The Last Word

By Justin Lonas

On the occasion of the final print issue of Pulpit Helps, some reflection on our ministry through the years is in order.

We remain confident that this shift to the internet as our primary outlet is God’s plan for the ministry, and we look forward with great anticipation to see what that holds. Currently, our plan is to launch the first issue of Disciple Magazine on Monday, December 14. Our searchable database of illustrations, outlines, etc. at www.sermonhall.com should go live around the same time. We look forward to welcoming many of you to our new “home” and hope that you’ll find it as beneficial to ministry as you have Pulpit Helps.

For those of you who are leaving our extended family at this time, we will miss the pleasure of serving you and your congregations. I’d like to leave you with four goals that I’ve always had for our content and the hope that you can retrace those threads through our past issues and see them being fulfilled in your ministry long after Pulpit Helps is gone.

1) A Passion for God’s Word

Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” The obvious flip-side of this verse is if it weren’t for God’s revelation of His character and plan, we would have no knowledge of our hope. A church that isn’t saturated by the Word of God and the hope that it gives isn’t much of a church.

That’s why we’ve always grounded our content in the Scriptures, endeavored to expand your understanding of and reliance on the Bible, and challenge you to open the Word faithfully and expositionally for your congregations. If you’ve gleaned nothing else from Pulpit Helps, I hope you’ve grown in your grasp of God’s Word.

2) The Importance of Study

Paul told Timothy to “continue in the things that you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:14-17).

Timothy’s pastoral work was grounded in God’s Word, but through life-long, diligent study rather than simply devotional reading. Without patient reading and re-reading of Scripture, we cannot begin to know who God is or our responsibility to Him, and we certainly would not be able teach others these things.

A pastor’s work of preparation is never done; the Scriptures must be constantly and carefully mined, and they will yield a lifetime of powerful messages that never grow stale or forced. We’ve always printed sermon outlines and illustrations to help “get the ball rolling”, but our goal has never been to provide you with a substitute for intensive personal interaction with God’s Word. It’s hard to find an issue over the past several years in which we haven’t exhorted you to expository study and preaching.

If you feel like the end of Pulpit Helps is going to “take the legs out from under” your preaching, I fear we’ve failed you terribly.

3) The Importance of Missions

 As we are (and have always been) part of an international missions agency (AMG International), taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth (or around the corner) has been a key focus for us. That’s reflected both explicitly (through the “Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel” and “Missions Spotlight” columns) and implicitly (through features and columns that bring biblical reminders of our call to glorify God among the nations). We’ve encouraged you to lead your churches in missions and to recognize that spreading the Gospel for God’s glory is the ultimate goal of preaching, teaching, and spiritual growth—He equips us for His service, not just for our own spiritual betterment.

4) Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

This has as much to do with what you haven’t seen in Pulpit Helps as with what you have. Over the years, you’ve found very few, if any, articles on subjects like politics, denominational differences, popular trends, or the styles and methods of “doing church”.

Our purpose in this has been twofold. First, we feel very strongly that disagreements over non-core issues should not be allowed to “hamstring” the work of Christ within His Body by distracting us from the call. Second, we’ve always believed that it was a better use of our limited resources to fill our pages with solid, biblical content that the Lord could use in the lives of all His followers rather than only a select few united by secondary issues.

All in all, as we move into the next phase of our ministry, I can’t think of too many things we would have (or should have) done differently—these same four ideas will continue on as the pillars of content for Disciple. Our prayer is that God has used each issue of this magazine over the past 34 years to bring glory to His name and that He will continue do so through those we’ve been privileged to serve.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

Pulpit Helps Magazine, a ministry of AMG International, is the pastor’s one-stop-shop for tools to effectively serve a congregation. Founded in 1975 by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, Pulpit Helps is dedicated to the mission of equipping our readers with a greater understanding of the words of Scripture so that they can adequately fulfill their calling as Christ’s ambassadors. It is to that end that we provide sermon starters, bulletin inserts, illustrations and quality articles on preaching, counseling, Christian living, and more.