“So the minor poet doesn’t stand in the pulpit to scold the congregation by essentially calling them bad dogs. It is striking how much of contemporary preaching reduces to this: ‘You bad, bad dogs! Look at what you did.’ And those in the pews respectfully cower and look like guilty golden retrievers who know they …
A Close Eye for the Text
“Minor poets so revere the work of the major poets that they assume there are no throwaway lines” (Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, p. 78).
Who Requires Way Too Much Explaining
“But a minor poet can never take on the role of being the public relations official for Jesus” (Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, p. 76).
Gratitude Would Be It
“I doubt that there is such a thing as a measure of spirituality, but if there is, gratitude would be it. Only the grateful are paying attention. They are grateful because they pay attention, and they pay attention because they are so grateful” (Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, p. 64).
All for Nothing
In exchange for a pleasing dance, Herod is willing to give away up to half his kingdom (Mark 6:23). The devil is a piker. The Lord is pleased to give us the entirety of His kingdom (Luke 12:32). In exchange for everything we have — which isn’t much, let me tell you — God is …
Phoebe Our Sister
INTRODUCTION: In this last chapter of Romans, Paul says his farewells, gives various greetings, and does so in a way as to teach us many invaluable things. Some might wonder what kind of message we might get out of a passage in which Paul basically says hi to everyone the Roman church phone directory, but …
The Attractive Soul
“The old seminary professors used to speak about a necessary trait for pastoral ministry called gravitas. It refers to a soul that has developed enough spiritual mass to be attractive, like gravity. It makes the soul appear old, but gravitas has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with wounds that have …
Freed Through Expression
“This is why poetry does not have to be defended, inculcated, or coerced. It only appears defenseless. Its power resides not in the orthodoxy of the verse, and certainly not in the creativity of the poet, but in the inspired word that has the power to untangle the distorted image of God. The truth of …
The Ministry of Fundraising
INTRODUCTION:We have noted before that the book of Romans is a fundraising letter. The fact that it is so strikingly different from modern Christian fundraising letters tells us all we need to know about the attitude of the modern church to money . . . and to the gospel. THE TEXT:“For which cause also I …
Insufficient Words
“The congregation will never ask their pastor to remain loyal to the identity of a minor poet. They need one too much to even know that they need one, as the long list of expectations and relentless efforts at reconstructing pastoral identity reveal. But that is only another reason why they need to be in …