I just returned from my fortieth high school reunion. Although it was a delight to see so many friends, I walked away realizing that some had not changed at all. Even though so many of us looked so old, there were so few of us making a real go at maturity. The... Read More »

Those who preach weekly struggle to illustrate their sermons with consistent effectiveness. From one Sunday to the next, how can we develop relevant, powerful (not to mention biblical) illustrations? We’ll consider the book of Jonah as a case study. Suggesti... Read More »

What the Book of Jonah lacks in actual length, it more than makes up for in substantive theological depth. Interpreters who have dubbed the Book of Jonah as a mere fairy tale with embedded lesson therein miss the hermeneutical mark almost entirely. It is true ... Read More »

Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise when we learn how few unique vocabulary words there are in the Bible. If we discount the names and multiple locations mentioned (sometimes only once), the number of unique words drops even more. For instance, while there... Read More »

The book of Jonah, perhaps more than any other Book of the Twelve, stands among the surrounding Minor Prophets unmistakably different. The other eleven prophets (Habakkuk, Obadiah, Amos, etc.) are prophetic literature with regular occurrences of “Thus says t... Read More »

Regarding the identification of the boundaries of pericopes of narratives Collins suggests readers to notice “places where the location changes, or where a new set of participants is introduced, or where there is some grammatical expression of discontinuity,... Read More »

When my kids were little, they loved playing hide and seek. The game would always involve me going and hiding and then they would come and seek. The key to the game being really fun for them was the finding. The seeking couldn’t last too long, be too involve... Read More »

Cultural and historical considerations are especially important for preaching the book of Jonah since geography and Assyrian culture play a major role in the development of the narrative. Consequently, I first want to give you key background information to the... Read More »

It’s interesting to traverse over public ground and see fluorescent tape marking paths off of the beaten path. These markings are used by hikers, campers, hunters, and the like to help them identify a trail leading to a significant spot to which they desire... Read More »

The genre of the Book of Jonah is certainly unlike most of the other Minor Prophets. While the contents of most Minor Prophets focus on what the prophet said, the content of Jonah focuses on what the prophet did, or more accurately, what God did with and throu... Read More »

The story of Jonah is undoubtedly one of the most famous Bible stories. This familiarity, as well as the sensational nature of the story, could possibly obscure the fact that Jonah is a theologically rich and important book of scripture. All efforts to exposit... Read More »

Two of my favorite classes in my M.Div. were the rhetoric courses taught by Dr. Barry McCarty—in fact, this post is a re-working of a section of a paper I turned in for his class. For me, they were a fun exploration of the English language and communication.... Read More »