Pastoral Ministry Interview
Regarding policy, I cannot think of a state with more power to set the agenda for the direction of the conservative movement. As Florida goes, so goes most of the conservative states.
It is hard to over-emphasize the role DeSantis has had in turning this state of 23 million people towards conservative ideals. His steadfastness and perseverance in ridding academia of DEI and Woke policies are impressive.
Trump’s affirmation is a massive boost for the pro-life cause, and the president needs to double down on the negation of Amendment 4. In God’s good kindness, we will eradicate abortion in Florida!
What We Bring To Our Salvation?
One of the Puritans observed that the only contribution you make to your salvation is sin, which makes it necessary. So, on the grand scale, what you bring this morning is your idolatries, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, for starters. The Westminster Larger Catechism says that sin “is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God” (WLC 24).
In sum, what you bring to your salvation is filthy transgressions, corrupt thoughts, wildly unrestrained imagination, and theological leprosy times a thousand. So, this would be a good time to really mean your confession; this would be a good time to pledge to God that you will go forth and strive to improve your baptism, that you will live a life of faith before your children, friends, and church.
Who is sufficient to cover that many transgressions? Who is sufficient to conform you to holiness? Who is sufficient to make the law of God desirable? Who is sufficient to cleanse your unrighteousness?
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing.
You ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle.
The Benefits of Weekly Communion
The practice of weekly communion with actual bread and actual wine promotes healthy sociology, anthropology, and economy.
Sociology because it creates patterns and rhythms for community tables. Cultures are strengthened by weekly engagement around the table. A family that eats together stays together.
Anthropology because we see the humanity of Christ displayed in actual elements rather than imitations. There is no spiritual Jesus appearing, but by the Spirit, we commune with the Ascended Messiah.
And economy because bread and wine are not created ex nihilo but undergo a process of maturation. There is a liturgical work that takes place for grain to become bread and for grapes to become wine.
An Encouragement to Teachers for the New School Year
Dear Teacher,
As a new school year begins, I want to ask God’s blessings and favor on you who instruct, whether in the classroom or at home. Perhaps a good exhortation may come from the lips of our rotund friend, G.K. Chesterton, who once wrote: “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
Teaching is a spiritual exercise. It is not a dispensing machine of facts. Teaching is a deeply emotional and intellectual exercise. You are not only helping the formation of other humans, but you are shaping your own.
In instructing, one faces the many duties of confronting, challenging, restoring, and rebuilding oneself and pupils. In many situations, gratitude seems as distant as possible from reality. But in such scenarios, you must contemplate the engaging and spiritually charged journey of passing wisdom to another image-bearer.
Remember to give thanks through every tear and laughter. When gratitude is forgotten, education suffers from the misery of idolatry, for idolatry entails forgetting the Creator and his gifts.
Seek gratitude after the good and hard days. Embrace gratitude as a caffeinated arrow of grace in your life. Teach. Give thanks. And persevere. The Lord be with you.
Prompte et Sincere,
Pastor Uriesou Brito
The Heavenly Scene Never Changes
Preaching Out Loud?
Many sermons would be significantly richer if they didn’t sound like a “thinking-out-loud” discourse. If you manuscript or have a substantive outline, you will avoid the temptation to think loudly into the microphone. You will avoid the dreadful filler words and stir your congregation to greater rhetorical expectations. Pastors should work hard at the art of communicating.
Preachers and Leftist Causes
As Megan Basham shows so clearly in her book:
“Well-known evangelical leaders, posing as representatives of average Christians in the pews, are once again publishing open letters in national newspapers on behalf of leftist causes.”
Parishioners are responsible for noticing language that may seem noble but serves as a cover for unhealthy causes. This includes asking questions to church leaders when you notice recurring word choices in your pastor’s lexical/speech patterns.
Concern for the poor and the desire to rescue those lost in homosexual lifestyles are noble. But pursuing these causes needs to be steeped in a rich, biblical language and not in modernized agendas that diminish the power of sin and neuter the hierarchy of transgressions.
Yoram Hazony Defining Conservatism
A conservative is a traditionalist, a person who works to recover, and build up the traditions of his forefathers and pass them on to future generations. -Yoram Hazony, Conservatism, A Rediscovery