“Paul disavows the grand style of the Asiatic rhetoric, while actually practicing the plain style of the Atticist rhetorician” (Overstreet, Persuasive Preaching, p. 53).
Surveying the Text: Hosea
Apart from what we can glean from the book itself, we do not know a lot about the prophet Hosea. He was a prophet from the north, and the hard date we can gather from Hosea 1:4 means that his ministry was in the mid 700’s B.C. The theme of the book is Israel’s unfaithfulness …
Animals and the Resurrection
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #188 “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not …
Surveying the Text/Revelation
Introduction: The book of Revelation is written in a genre that we in the modern world no longer use, and consequently it can be a very difficult book for us to understand. G.K. Chesterton said that John the apostle saw many strange monsters in his vision, but none so strange as any one of his …
On Christian Disobedience #1
Introduction: The state is the great idol of modernity, and so of course Christians have to think through what things are lawful to render to Caesar and what things are not. This week we will consider the nature of our problem—the corruption of the system and the corruptions of those who oppose it. The next …
Coal Fires and Fish
Introduction: The physical presence of the Lord Jesus, alive after the resurrection just as He promised He would be, transforms everything. We can see this very clearly in the fall and restoration of the apostle Peter after the resurrection of Jesus. The Text: “And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire …
Virtue as Team Sport
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #187 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:33–34). The word rendered here as communications is …
The Crowds of Palm Sunday
Introduction: A commonplace in Christian circles understands the events surrounding the first Palm Sunday to be a clear demonstration of the “fickleness of crowds.” But there are good reasons for questioning this common assumption. The Text: On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming …
Christ or Cocaine
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #186 “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what …
Surveying the Text: 2 Corinthians
Introduction: We are called to great glory, but we are called to great glory out of a great mess. God is in the process of restoring a remarkable ruin—say of a cathedral—and the greatness of this undertaking is seen when we consider how great the ruin is. Man was created as the image bearer of …