How to Preach a Text When You Don’t Know What It Means

Michael Patton:

…when you’re preaching, what do you do when you come to a passage of Scripture and you are unsure about what it means? Let’s be honest—this happens quite often. You are preaching through a book of the Bible, and you come to a place where the commentaries do not agree, there seem to be multiple legitimate options concerning its interpretation, and you are left scratching your head. You don’t want to be dishonest and just choose an option. And you don’t want to deliver a drawn-out sermon on what different denominations teach.

When Carl Henry Trash-Talked with Karl Barth

Interesting conversation between John Starke, Greg Thornbury and Collin Hansen:

When can mother relax?

Kim Shay:

I was thinking recently how much of a picture that is to my parenting adult children. When my son was lying there coughing, I couldn’t stop it.  All I could do was wait to see if I was needed. That is a lot like parenting an older teen and young adult. We have to do a lot of waiting and listening.

When my children were little, it seemed so much more straightforward. I prayed for wisdom to know what to say; now, I pray for wisdom to know when to be quiet. That is one of the hardest things I have learned as my kids have grown up: knowing when to be quiet. It can be quite crucial. The wrong word can make a mess of things, and a word not offered can do the same thing.

How Older Members Brighten the Future of the Church

Thabiti Anyabwile:

I wonder if others observe a phenomenon I think I see in many churches: people clustering with others in their generation? The 20-somethings spend their time with other 20-somethings talking about 20-something concerns. The young families hang out with other young families, hosting play dates and trading parenting tips. It seems to me that 60-somethings tend to flock together with other 60-somethings. There are notable exceptions, of course. There are those older men and women who become pillars in the church by investing in younger men and women. And there are the younger persons who seek to serve young families or older members. But by and large, people seem to spend the bulk of their spiritual energy and time with other people in the same stage of life.

Would You Go to Prison For Your Stance on Homosexuality?

Mike Leake:

Could I never again preach what God says about homosexuality and still be faithful in preaching the gospel of Christ? I mean is it really something worth going to prison for—sacrificing my cherished freedom, life with my family, further gospel ministry? I see nothing about a stance on homosexuality in 1 Corinthians 15. I know that I could never say, “Homosexuality is not a sin” but could I simply say nothing?

Setting Gospel Grassfires

Darryl Dash:

There’s no question that ministry in Canada is a challenge. According to Bill Hogg, National Missiologist with C2C Network, that’s not a surprise. “Canada is further down the track in terms of liminality, the marginalization of religious ideas and religious institutions,” he says. “Canada prizes social pluralism and religious pluralism, which is obviously a challenge as you seek to proclaim Jesus.”

The Best Book

Joe Thorn:

Throughout my early twenties I poured over the pages of Systematic Theology. Berkhof, Dabney, Hodge, and Shedd were my friends. Professors, really. In my mid-to-late twenties it was mostly the Puritans: Owen, Watson, Sibbes, Brooks, and Bunyan were like pastors to me. My college dorm room was a kind of library for others to use instead of heading across campus. None of this was wrong. What was wrong is that at some point along the way my hunger for God’s word was replaced with a hunger for mere knowledge. I longed for truths more than the truth. It didn’t take long for the word of God to become something I used to simply footnote what I was reading in other books. I didn’t even notice this was happening. I thought I was good. Thankfully, at some point my fiancé (now my lovely wife) softly reminded me, “Joe, you know the Bible is the best book.”

Your church is too small

Sam Freney on his recent experience at a Hillsong conference:

Somewhere along the line, therefore, there seems to be a disconnect between the way that various ministries of the church operate, and the church package as a whole. Behind the scenes—or at least out of the spotlight—Hillsong seems to contain plenty of faithful, enthusiastic Christians who want to see Jesus glorified in what they do, and who give Scriptural thought to what they do. But the church experience, whether at the conference or on a Sunday morning, is one that results in de-emphasizing not only the way God has told us he speaks to us, but what God has told us he has done for us.

The Abortion of Abortion

Justin Buzzard:

The first Christians engaged extensively with the abortion culture of their day.

One of the earliest Christian references to abortion is found in the Didache. It represents the first Christian statement opposing abortion. A late 1st century or early 2nd century document, the Didache is essentially a code of Christian community life complete with instructions on morality, worship, ritual, and politics. In a section expounding the commandment,“Love your neighbor as yourself,” the Didache lists a series of “thou shalt not” statements, including prohibitions against murder, adultery, illicit sex, theft, and practicing magic.

