One of the things preachers must aim to do is move the hearts of their hearers. That is, the sermon is not a lecture that seeks to merely inform the mind, though that’s necessary. The sermon aims to engage both the mind and the heart. Tim Keller writes, “A sermon that just informs the mind…
Tim Keller offers insight into how preachers can effectively engage the modern mind in Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. To do this, he offers five cultural narratives that mark our modern society. Understanding these narratives is the first step towards challenging the modern mind with biblical truth. What are these five narratives?…
In his book, God is the Gospel, John Piper opened my eyes to the ultimate aim of the gospel. That is, the good news brings me to God, my “exceeding joy” (Ps 43:5). “Today—as in every generation—it is stunning to watch the shift away from God as the all-satisfying gift of God’s love. It is…
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law Psalm 119:18 Before preaching a sermon, I normally climb into the pulpit and pray at the beginning. My pre-sermon pray is pretty consistent, asking God for help as we come to his Word. Specifically, I’d pray like this: “Father, give us eyes to…
I want to interact with those around me, respond to sin (either mine or others), and generally live in such a way that I put the good news of Jesus on display. Of course, I’ll never do this perfectly but I should strive to make everything I can in my personal life point to the…
There are times when small parts of the Bible really stick out to me. I often feel the urge to just marinate on part of a chapter or part of a verse. That’s what happened to me the other day when I read half of Galatians 2:12. I simply wanted to sit with the words. …
For those who follow Jesus, we should celebrate what Biden/Harris do well and we should stand in humble and loving opposition when they make missteps. No doubt, there will be reasons to celebrate. For all the rhetoric surrounding the Trump presidency, he did some things that benefited our nation. And on the other side, there…
*This post is by Stacy Thorpe, Ministerial Coordinator for Care & Counseling, South Campus (Bethlehem Baptist Church). Empathy is being talked about a lot in our culture right now. It is simply defined as the ability to understand and share in the feelings of others. This sounds like a good thing, yet as Christians, how…
I’ve always found Wayne Grudem to write on any subject in an orderly fashion, soaked in the Bible, and (often) persuasively presented. In preparation to teach through an introduction to Christian ethics, I’m surveying several works. Here is the list so far: Ethics for a Brave New World, John S. Feinberg and Paul D. Feinberg…
*Upfront, I should disclose that I am not a philosopher. What I’m doing in this post is wrestling with some ideas that I’m busy trying to research as I write a dissertation. In order to learn, I write. And I write as I learn. If you persevere through a few paragraphs, I try to make…
Theology Along the Way 