Blogging Theologically

Theology for real life

Preaching

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Links I like (4/3)

Links I like (2018 edition)

Podcast: On the latest episode of The Hero of the Story, Brian and I discuss what it means to be united in the gospel. Check it out on iTunes or at The Gospel Project blog.

Free audiobook: Reset by David Murray

This was one of the best books I read all last year, and it just so happens to be free for the month of April at Christian Audio.

My Sermon Preparation Process

I love posts like this. Thankful for Matt sharing it.

The Gospel-Shaped Pastor

Jared Wilson:

Pastors are a motley bunch of souls. We represent different personalities and tribes, different methodologies and styles, not to mention denominations, traditions, and theologies. But I’ve learned over the years that there is something many of us all have in common—a profound sense of insecurity for which the only antidote is the gospel.

It’s easy to succumb to the temptation to compare one’s ministry to that of another pastor, or give in to the need to impress others and be liked.

How We Do Greater Things Than Jesus

Don Carson:

The person who has true faith in Jesus is promised that she will do greater things than Jesus’s works. But what does “greater” mean? Shall Christians perform more sensational acts? It’s difficult to imagine miracles more sensational than those of Jesus; “greater” surely doesn’t mean that.

The Final Call of John Perkins

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra:

At 87 years old, John Perkins is ready for his eighth career.

After being a janitor, welder, equipment designer, Bible teacher, civil-rights activist, community developer, and author, Perkins wants to “devote the rest of my life to biblical reconciliation.”

It would be hard to find someone better qualified.

Special Needs Kids Don’t Need Special Parents

Diane Dokko Kim:

Well-intended friends must have shared the same uninformed understanding because they attempted to encourage with, “It takes a special person to raise a special needs child.” Only I didn’t volunteer for this—I had been drafted. The likes of me would never sign up for such a gig, much less qualify. Perhaps that was the point. God was surely playing some cosmic joke with this epic mismatch of child to parent. It seemed a cruel irony to pair a vulnerable, delicate child with a reckless mother like me. I wasn’t comfortable around disabled people. I avoided making eye contact. I’m irresponsible and lack empathy. I’m shallow, self-centered, and lazy. “You’ve got the wrong person,” I thought. “Lord, please pick someone else.”

He will hear us

A favorite from the archives:

There are few moments I love more than coming home after work and having my son rush at me, leap into the air and give me a giant hug. Or when my middle daughter surprises me with kisses on the cheek. Or when my oldest looks at me quizzically and says, “Grown-ups… are strange.” (More correctly, her dad is.) Or when Emily and I sit on the couch, doing our own thing or chatting, and she touches me with her feet just so there’s a physical connection.

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Links I like (2/06)

Links I like (2018 edition)

Welcoming the Wandering Son

Scott James:

My son broke my heart the other day. He had just finished reading one of my favorite books, The Yearling, and he was telling me how the closing scenes affected him. If you’ve not yet read this classic, I’ll spare you the main spoilers but suffice it to say, the young protagonist Jody Baxter experiences significant family strife near the end of the story. Furious and feeling betrayed, Jody runs away only to find that life away from his family is even more difficult than life with them.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Could be fun:

Do We Self-Deprecate from Security Or Insecurity?

Tony Reinke shares a good quote from David Foster Wallace.

A Bid for the Throne and a Rightful Heir

Jeanie Layne:

In November of last year, Suyash Dixit declared himself king of an 800-square-mile piece of land located between Egypt and Sudan. The territory, known as “Bir Tawil,” is largely uninhabited and one of the few places on earth that is both habitable and unclaimed by a recognized government. Dixit visited briefly, planted a flag, and named himself “ruler” of this “Kingdom of Dixit.”

3 Ways to Pass on Faith to the Next Generation

Tim Keller:

It is impossible to lay blame neatly when one generation fails to pass its faith on to the next one. Did the first generation fail to reach out, or did the second generation just harden their hearts? The answer is usually both. Mistakes made by one Christian generation are often magnified in the next, nominal one.

Commitment is replaced by complacency—and then by compromise.