Proud vs. Broken People

Nathan Batzig:

Most of the Christian books, sermons and theological material that my father gave me as a boy failed to catch my attention; but, for some reason, I’ve never forgotten Nancy Demoss’ chart contrasting proud/broken people. I need this more today as a husband, father, pastor and friend than when I was young.

What is Hesed?

R.C. Sproul, Jr:

There may be no more significant Old Testament description of how God relates to His people than this Hebrew word hesed. I argue that the best translation of this term would be “loyal love.” God loves His people genuinely, immutably, loyally. Both the love and the loyalty are, of course, tightly bound together. That is, just as one cannot love capriciously so one cannot be loyal without love. God is for His people, and will never cease to be for them.

Open-Air Preaching and the Missional Church

Joshua Elsom:

The combining of the words ‘open-air’ with the word ‘preaching’ is likely to elicit a wide range of images and opinions in the mind of the person reading them. For some they bring to mind the great evangelists of the explosive revivals of the eighteenth century — Wesley, Whitefield, Tennent, and Edwards; or the prophets of the Old and New Testaments — Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul. While for others, these words conjure up negative images of angry street heralds, with sandwich boards strung over their shoulders, thundering down threatenings of heaven upon all who would wander unawares into their field of preaching. Whatever one happens to think about, few typically associate the practice of preaching in the public square with the missional church movement. Because the missional church places such a high priority on practicing evangelism in the context of ongoing discipleship — on mission and in community — the thought of preaching to strangers who are dissociated from church or discipling relationships may seem at first to be counterintuitive.  It should not be.

How technology made me a better Christian

David Murray:

There’s way too much Christian negativity surrounding technology. All we seem to think and read about are the dangers and difficulties of the digital revolution.

But how about some balance? How about recognizing and appreciating the amazing technological gifts that God has blessed our generation with?

I recently linked to How Technology Made me a Better Mom, and I thought, “Why don’t Christians write pieces like this?” Then, “Why don’t I write a piece like this?” So here goes with “How technology made me a better Christian.”

In the War over Christianity, Orthodoxy is Winning

Mary Eberstadt:

Once upon a time, schism was the stuff of doctrinal issues — disputes over the sacraments, or grace vs. good works, or the theological like. Not anymore. The Falls Church dispute concerned something that neither Martin Luther nor John Calvin could have seen coming: sex. In particular, it was the elevation in 2003 of an openly gay bishop that was the last straw in what Falls Church traditionalists and others like them believe to be a rewriting of the Judeo-Christian rule book. So they broke away to become the Falls Church Anglicans, and they lost their real estate in the process.

But their objections are being heard ’round the religious world, not just in the global Anglican community but also the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and other mainline Protestant churches. The sexual revolution has accomplished what even the fractious Reformation could not. It has divided Protestantism so deeply that traditionalist Anglicans now have more in common with traditionalist Lutherans or even Roman Catholics, say, than with the reformers in their own denominations. And as the proliferation of stricter Anglican churches of Africa go to show, this traditionalism has gone global.

Let’s take a trip back in time to see the top ten posts in April:

1. God’s Love Compels Us: a free #TGC13 eBook (April 2013)
2. God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Handle (July 2009)
3. On bombs and Boston (April 2013)
4. Where Is Jesus In The Old Testament? (June 2011)
5. God helps those who help themselves (July 2009)
6. John Piper on Mark Driscoll & John MacArthur (May 2009)
7. Don Carson: The Biblical Basis for Missions #TGC13 (April 2013)
8. 5 books on a subject you’re probably scared to look at (April 2013)
9. Kindle deals for the Christian reader (April 2013)
10. Hope for timid evangelists (April 2013)

And just for fun, here’s the next ten:

1. Preaching and Pragmatism (July 2011)
2. Church Buildings: They’re actually useful! (December 2009)
3. Ministry Idolatry (January 2011)
4. David Platt: Why the Great Commission is Great #TGC13 (April 2013)
5. Crucifying Morality by R W Glenn (April 2013)
6. Charles Haddon Spurgeon: What is Humility? (February 2010)
7. John Piper: The heart of God in the call to proclaim #TGC13 (April 2013)
8. 20 Things God Does When He Saves You (February 2011)
9. A much-needed kick in the teeth (April 2013)
10. How will you respond to the Gosnell trial? (April 2013)

If you haven’t had a chance to read any of these posts, I hope you’ll take a few minutes today to check them out.

Dear Mr. President

Gretchen R:

Mr. President, we are at opposing sides.  I did not vote for you, but I heard you many times talk about how we needed to come together.  Like it or not, you are my leader, and I try.  I hold your office in high esteem, and I am called to pray for whoever holds that office.  I try to raise my children to at least see the other side and seek to understand it.  I believe in education, not indoctrination.  Always seek to walk in another’s shoes.  I don’t believe that you need to agree with someone’s point of view to have compassion for that person.

