore, the Apostle approves the desire but terrifies with the teaching, as if clearly saying: ‘I praise what you seek, but first you must learn what it is you are seeking; because if you neglect to evaluate yourself, you will appear all the more filthy and reprehensible because you rush to be seen by all in a high place of honor.’”

“As your vision of the ascended Christ in His person, work, and reign becomes clearer, the benefits will be all the sweeter.” — Patrick Abendroth (@PatAbendroth), The Ascension, 10.

"The more a sinner sees of the [moral law], the less hope he has of his ever keeping it. He must find a Mediator to provide active righteousness for him. He must find a Mediator to bear the curse for him. He must find a Mediator who can crush the head of the serpent and empower him to become holy." –– Walter Chantry

"The ascension is the apex of Christ's exaltation, the acme of redemptive history to this point. It is the pregnant moment of Christ's coronation as King. Without it, the resurrection ends in disappointment and Pentecost would not be possible." — R.C. Sproul

“Believer, you are not the Holy Spirit…And it's a good reminder. As pastors, we have to remind ourselves of that every day.” @RScottClark @agradio1 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

“The ascension… is the coronation of the risen King, the climax of His redemptive work, and the indispensable foundation for every blessing we enjoy in union with Him.” — Patrick Abendroth (@PatAbendroth), The Ascension, 9.

We must always keep focused on the gospel. Horatius Bonar wrote: “The secret of a believer’s holy walk is his continual recurrence to the blood of the Surety…All divine life, and all precious fruits of it, pardon, peace, and holiness, spring from the cross.”

"We must not put any confidence in the righteousness of works, and we must not ascribe to works any glory." Calvin, Institutes, III.iv.16