“It should be noted in passing that this is an important purpose in an announced or printed sermon title — to help upset the equilibrium. Most titles tend to do the reverse. They appear to be drawn from the sermon’s conclusion (the scratch rather than the itch). As a result, the preacher has to move …
Two Cheers for Fox News
I know that none of the cool kids really like Fox News. But the coolshame won’t work on me here because I actually do think that O’Reilly is insufferable, and than Hannity has morphed into an incarnate talking point. But at the same time, I do get my daily (televised) news doses from Special Report …
Birth and Dedication of Samuel
INTRODUCTION:We begin this story with the birth and dedication of Samuel. As with many of God’s great men, Samuel’s birth was remarkable. God loves the pattern of death and resurrection, and He also loves the pattern of barrenness followed by fruitfulness. We can see the same truth in how He makes the wilderness become a …
Doctrinal and Liturgical Clutter
The longer you are a Christian, the harder it is to keep it simple. You grow in knowledge. You grow in your grasp of Christian doctrine, and the Word. You come to church long enough to know when to stand up and sit down. But in all these manifestations of doctrinal, liturgical, and cultural knowledge, …
Receiving and Grabbing
The Bible teaches that there are only two tables in the world—the Table of the Lord and the table of demons. Corresponding to this, there are only two kinds of table manners. One kind of person receives what is passed to him, and another kind grabs what he wants. The former is suitable for the …
Idolatry As Idolatry
Father God, Almighty God, we come before You now as citizens of a nation that has sought out many high places, and which has bowed down before many idols. We confess this sin of our people to You, and ask You to be merciful. We ask You to grant a great reformation, with the result …
Conflicted Feminism
“Our feminist culture today hates women, despises them . . . The sexual revolution was a revolution of promiscuous males, for promiscuous males, and by promiscuous males” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 237).
A Real Sham
“Competent fiction writers understand the human predicament well. As a result, their fiction has the feel of fact — of reality, while our fact — our reality — often has the feel of poor fiction” (Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, p. 25).
A Different Debate Entirely
“The debate between the forces of egalitarianism and those who embrace the biblical order is not a debate between those who want to paint something blue and those who want to paint it red. Rather it is a debate between those who want to let water run downhill and those who want to sweep it …
A Double Bind
“There are in fact preachers who fall into these two camps. Paul Scherer once described them: The one knows what to say but doesn’t know how to say it, and the other knows how to say it but has nothing to say” (Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, p. 17).