Editorial: Proper training for the spiritual battle

From "Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>
Date Tue, 5 Jul 2011 10:25:21 +0800

3096 Edition

June 27-July 3, 2011

Editorial

Editorial: Proper training for the spiritual battle

Translated by Lydia Ma

From June 26 to 29, PCT’s 3 seminaries held a joint meeting at Presbyterian 
Bible College to train this year’s new graduates and determine the church 
they’d be serving. Seminarians who graduated this year will start their 
training at various local churches beginning in August.

In previous years the dearth of equipped, committed, and humble new pastors was 
a headache for many churches and senior pastors. The adage “An unprepared 
Christian hurts only himself, but an unprepared pastor hurts the whole 
congregation” serves as a good reminder to church pastors and leaders in 
assessing their spiritual readiness and roots.

The two major challenges Christians face are daily battles for faith and 
proclaiming the gospel. To be successful on both counts, one must be well 
trained and equipped. 

Paul states very clearly in Ephesians 6:14-18 that Christians must be well 
trained for their spiritual battles if they expect to stand firm, proclaim the 
gospel, and triumph over sin in their daily lives. In other words, we must have 
adequate spiritual training, or else we will be unprepared to defend the gospel 
because we’d be unable to stand firm on shaky foundations.

To serve in God’s kingdom, what a person knows about God and how a person lives 
out his life must mature in tandem. It is our hope that this season’s newest 
pastors can develop into strong and humble leaders able to help their 
respective churches thrive.