“We see that the engine which drives this optimistic hope is not some falsely optimistic view of human nature, but rather confidence in the efficacy of the gospel to overcome depraved human nature. In the gospel, God deals with sin” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 98).
From the Heart a Man Proclaims
“Other things being equal, a man’s force in this world is always just in the ratio of the force of his heart. A full-hearted man is generally a powerful man” (Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 18).
Taking Note
“I also discovered the ‘favorite’ books of the New Testament writers. More often quoted than anything else were Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 96).
Marble or Molten
“Passion is essential to the greatest effectiveness. Deep feeling is contagious. It melts and wins its wa. Sermons from burning hearts set others on fire. One of the best definitions of eloquence is, ‘to have something to say and to burn to say it.’ It the eloquence of art be not the eloquence of the …
Stupor Tuesday
Well, Romney staggers on. Although Ron Paul has been a tactical wingman up to this point, his very best friend right now is Newt Gingrich. As long as Gingrich stays in, the “anybody but Romney (or Paul)” vote is split. A simple thought experiment gives a head-to-head Romney/Santorum race, in places like Michigan or Ohio, …
A Bad Christian Marriage
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #66 “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. Let not the wife depart from her husband. But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not …
And So It Was That All My Woes Began
“When I was first working through this, I bought a Bible I could mark up well. I then spent a few weeks looking up every passage in the Old Testament that is quoted in the New. Many Bibles will mark such cross-references in the New Testament, but it is rarely done in the Old. I …
Preaching Isn’t Bean Bag
“The earnest man is intent on carrying his point. He has an aim, and his hearers feel it when he comes in contact with them” (Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 17).
Thorough Harvesting
“First I shake the whole tree, that the ripest may fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf” (Martin Luther, as quoted in Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 58).
Alinsky Ball
Recent days have seen the media and/or new media in an uproar over a couple of incidents that invite a bit more investigation from the intellectually curious. I refer to Rush Limbaugh’s insult of Sandra Fluke, and Kirk Cameron’s gracious response to a question from Piers Morgan about homosexuality. Now in the interests of accuracy, …