Text-Driven Blog
A Professor His Books and Preachers: The Puritans
The following article is the first of a series of articles by the preaching faculty at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where a faculty member reviews a recent book they have read and shares its importance for preachers. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Pu... Read More »
Preaching, Reaching, and Teaching: The Disambiguation of Preaching
The word preach can mean many things. Just ask Madonna. But, periodically, it’s helpful to remind ourselves from Scripture what it is as preachers we are called to do. Some preaching textbooks include “didactic preaching” as a style of preaching and ... Read More »
What Hath Geneva to do with Your Pulpit? How Calvin’s Theology of Preaching Can Impact Your Preaching
The name John Calvin can invoke various caricatures of a cold and emotionless theologian. Maybe you read the name and you have a visceral reaction to the very idea of Calvinism. Perhaps you were part of the “Young, Restless, Reformed” movement and champion... Read More »
Advice for Interim Pastors
I have had the joy of serving as an interim pastor in fourteen churches. Each church is different, but each has certain common needs during the interim period. Whether a pastor has left the church on good terms or on good grounds or not, the transition time be... Read More »
Preach Penal Substitutionary Atonement
The penal substitutionary theory of the atonement is a core doctrine within Christianity. There are many metaphors for the atonement that are useful, understandable, and true.[1]See Colin E. Gunton, The Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality ... Read More »
Theological Snobbery
Seemingly, when Jesus dealt with the religious establishment of his day, he found them perfectly myopic and blind to the reality of who he was. They had a theological impediment that would not allow them to see Jesus as anything other than one whose teachings ... Read More »
The Idol of Greed
Unless you are a prosperity gospel preacher, you will have to preach on some tough subjects from time to time as you preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Obviously, if you are a prosperity gospel preacher you are probably not reading this articl... Read More »
The Pastor as Church Member
“When we step on the battlefield, I will be the first boots on and the last boots off.” Lt. General Hal Moore spoke these words to the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Calvary Division prior to the Battle of la Drang Valle... Read More »
Rooting out Sin in the Church: Making Use of Systematic Exposition
“Preacher, you must have been reading our mail.” “Have you been listening to us over the back fence?” “How did you know what I’ve been struggling with in my life?” Expressions like these are heard in churches everywhere. The implication is th... Read More »
The Word Cycle: Edifying the Body of Christ
One of the most amazing aspects of God’s provision on planet earth is the water cycle. Ocean waters supply solar evaporation. Atmospheric air circulation transports water vapor to all seven continents. Condensation and precipitation provide fresh water to la... Read More »
A Preacher’s Response to Individualism Invading the Church
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things in the church. While some of them were good, a lot of them were terrible. The pandemic has shut down many churches from meeting together, which has then caused a decrease in ministries, which then led to a decrease... Read More »
The Corporate Nature of Preaching
No one can deny that the digital revolution in the past two decades has found its way into the art of preaching. Through livestreams, podcasts, and blogs (words that would be alien to our predecessors a few years ago) are ubiquitous and breathtaking in their v... Read More »
