The preaching event involves not only God, the preacher and the biblical text, but the people who listen to the sermon. Unfortunately, writing and teaching in the field of preaching has focused predominantly on getting the text right (exegesis), getting the style right (rhetoric) and most importantly getting God right (theology). These are, no doubt, essential concerns and skills for effective preaching, but something is missing. Getting the listener right is a paramount, though often neglected, consideration in preaching today. Effective sermons engage the varied listening styles represented in the congregation. Too often, we preachers become stylistically self-absorbed. We are tempted to let our stylistic preferences dominate our preaching. The only problem with my prefere...

When I started at my job a little over a year ago, I was the only Christian in my department. Since then, I’ve referred a few Christian friends, who have referred even more Christian friends, and there are now eight of us. This growth excited me for two reasons. First, I now had support in living out the Christian life at my work. Second, it increased an evangelistic witness for my non-Christian co-workers—people I care about deeply and would love to see know God.    Then something happened that I didn’t anticipate. A few weeks ago, the director and my fellow managers requested to speak with me about some issues with some of the Christians in our department. The company I work for partners with small colleges to boost their marketing, enrollment, retention, etc., and most of thes...

What kind of peace do you hope for in the Middle East? What kind of peace do you pray for? Once again the simmering conflict between Israeli and Palestinian groups has burst into flame. You’ve seen the images of explosions in the middle of residential street, of rockets flying through the air. You’ve listened to the talking heads go at each other over the issue again and again. I wonder, what is your initial response to it all? Conflict in this particular stretch of land inevitably leads to tempers and arguments erupting in a way that conflict elsewhere in the world does not cause, in or out of the church. There are important political, ethical, and theological issues tied to this conflict. These issues must be discussed and worked through with grace and sobriety. But as Christians, we als...

What you believe about God changes everything. It affects how you love, work, live, marry, parent, purchase, and worship. Think of just a few popular views that people have about God: Is God an impersonal blob who is uninterested in the world except for figuring out who the good and bad people are? Is “god” a karma vibe making sure everyone gets what they deserve? Is God a myth that weak, stupid, or oppressive people use to console themselves or dominate other people? Is God a cosmic cheerleader who is concerned mainly with helping you achieve immediate happiness and self-actualization? Or is God someone else? We Believe… God reveals himself to sinners and saves them for his glory. Theology is not obscure, abstract theories about the divine. Rather, theology is the study of a persona...

Our summer vacation was interrupted slightly as Hurricane Arthur blew its way up the coast, hitting the seaside town of Beaufort, NC directly.  All the reports indicated that the Category 2 hurricane coming our way was no cause for evacuation, so we stayed and, as my children like to say, “survived the hurricane!”  The storm began in the early evening and then formed into a constant pounding.  The rain didn’t fall in typical fashion, but it swirled wildly, pushed forward by the raging wind.  Suddenly, close to midnight, all was eerily silent.  In the eye of the storm, there was peace and calm. I sat in the stillness considering how all of nature reflects and reveals the truths of God. The eye of the storm was a picture of contentment in a world that rages and circu...

How’s your prayer life? On a scale of 1 to 10 from non-existent to stellar how would you rate it? I bet most charitably argue for a 6 to 8. Few might place them self in a 9 or 10. Rating myself honestly, I am a solid 3. I know. That’s a low score! But let’s be honest. We live in a world of distraction. If we give ourselves to prayer for a cumulative 30 minutes a day, then that might be a good day. Think about it. Do you think you pray for 30 minutes a day? Okay, now compare yourself to a Jonathan Edwards or George Whitefield: two men who gave themselves to prayer for 2 to 4 hours a day. True, these guys are probably not the norm. But still, I imagine that people prior to TV, computers, and e-mail gave themselves to private prayer much more than we do. As I reflect on my prayer time, there ...

“Our kids need to go in the ministry. People are dying and going to Hell. Let the world provide the doctors and lawyers and carpenters. We need laborers in the field.” This was the message I heard, growing up, over and over again. The pastor was well-meaning. His desire was to see the church committed to reaching the world with the gospel. But while I’m grateful for the evangelistic impulse it created in me, this paltry doctrine of vocation did much damage. It crippled the ability of young men to discover their God-given gifts and talents and leverage them in the marketplace for the glory of God. The only “real” calling for a young man is the ministry, whether as a pastor or a missionary. My childhood church was an extreme outlier on this issue, I realize, but this kind of weak theology of...

It wasn’t by the sword, though that did come first. It wasn’t by persecution. It was through the pressures of peace and finances. Back in the 7th and 8th centuries, Muslim conquerors didn’t aim to destroy Christianity. They simply wanted to control it. However, they did manage to extinguish the church’s witness. And it happened by offering security and financial stability. Before the rise of Islam, Christians in ancient Persia experienced perhaps the most intense physical persecution any group of Christians have ever experienced. The church in Persia grew steadily, as missionaries from Antioch and Edessa ranged further east. Naturally, this caused some tension with the leaders of the established state religion, Zoroastrianism. The conflict between it and Christianity was often more acutely...

With the recent release of the film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” in theaters, I’m reminded of a few years ago when I launched a new semester of my Doctrine of the Last Things class with the showing of a clip from the original film, Planet of the Apes. The clip my students watched was in the closing moments of the 1968 film, as Charlton Heston is fleeing a civilization in which gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutangs rule over non-verbal, animal-like human beings. Up to this point, Heston’s character assumes he’s on another planet, one that has evolved differently from life on earth. The final scene though tells the shocking truth. Heston sees the Statue of Liberty in ruins, up to her torso in mud and sand. It’s then that he realizes he hasn’t traveled through space, but...

All too often, the textbooks focus solely on the men of the Reformation—Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and others—and fail to take notice of the faithful women who served among, beside, and with the Reformers. These women were dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ, some to the point of martyrdom. Many of these women were well-educated, especially by the standard of their time. They read theology books, especially the Bible, and anything they could get their hands on from the reformers. Their inner circles of friends were part of long and frequent Bible studies. Most were wives and mothers. Some were also authors, apologists, ex-nuns, and queens. All were faithful servants of Jesus.  GERMANY Katherine von Bora was a former nun who married Martin Luther. They were married for...

(Image: Cleveland, Ohio) Last week mega-star, LeBron James shocked the sports world by leaving the Miami Heat and returning home to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I was on vacation at the time, so my hotel TV was tuned in, for way too many hours, to Sportscenter. I was tracking this on Twitter and reading as many blogs as I could read without upsetting my non-sports-loving wife and my children. LeBron announced his decision in a heartfelt letter published by the venerable magazine, Sports Illustrated. He expressed his devotion to the northeast Ohio area, how leaving and going to Miami cemented his love for home. To the greater Cleveland area, LeBron’s return is more than a free-agent signing by a sports team, it’s an unexpected boost for a region who has not only seen many decades of sports disa...

I was thirty years old and less than two years into my second pastorate. The phone rang and I answered to learn that the father of someone in our church had died suddenly. Would I do the funeral? I had never met the deceased man and knew nothing about his spiritual condition. And this was my first funeral. I had no idea what to do. Thankfully, my own father (a veteran pastor of many years) was visiting us that weekend. I sought his advice, was able to give at least some comfort to the family, and got through the funeral. I’ve preached lots of funerals in the decade since. Sometimes of people I knew and loved. Often of people I’ve never met and were probably non-Christians. While I never exactly look forward to preaching a funeral, I’m no longer as intimidated by them (even the hard ones) a...