Introduction: The gloomy old reprobate Ambrose Bierce said this about the book of Revelation: “A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.” It is indeed unfortunate that we by our sloth have made a revelation into one of the …
How Bitterness Flows From the World
As community grows and develops, one of the things that grows and develops right alongside that community it would be the many new opportunities for conflict. These conflicts are of two kinds. The first has to do with ordinary Christians with ordinary blind spots trying to get along with other ordinary Christians with ordinary blind …
The Identity of the Victim
We come to this Table in order remember certain things, and to remember them by means of an enacted memorial. The two principal things we are to remember have to do with the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. His work is more obvious to us because of the nature of this meal. …
Get It Down
“Compose continuously. When the preacher has made all the preparation, general and particular, of which we have spoken, and his mind and heart are ready to work, he should proceed in the composition of a sermon without intermission” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 133).
Life in the Midst
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his …
Mertia Kohl, R.I.P.
It was just a few months ago that I delivered the homily at the funeral of Fred Kohl, a faithful servant of Jesus Christ for many years. And now, just a matter of weeks later, I am doing the same thing for his beloved wife Mertie. “Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, …
Ragged and on Fire
“It is better to preach a ragged and less than neat sermon in the power of the Holy Spirit, than to preach a neat and polished sermon without His unction” (Martin, Preaching in the Holy Spirit, p. 60).
The Missing Element
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast …
So Take It Straight
“The true and proper stimulant for the intellect is truth” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 129).
And Full of Something Else Instead
“The Holy Spirit is grieved when our sermons are not full of Christ” (Martin, Preaching in the Holy Spirit, p. 51).