New Wave Complementarianism: A Question and a Concern

Kevin DeYoung:

I’ve watched with great interest over the past few weeks as a constellation of blog posts have come out calling for a fresh complementarianism. The articles seem to be advocating for a third way between complementarianism and egalitarianism, or at least for an awareness that traditional complementarians have many weaknesses and egalitarians are asking a lot of good questions. The message often has an apologetic edge: we are complementarians, but not the ones you’re used to.

Thabiti’s also got a great article on this subject that you should read.

The Emperor is not Naked

Carl Trueman:

After a depressing afternoon hearing about the upfront speaker-fee schedules of men with well-paying day jobs, along with the need to pay for their personal assistants/wives/whatever to travel with them when away from home for a couple of nights, it was good to go back home, feel appropriately dirtied by it all and then think about the Psalms.  If I ruled the world (a most unlikely prospect, I admit) I would make sure that no man with a fee schedule or a minimum attendance requirement ever spoke in any church or Christian gathering anywhere; only those who never raise the issue of ‘How much?’ or “How many?’ (distinctly un-Pauline concerns, I would suggest) are worth listening to.  There are well-known men like that.  But not as many as there should be.  The Emperor is not naked but actually has clothes: tailor made silk suits from Savile Row.

Proverbs for Christian Blogging: Be Slow to Speak

Mike Leake:

The internet is not very conducive to obeying this command. When something goes viral it can be very tempting to be one of the voices in the crowd. If something is trending on Twitter all I have to do is write an article and put a # sign in there and immediately my blog will get an upswing in traffic.

Furthermore, there is a constant stream of vast amounts of material—most of it needing rebuked. Some things actually need a response. Most things only make us think that they need a response.

In the midst of all the noise God says to the Christian blogger, “let every [blogger] be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow and anger…”

An Open Letter To All Those Who Call Me An Intolerant Bigot

Stephen Altrogge:

It’s been a pretty big brouhaha (I’ve always loved that word) lately, hasn’t it? First, NBA player Jason Collins openly admits that he is gay. Then, ESPN analyst Chris Broussard raises questions about the rightness/wrongness of being gay. Then all fury erupted. Now, Christians, and anyone else who questions the morality of homosexuality, are being accused of “intolerance”, “bigotry”, “closed-mindedness”, and other similar things.

And I get it, I really do. It takes a lot of courage for a professional athlete to admit that he is a homosexual. And then us hoity-toity Christians swoop in, raining on everyone’s parade. If I wasn’t a Christian, I’d probably be mad too. Christians are always ruining everyone’s party, or so it seems.

But see, here’s the thing: the reality is, you probably shouldn’t be calling me a bigot, you should be calling Jesus a bigot.

God wins

Ever since Jen McManus was first diagnosed with a malignant tumor, she’s been fighting—fighting against cancer, and fighting for hope. However, far from being rooted in the vagueness of wishful thinking, Jen’s hope is anchored in the certainty of Christ’s love. “Cancer has made death more real—and the gospel more real,” she says. “I’m joyful because of the gospel and because of the story God is telling through my life.”

Jesus didn’t die for taxes

Martin Bashir shares the gospel with Bill O’Reilly:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

HT: JT

Get Foundations of Grace for $5 at Ligonier.org

Foundations of Grace by Steven Lawson (ePub) is on sale in today’s $5 Friday sale at Ligonier.org. Also on sale:

• B. B. Warfield: Essays on His Life and Thought by Gary L. W. Johnson (paperback)
• a gift certificate for the Ligonier store
• Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life by Dr. Sean Michael Lucas (hardcover)

$5 Friday ends tonight at 11:59:59 Eastern.

4 Sermon Types to Avoid

Derek W. Thomas:

Alec Motyer has written: “An expository ministry is the proper response to a God-breathed Scripture… Central to it all is that concern which the word ‘exposition’ itself enshrines: a display of what is there.”

There are a variety of sermon types that fail to “display what is there.”

Why Bad Writing is Almost Always Mistaken for Good Writing.

Nicholas McDonald:

Bad writing is naturally mistaken for good writing. That’s because unlike good writing, bad writing hoards attention. Bad writing brags of the writer’s knowledge, skill, and creativity. Bad writers mistake obtuseness for creativity, and essential clarity for “profundity”.

Eat it… Or Love It?

Michael Kelley:

What if I came to the table one evening and did not say to the kids, “Eat your fish.” What if instead my command was this: “Enjoy your fish.” That would be a different kettle of, well, fish.

