“Good homiletics is built on even better hermeneutics.” I do not know who first made this statement or where I first heard it, but I use this axiom as a rallying cry of sorts in my preaching classes. I genuinely believe you cannot rightly preach what you h... Read More »

God will even the score. Stay awake and He will keep you safe. Every sermon listener ought to hear a short pithy statement throughout your sermon that contains two essential elements: what is true about a Bible text, and what God expects them to do. I have bee... Read More »

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 »

“Can you hear me now?” is the question that the actor with the horn-rimmed glasses, Paul Marcarelli, made famous after asking the question over and over again on Verizon commercials from 2002 to 2011. Many times, it is easy to feel just like Marcarelli whe... 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 »

Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (Gen 3:23) It’s astounding the impact these words have on the relationship of humanity to their Creator and the world He created. However, it is the pasto... 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 »

The expectations placed upon the pastor in the modern day can be overwhelming to anyone who occupies the office. Each day confronts every pastor with overwhelming obligations. These obligations are sometimes expected and often unexpected. In order to meet the ... Read More »

I’ll never forget the call I received one Wednesday afternoon. I was putting the finishing touches on the sermon I would preach to college students later that night. It was a call from North Phoenix Baptist Church asking me to pray about entering the process... Read More »

I studied Speech Communication in college. Essentially this means I took quite a few courses that required public speaking, generally in the form of a presentation of some kind. Near the end of my undergraduate study, I was able to teach an introduction to pub... Read More »

The human race is diverse. Billions of individuals in hundreds of countries represent diversity in nationality, race, occupation, religious belief, political conviction, culture, hobbies, and dozens of other aspects. Unfortunately today, diversity almost alway... Read More »

Steve’s alarm goes off Sunday morning. He irons his clothes, eats a quick breakfast, gets the kids ready with his wife, packs up the minivan, and drives to church. When Steve gets to church, he checks his kids in, goes to his Sunday School class, and then wa... Read More »