A recent study published by Christian Science Monitor ranked the ten happiest jobs, and "clergy" ranked first. This study certainly reflects the way I feel about preaching. I enjoy what I do, and I feel grateful that the members of the Woodland Hills congregation
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Passing of Generations
This week our brother C.D. Williams passed from this life to the next. C.D. was a truly loveable person, always cheerful and positive. Even in the face of his declining health, C.D.’s bright outlook did not diminish. And it is no secret why C.D. was so happy. He was a Christian,
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Book Review: No god But God, by Reza Aslan
No god But God is an extremely well-written introduction to the history and development of the Muslim faith. The author, Iranian religion scholar Reza Aslan, traces the key developments in the evolution of Islam, and also offers an alternative explanation to thesis that Islam is at war with Western Civilization.
Friday, March 11, 2011
A Biblical View of Competition
I love to compete. Whether it is a friendly game of Trivial Pursuit, a fierce battle of ping pong, or a barbershop singing contest, I love the rush of adrenalin that comes from matching wits and skill with someone else. But I also love the Lord, and His word is clear that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Taking delight in crushing someone else hardly seems consistent with the selflessness to which Christ calls His people. So how should Christians view competition? Is it possible to reconcile the competitive spirit with the Holy Spirit?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Excellent Lecture by Ben Witherington
Take a moment to check out the lecture by Ben Witherington posted on his blog about the proper way to evaluate the historicity of the gospels. Great response to "fundamentalist skepticism."
http://www.patheos.com/community/bibleandculture/
http://www.patheos.com/community/bibleandculture/
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The English Standard Version vs the New American Standard Bible
In the winter of 2004/2005 I was debating switching from the New American Standard Bible to the English Standard Version. After some comparison, I decided to make the switch. Here is my review from six years ago explaining why.
In 2001 Crossway released a new translation, the English Standard Version (ESV). The purpose of this translation is to be more literal than the New International Version (NIV) -
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Restoration and Expository Preaching
Last week I attended the lectureship at my old school, Florida College, which was on the theme of Restoration. The lessons were based out of the books from the period of Israel's restoration from Babylonian Captivity (Ezra-Esther, Haggai-Malachi). This theme was chosen because of its relevance to the modern effort to restore New Testament Christianity.
The concept of restoration is a simple one. Each generation has the obligation to challenge its assumptions, beliefs and practices by the standard of Scripture, and align itself to the will of God. This is a challenging task - it is a lot easier to settle for the status quo of tradition.
One of the great dangers of restorationism is that it can easily degenerate into a purely reactionary posture in which the entire focus of preaching and teaching is on what is wrong with current religious practice. As a result the sum of truth is contracted down to a few key passages which relate to the areas in question. This leads to sermons and classes that the unquestionably biblical (they focus on the meaning of biblical texts), but which is not fully truthful because so much of what God's revealed will teaches is minimized, abbreviated, or neglected.
There may be other ways to avoid this pitfall, but the only way that I know to steer clear of reaction while seeking restoration is expository preaching. In my experience as a listener and a preacher, the vast majority of sermons have been topical. In this style of preaching various verses from throughout Scripture are marshaled together to make a point. This is not inherently wrong (take a look at Acts 2 or Hebrews 1 for instance). But it is all to easy to selects topics that fall into the reactionary pattern of preaching, which in turn means that the only verses that are selected for study and preaching are those that are relevant to that topic. Not only does this style make it easy to snatch verses completely out of context and distort their meaning to score points on a pet issue, but even worse, it makes it easy to ignore much of the Bible.
Expository preaching systematically works through books of the Bible, and it forces the preacher and the listener to carefully consider each verse of God's word. This kind of preaching lets the Bible dictate the agenda of our study, rather than the other way around. Of course it is possible to pretend to do expository preaching while in fact imposing the same sort of reactionary concerns on the text that topical preaching does. But hopefully this will be easier to spot on the part of the listener.
Expository preaches done correctly demands that you study and apply all of God's will, not just the select verses that apply to the controversial issues of the day. It affords opportunity to make corrections when relevant to the meaning of the text, but it keeps preachers from veering into the rut of reaction, a ditch it is easy to skid into but difficult to emerge from.
The concept of restoration is a simple one. Each generation has the obligation to challenge its assumptions, beliefs and practices by the standard of Scripture, and align itself to the will of God. This is a challenging task - it is a lot easier to settle for the status quo of tradition.
One of the great dangers of restorationism is that it can easily degenerate into a purely reactionary posture in which the entire focus of preaching and teaching is on what is wrong with current religious practice. As a result the sum of truth is contracted down to a few key passages which relate to the areas in question. This leads to sermons and classes that the unquestionably biblical (they focus on the meaning of biblical texts), but which is not fully truthful because so much of what God's revealed will teaches is minimized, abbreviated, or neglected.
There may be other ways to avoid this pitfall, but the only way that I know to steer clear of reaction while seeking restoration is expository preaching. In my experience as a listener and a preacher, the vast majority of sermons have been topical. In this style of preaching various verses from throughout Scripture are marshaled together to make a point. This is not inherently wrong (take a look at Acts 2 or Hebrews 1 for instance). But it is all to easy to selects topics that fall into the reactionary pattern of preaching, which in turn means that the only verses that are selected for study and preaching are those that are relevant to that topic. Not only does this style make it easy to snatch verses completely out of context and distort their meaning to score points on a pet issue, but even worse, it makes it easy to ignore much of the Bible.
Expository preaching systematically works through books of the Bible, and it forces the preacher and the listener to carefully consider each verse of God's word. This kind of preaching lets the Bible dictate the agenda of our study, rather than the other way around. Of course it is possible to pretend to do expository preaching while in fact imposing the same sort of reactionary concerns on the text that topical preaching does. But hopefully this will be easier to spot on the part of the listener.
Expository preaches done correctly demands that you study and apply all of God's will, not just the select verses that apply to the controversial issues of the day. It affords opportunity to make corrections when relevant to the meaning of the text, but it keeps preachers from veering into the rut of reaction, a ditch it is easy to skid into but difficult to emerge from.
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