“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #191 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that …
Houses Cannot Be Built on Sand. Neither Can Sermons.
“No sacred orator can be bold and commanding in his tone, if he believes, or if he fears, that there are fatal contradictions and irreconcilable inconsistencies in the written revelation” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 25).
Surveying the Text/Obadiah
Introduction: God has two ways of destroying His enemies. One might be considered the old school method—with the fire coming down out of the sky. This is the method that leaves a smoking crater. But the other is a far more glorious method, and that is His method of destroying enemies by turning them into …
You May Be a Soul Man Now . . .
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #190 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: …
Good to Know
“The historical context concerns the circumstances or situation that prompted the text . . . The literary context, on the other hand, is simply the text around your text” (Helm, Expositional Preaching, p. 45).
Whose Ox Is Being Sued
Paul famously prohibits Christians from going to court against one another, except that he doesn’t. What he prohibits is taking disputes between Christians before unbelievers. Here is the text: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the …
Itself a Fine Example of Contextualization
“The trouble is that too many of us push exegesis back in our preparation, and we clothe the message in a short red dress of contextualization by focusing on culture and our ability to connect with it. It’s like we want to spin her out away from us in exciting circles, showing off her long …
Surveying the Text/Amos
Introduction: Now let us consider the prophecy of Amos. Apart from what is revealed in the course of his writing here, we know nothing about the man. Among the minor prophets, he occupies the vanguard in this period of Israel’s history, even though he is placed third in the canonical order. He is very much …
Real Originality
“Originality in man, then, is not the power of making a communication of truth but of apprehending one” (Shedd, p. 10).
Glorious Inequality
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #189 “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and …