This is a command they cannot complete, no matter how badly they want to. They could will themselves to eat they fish; they cannot will their love of it. In fact, in order for them to be obedient to this command from their father, they need something internal to change. They need more than mere will power; they need new taste buds.

And therein we see, once again, why the message of the Bible is not primarily “obey God.”

Free audio book: A Passion for God

This month’s free book from ChristianAudio is A Passion for God by Lyle Dorsett, a biography of A.W. Tozer.

May We Use Commentaries Written by Women?

Jared Wilson:

I love John Piper, as I assume has been evident over the years, but I found his answer to this question lacking at best and unhelpful at most. To some extent, he was directed to go to the biblical outline of gender roles by the phrasing of the question itself. But I think a better answer would be simply to step back, redirect, and consider the nature of a book. Any book. Any kind of book. Written by any author. Period. Female authors and male authors. Even Christian authors and non-Christian authors.

There is only one authoritative book. Every other book we can learn from and draw from and consider, testing all things its author teaches and clinging to whatever truth shakes out, even using what we see true in it in our life and ministry and public sermons.

Preparing College Students for Graduation

Kevin DeYoung:

This is finals week at Michigan State University. Soon students will be heading home for the summer, starting summer internships, or enrolling in summer classes. Other students will travel overseas for short-term missions, work at a camp, or get ready for a summer project filled with training and ministry opportunities. And then there are the students leaving school for good. Over the next few weeks thousands of Christian students will graduate from college and start the rest of their lives.

Will they be ready?

If you had the opportunity to send a letter to a Christian hero of the past what would you write?

Mike Leake puts out an interesting request:

I’ve decided to begin a project that I have been dreaming about for a few years now. In order to move along in this project I need your help.

Pastors, laypeople, anyone…

If you had the opportunity to send a letter to a Christian hero of the past what would you write?

We Are a Deeply Needy People

Tim Brister:

We are a profoundly needy people. One of the ways we discover the extent of our need is through Christ’s provision of so many gifts of His Spirit. It is true that all we have and all we need is in Christ. But how is the abundant provision of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection appropriated to every believer? Jesus meets us where we are, with our specific needs, through the ministry of His Spirit among His people as gifts (abilities) are exercised for the service of the saints. What we discover when the gifts are exercised is nothing less than Christ Himself working through His body to accomplish His purposes in the world.

NIV Application Commentary sale for the Kindle

Zondervan’s got a huge sale on their NIV Application Commentary collection going on right now (Lord willing it’ll still be on when this post goes live). The following are $4.99 each:

Old Testament:

• Genesis 
• Leviticus, Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Joshua
• Judges and Ruth
• 1 & 2 Kings
• 1 & 2 Chronicles
• Esther
• Job
• Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
• Isaiah 
• Jeremiah, Lamentations 
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Joel, Obadiah, Malachi
• Hosea, Amos, Micah
• Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
• Haggai, Zechariah

New Testament:

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Acts
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians & Philemon
• 1 & 2 Thessalonians
• 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter & Jude
• 1, 2, & 3 John
• Revelation

HT: Z

No Greater Love Has Anyone Than This. But This Other Thing Comes Pretty Close.

Jared Wilson shares a gross, but at the same time beautiful story:

Our oldest was up most of the night last night throwing up. She was not running a fever, so we are praying today it’s more something she ate than a bug of some kind. Becky stayed up with her, continually cleaning and emptying the receptacle kept by the bedside when sprinting to the toilet was a bridge too far. It’s a special thing, cleaning up somebody’s vomit.

Taking It All In

Joe Thorn:

In our day of fast-paced ingestion and digestion we don’t leave ourselves much time for contemplation. For thinking. For taking it all in. We are often too busy taking photos of an event or scene to really see it, capturing images before (or in place of) capturing memories. I fear this translates into our interaction with Scripture and the Christian faith. We get the beats, but miss the melody and arrangement of the gospel song. And if we are not willing to slow down and take a long look we will continue to merely gain the smallest glimpse of what God wants us to have a God-sized vision of.

Playing It Safe?

Darryl Dash:

For the past couple of years, I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus’ famous parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). It’s been one of those passages I can’t get out of my mind.

Here’s the parable: a man goes on a journey. Before leaving, he entrusts his property to three servants. Each one gets a lot: one gets five talents, possibly worth some three million dollars. A second gets two talents, probably worth just over a million dollars. A third servant gets a paltry (!) half a million dollars or so. When the master returns, he holds them accountable for how they’ve invested what he left with them. Two servants doubled the money and are rewarded; the one who received the least amount of money only preserved the capital and receives a strongly worded rebuke.

