A preacher’s task is to declare the cross of Christ in such as way as that it deals with sin. The death of Jesus was the place where God brought the issue of sin to closure. The death of Jesus in a sermon is intended to be the place where that same closure is brought …
The Bucket or the Well
“If one merely scrapes together thoughts around a subject, so as to make a sermon, then every sermon consumes part of his material, and leaves him poorer. But if he habitually penetrates into a subject and masters it, every sermon leaves him richer” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, pp. 125-126).
A Reasonable Expectation
One of things we need to do in our discussion of family qualifications for ministry is examine some of our background assumptions. As with many other issues, our understanding of Paul’s requirement here (1 Tim. 3:2-5; Tit. 1:5-6) is affected not only by what the text clearly says, but by the eyes we bring to …
Managing Mammon
Jesus set up a fundamental antipathy between God and Mammon. One way or the other, He said (Matt. 6:24). In another place, He said quite plainly that whoever does not give away all His possession cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). Look at your possessions, Jesus says, and if you want to be a disciple, …
A Savior for Gath
Introduction God’s intention in salvation has always been for the salvation of the world. He has always had all the nations of men in mind, and the fact that Israel was the chosen nation was not in tension with this reality, but rather was the down payment on it, the first installment of it. The …
Taking Heart at the Table
One of the things that God wants to do for you here at this Table is encourage you. This is a Table of thanksgiving, which you cannot properly offer when you are discouraged. When we are discouraged, it is often because of affliction around us, or sin within us. Affliction is God’s crucible, it is …
With Laces Untied
So let’s begin our work on this tough topic by getting two obvious things on the table. The first obvious thing is that the apostle Paul teaches us that how a man behaves in his home is a predictor or indicator of how he will behave in the church. If you want a godly and …
The Neglected Qualification
For various reasons, I need to begin an extended series of posts on “the neglected qualification.” The spiritual state of the preacher’s kids has long been proverbial, and not in a good way, and yet we continue to have the following in our Bibles. “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife …
What a Divided Jordan Signifies
In 1 Kings 2, we have the fascinating story of Elijah’s rapture into Heaven I think it could be helpful if we looked at this passage for some of the reasons why the third chapter of Hebrews treats the land of Canaan as a type, first, of the whole world, and second, of Heaven itself. …
Brian and Rachel
Whenever we consider the subject of marriage, we naturally turn to the first marriage, the first union of man and woman. The Lord Jesus tells that the union of Adam and Eve was archetypical, which means that there should be many things we can glean by considering what happened in that first marriage. There are …