Ten proposals for being a pastor-theologian

This is a guest post by my great friend Jake Coolicus.

1. You cannot be a pastor without being a theologian. If you think you can, you're a poor pastor and a rubbish theologian.

2. You can be theologian without being a pastor, but if your theology is of no use to pastors, give up.

3. A pastor who thinks that he can do without theology is like a fish who despises water.

4. The aim of the pastor-theologian is not to study so much that his sermons are very clever but incomprehensible. The aim is to immerse the people of God in the clear depths of the Word.

5. If all a pastor reads is the stuff he needs for sermon prep, he will dry up and blow away.

6. Preaching is not warmed over precious thoughts with some funny illustrations thrown in, it is theology on fire.

7. If you haven't yet read Kevin Vanhoozer's The Drama of Doctrine, then you are a slacker and you should be ashamed of yourself.

8. If you haven't even heard of the above book and you think that reading Louis Berkhof is the way to keep up-to-date, then you are a very sad man.

9. Read books that will stretch your mind and stir your soul, not just to get sermon stories.

10. If you have read down to this point then you need to get a life. Go and read something deep and doxological like The Holy Trinity by Robert Letham.

Ten proposals for world peace

This is a guest post by my great friend Jake Coolicus.

1. World peace is a very good thing, so let's go for it!
2. Remember that Winston Churchill who said, "We'll fight them on the beaches, on the streets...we will never surrender." Also said, "Jaw jaw is better than war war."
3. My peace role models are Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Bono.
4. It's a myth that all Christian peaceniks have beards and wear socks with sandals.
5. Music can be a catalyst for peace, "All we are singing is give peace a chance".
6. Shalom is the Hebrew for peace.
7. Just because I'm a man of peace, doesn't mean that I don't get stroppy, so don't push me.
8. The United Nations should be allowed to rule the world and make the warmongers beat their Kalashnikov's into ploughshares.
9. Love and peace or else.
10. If all this peace stuff doesn't work on your enemies, just nuke 'em.

Ps.

Jake wants everyone to know that he is not the same person as David Sky and that he could have a blog of his own if he wanted to.