It’s not hard to see what the story means. Jesus has left and has entrusted his followers with resources. He will return and hold us accountable for what we’ve done with what he’s left us. Six lessons:

Getting Through a Preaching Slump

Thabiti Anyabwile:

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard preachers talk about their “slumps.” Maybe I’m the only one who feels he has been in one. Or, maybe there are some things we don’t talk about at polite preacher dinner parties. I don’t know, but it sure seems like it would be healthy for preachers to admit that sometimes we’re “off our game.” I don’t mean we preach one dud. I mean we’ve now had a series of lackluster at bats. In fact, not only have the sermons been sub-par, our hearts haven’t been feeling what we’ve been preaching. We know the words, hear them, believe them (usually), but we’re not moved by it.

And Sunday keeps coming. What to do?

Can a Dying Church Find Life?

Thom Rainer:

In an blogpost earlier this week, I presented the findings of my “autopsy” on a church that just closed its doors and died. I knew the church well because I had been their consultant ten years earlier. The only surprise I found was that the church kept its door open five years longer than I had anticipated.

The post generated much interest. Indeed it is still buzzing today. Many church leaders and laypersons saw early warning signs in the post that related to their own churches. Many are concerned. Many want to know if there is any hope.

The title of this post has a bit of irony. If a church is dying, it cannot then by definition find life.

Pursue Justice or Extend Grace in Sexual Harassment?

Amanda Edmondson:

Several years ago I was in a work situation where men often said sexual, inappropriate things to me and about me. One coworker even went as far as to grab me and then made it a big deal when I asked him not to and pushed him away. It was jolting, and there was no amount of education or discipleship that prepared me to deal with sexual harassment.

I knew it was wrong the whole time it was happening. As a Christian, I felt the tension of how to respond to the sexual harassment: do I pursue justice or extend grace?

A Father’s Love

Tullian Tchividjian:

When I was 16, my parents kicked me out of the house. They had tried everything. Nothing worked. And it got to the point where my lifestyle had become so disruptive to the rest of the household, that they were left with no choice but to painfully say, “We love you but you can’t continue to live this way and live under our roof.”

Kindle deals for the Christian reader

Here are a number of new(er) great deals for the Kindle:

• Faith on Trial by Martyn Lloyd-Jones—$2.99
• Who Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll—$3.99
• Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture by Brandon Hatmaker—$4.49
• Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ by Warren W. Wiersbe—$2.94
• Historical Theology by Gregg R. Allison—$5.99
• Closing the Window by Tim Chester—$2.99
• Dallas and the Spitfire by Ted Kluck and Dallas Jahncke—$1.99

And in case you missed them, here are a number of deals I shared this past weekend:

• What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert—$2.99
• Redemption by Mike Wilkerson—$2.99
• Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper—$2.99
• Be Hopeful by Warren Wiersbe—free
• Courageous by Randy Alcorn—$1.99
• What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper—$3.99
• Doctrine by Driscoll and Breshears—$3.99
• Counsel From The Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson—$3.99
• Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church by Chandler, Patterson and Geiger—$3.95
• Call to Spiritual Reformation, A: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers by D.A. Carson—$1.94
• Journey to Joy by Josh Moody—96¢
• Bound Together: How We are Tied to Others in Good and Bad Choices by Chris Brauns—$3.99
• Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones—$3.99

Church Identity: How Your Church Must Not Be Unique

Eric Geiger:

In our individualized culture, we (church leaders included) often want an identity that is highly unique, one that is just for us, one that shows no one else is quite like us. But we must be careful. Our doctrine must not be unique. The foundation of our faith is something we have received. It is not something that we develop, create, or improve. It is the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Longing to teach something or say something that no one else has ever said will inevitably lead to bad theology.

The Tuning Fork of the Soul

Tony Reinke:

Successful Christian living is very much about steadiness and consistency, about firm resolve and steadfast endurance. There’s more to the Christian life, but these remain certain marks of God’s Spirit at work. And yet we feel the circumstances of life trying to swing us from despair to delight. When circumstances grow dark and we take our eyes off the Savior, we lose our balance and swing toward despair. When life seems to be going well and we take our eyes off Christ, we swing towards blissful God-forgetfulness certain to end in sorrow.

A Commitment to Holiness and Humility

Daniel Darling:

I had the privilege of interviewing Rev. Samuel Rodriquez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. Rodriquez is a well-known speaker who represents the growing Hispanic evangelical population. I asked him about a recent honor he received.