 Richard Baxter (1615-1691) pastored a church in Kidderminster. In 1656, he published The Reformed Pastor. By “reformed pastor,” Baxter meant one who supported the Protestant Reformation and sought to imitate the New Testament church.
I read an abridged and updated edition of The Reformed Pastor edited by Dr. Tim Cooper. It was released by Crossway last year.  Summer officially ended. God's faithfulness never does.
One of the reasons I enjoy writing is because I can read it later. I don't want to forget the Summer of '22, so here's a story about God's faithfulness.  A school year provides structure to our lives. For the student, structure comes in the form of classes, activities, practices, and games. For the parent, mornings are spent making sure the student is ready to go, and evenings are often spent on ball fields and gymnasiums. The structure of a school year is valuable in that it can fill our lives with worthwhile relationships, opportunities, and learning. There is, however, a busyness to the school year that easily produces fear, anxiety, and even dread in our lives. In this post, I want to share 3 truths from Ephesians as we think about glorifying God in the 2022-2023 school year.
 “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25 ESV).
My childhood was less than ideal. I experienced multiple forms of abuse, my father was never present, and my mother left us. Later, after reconciling with my mother, she died from cancer. That is an extremely quick insight into what life looked like for a very young Jordon Arnold. Because of the trauma I experienced as a kid, I had decided I was never going to get married, and I would certainly never have kids. It wasn’t because I didn’t desire to be a wife and a mom. But I was afraid.  The United States is currently experiencing a labor shortage. Most of us have experienced the results. Dedicated employees are scrambling to compensate for absent co-workers. Businesses are closing earlier when shifts aren't covered. And no matter how you might view it politically, I think we can all agree that when laborers are few, frustrations are many.
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