Once upon a time preachers learned how to preach in a particular way. Actually we learned just about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in this same way. Every subject was taught using the same process. Why, you might ask? It was because the ancients realized that it was both...
Presuppositions are starting places. When we begin any task, we assume certain things, and many of them are held unconsciously. Although they are subtle and often undetected, they will guide any endeavor to a particular conclusion even if that object was not the...
We’ve been comparing love for God’s Word and preparation in it to a human relationship. We know that doing relationships well involves some competency and learning some effective behaviors–think of them as tools–that improve the relationship....
There is a Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating a girl he describes as a sentence finisher. “It’s like dating Mad Libs,” he says. And she was always completely off-base when she tries to complete his sentence. We’ve been using the metaphor of...
It is easy to get things mixed up as a kid. For example, I thought that the song “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” was about “Harold Angels,” as in the given name of those celestial beings. I had difficulty understanding that at first. Thankfully,...
One of the New Testament images for a preacher of the gospel is the image of the steward. Stewardship has come to be equated in our minds with financial giving. Yet it encompasses more than that. This word is an accurate description of what a preacher must do to...
We live in an image-driven culture. Even the oldest among us grew up with photographs and most of us grew up on TV and movies. There is no escaping the power of the image. A picture truly is worth a thousand words because we will remember an image long after the words...
What is more precious than gold but cannot be bought, earned, or saved? Of course, the answer is time. With each passing day over the duration of our lives, it becomes more valuable to us. The old expression “time is money” is not completely accurate. Time...
