The letter that Paul wrote the church in Ephesus is a high-water mark of the New Testament. It’s been called both the “Grand Canyon” and “Crown Jewel” of the New Testament for its masterful presentation of “the mystery of th... Read More »

Some of the best marksmen in the world are known for hitting targets at distances over a mile away. Imagine attempting to hit a target you can barely see with your eye! Shooting with that type of precision is no simple task. A precision shooter will account fo... Read More »

Recently my family and I visited a local amusement center. Our youngest daughter invited a friend to join us. If observers of our family that day were to make assumptions, they might conclude that of the two little girls, the Caucasian one with the dark hair w... Read More »

Authority of Preachers Fred Craddock’s book, As One Without Authority, opened the door towards the concept of a “new” homiletic. The book is one of the best-selling books on preaching in the last 40 years, and homileticians who advocate narrative theolog... Read More »

Jeff Ray (1860-1951) was the first professor of preaching at Southwestern Seminary. His convictions concerning expository preaching in the early 20th century played a critical role in laying a foundation for a text-driven movement among Southern Baptists. Ray�... Read More »

Preaching is not merely a transmission of facts; it is at least this, but it answers the question of “So what?” with these facts. Preaching is application-oriented. Haddon Robinson said, “Application gives expository preaching purpose.”[1]Haddon Robins... Read More »

I recently saw a cartoon of a man attempting to open a jar of pickles. As he struggled with the herculean task, he grunted, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” A woman standing next to him said, “It’s a pickle jar, Tom… Twist... Read More »

Throughout the years, numerous discussions concerning whether the focus of preaching, should be Christocentric or theocentric have occurred. The point of this post is to briefly discuss Christ-Centered preaching as a text-driven approach. When I began preachin... Read More »

It is a joy to serve at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where we espouse what is called “Text-Driven Preaching.” Simply put, we want the chosen text (Yes there should be an actual biblical text) to drive the sermon. The text-driven preacher is co... Read More »

Pragmatic analysis of texts asks the questions “What is the author’s purpose of a text?” and “What does an author desire to accomplish with his text.” The text-driven preacher is always attempting to accomplish something with every sermon. All verbal... Read More »