“Saturday Night Specials” Versus When Pastors Really Prepare

Eric Geiger:

“Saturday night special” is preacher slang for a sermon that is half-baked on Saturday night, the day before the sermon is delivered. Most pastors have been forced into a “Saturday night special” at some point in their ministry. Tragedy may strike the congregation and there is no time to prepare during the week. Or a major event in culture may prompt the pastor to scrap the sermon and start from scratch on Saturday night. But living from “Saturday night special” to “Saturday night special” isn’t a wise way to live or a wise way to feed the people of God.

But how often does the “Saturday night special” occur really? And how far in advance do most pastors typically plan?

The danger of overextending your reach

A favorite from the archives:

You might be reading this and thinking, what on earth could be dangerous? After all, many pastors write books every year, podcast their sermons, and write blogs. Some even find themselves speaking at conferences, of whom the majority of attendees are undoubtedly not members of their congregations.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things, certainly. So why do I have a concern? Because there’s a question we always should be asking: is trying to extend our reach taking away from our primary ministry? 

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Links I like (2/01)

Links I like (2018 edition)

The Proper Use and Abuse of Hypocrisy-Checking

Derek Rishmawy:

Everybody’s an inconsistent hypocrite. At least, that’s the lesson the internet is teaching us in 2018. (In case we hadn’t learned it from Scripture already.) I’m referring, of course, to the ever-present (and much commented-on) practice of hypocrisy-juking and various forms of whataboutism.

I was struck by it once again yesterday, when a number of conservative friends began to (correctly) point out the relative silence of progressive Evangelical bloggers and commentators on the failure of Congress to pass the ban on elective abortions at 20-weeks, when the child in question can obviously feel pain.

Called to the cubicle

Dan Darling:

These are questions that rattled around in my teenage brain. Fortunately, I later acquired a more robust theology of faith and work and came not only to appreciate so-called “laymen” like my father, but also to see all work, not just church work, as Christian service. But I suspect most believers, who labor every day in secular factories and offices, soldier on with a theologically deficient view of their calling. Mondays continue to be the most difficult day of the week for many because they can’t see God at work in their work.

12 Strong, ‘Toxic Masculinity,’ and click-bait triggering

Marty Duren:

Per the book’s author, the movie’s climactic scene of bravery and fierceness in the face of withering fire was fiction. Not only was it fiction, it was cobbled-together from the actions of Aghan soldiers fighting the Taliban, not American ones. Maass calls it “cinematic stolen valor.”

If that is not Hollywood perpetuating a “model of masculinity” for ticket sales, what is it?

What Expository Preaching Is Not

HB Charles:

Here are fifteen myths about expository preaching that should be exposed to help the preacher rightly understand and faithfully practice expository preaching.Expository preaching is not whatever someone calls expository preaching. There is a growing interest in expository preaching these days. This is an encouraging fact; inasmuch as biblical preaching is the first step to true revival. Many preachers claim to be expositors now, wanting to be a part of the trend. Beware, much preaching that is called expository preaching simply is not.

How to Be a Safe Space for the Same-Sex Attracted

Rachel Gilson:

Lily was crushed. She’d told just a member of her church her secret, and the member warned her that if anyone else found out, she would probably lose her position teaching the youth. What was this secret so deadly that she would be warned to hide it?

Lily is same-sex attracted.

Neither the struggle nor the terror is uncommon. How, then, do we create an environment in our churches, small groups, and families where we can even have this conversation, where Lily can share her struggle without fear?

Here are three places to start.

When Someone You Admire Does Something Disgusting

Russell Moore:

Almost every sector of culture is hit right now with revelations about long-admired people revealed to have secret, disgusting lives. Almost every one of you will face just such a revelation about someone you have admired, maybe even someone you thought was a godly Christian. By this, I do not mean seeing an admired Christian fall into sin (every Christian does). I mean the public unveiling that what you knew about the very basic character of this person was false: that he or she is a predator or a fraud. If that happens, how should you react?

A short reading list for every prospective minister

A favorite from the archives:

Yesterday I asked the folks on Twitter and Facebook to recommend two books every prospective minister should read. Obviously, the Bible should always be primary, but we would do ourselves a profound disservice to neglect the thoughtful writings of others. Two books are never going to be enough to capture everything a pastor needs to know, and so I’ve compiled the six most frequent answers into the following short reading list for every prospective minister.