“We should extract the sweetness like a bee with a blossom; gnaw it like a dog with a bone; suck it as a child sucks an orange; and chew it as a cow chews its cud.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 57
The Problem with Fat Robins
“She was the kind of woman whose absolute support was freely and completely given, until it gave way like a saturated California hillside. Then it was mostly at the bottom with a car or two underneath. The final event that would cause the hillside to give way might be completely trivial—perhaps a robin landing too heavily—but once the business was underway, well, it was all mostly at the bottom. Chad had clearly and unmistakably lied to her daughter. This was a breach of trust not to be endured. It was clear. It was unambiguous. It was a fat robin. It was clearly time to act.”
Confessions of a Toxic Boy
Introduction: This will be one of those posts that will necessarily be a bit self-referential from time to time, but I will keep all that to a minimum, at least as much as possible. As edifying as it might be for me to write at length about myself, I have a nagging feeling somewhere in …
Audio Reading of Post
Psalm 114/ Song of the Exodus
The Twelfth Decade of Psalms: Introduction: As we continue through the Hallel Psalms, we come to the second of them, and this is a great song of historical remembrance. When we set ourselves to praise God, to say hallelujah, we are to remember His great works of deliverance in history. A great part of our …
And Not What We Would Like It to Have Said
“It is very important that we determine what the text meant when it was first spoken or written. E.D. Hirsch is right to emphasize that ‘a text means what its author meant.’”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 55
Like Dew on the Roses
“What a tangle! Pastoral snarls are like the mercies of God—they are new every morning.”
What’s His Name?
Two pastors, friends from seminary, were having their monthly visit over lunch. They ministered on opposite sides of the same city and were in the same denomination, and both found it helpful. On this visit, Martin brought up his most recent pastoral challenge, which was the sad drift of a young woman in his congregation …
Subtle. Understated.
Which Limits Personal Anecdotes
“And all of us have to preach on death before we have died.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 54
Helps Them Keep Well
“Robert walked out of the 7-Eleven with an order of cheese pump nachos, a hot dog, and a couple of packets of those chocolate thingies with a half-life of seventy-five years”