This personal oversight begins with the necessity of the pastor being converted: “See that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Saviour, your own hearts should neglect him, and you should miss an interest in him and his saving benefits.[10] This is the same counsel with which Charles Spurgeon opened his Lectures to My Students.
Read moreWhat did the Protestant Reformers believe about creation and the age of the earth
Mark Noll declared that Creationism originated with a false teacher, Ellen White: “[Creationism] has spread like wildfire in our century from its humble beginnings in the writings of Ellen White, the founder of Seventh-day Adventism, to its current status as a gospel truth embraced by tens of millions of bible believing evangelicals and fundamentalist.”[1] Actually, Creationism originated with Moses in Genesis 1-2 and was confirmed by Jesus in Mark 10:6-7 and Paul in 1 Timothy 2:13-14. In a previous post on this subject, I document that the early Church Fathers (click to open) also advocated six twenty-four days of creation six thousand years ago. But let's move on to the Reformers who taught six twenty-four days of creation six thousand years ago. spoke literally and plainly and neither allegorically nor figuratively; that is, he means that the world with all creatures was created in six days as he himself expresses it.[2] The issue with Luther was not a debate of old earth versus young earth but nanoseconds versus literal days. Earth.
Read moreHow can we be amazing illustrators of God’s Word in our preaching?
Haddon Robinson, the former preaching guru, said an illustration can either be like a beautiful lamp or a streetlight. When you walk into someone’s expensive den and notice an ornate lamp, you complement its beauty to the owners. But if you are walking down a city sidewalk at night, the streetlights provide you visibility, but you hardly notice them. A sermon illustration should be like a streetlight. It throws light on the subject you are preaching but doesn’t unnecessarily draw attention to the illustration. The illustration is always a handmaiden to explanation. The illustration should not be the centerpiece of the sermon. Our people should not leave the service saying, “Wow, what an illustration!” They should exit contemplating the text and how they can “be doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
Read moreReview of Crisis Counseling: A Guide for Pastors and Professionals by Scott Floyd , Chapter Two: Trauma
Review of Crisis Counseling: A Guide for Pastors and Professionals by Scott Floyd
In the introduction, Scott Floyd states the thesis of his book: “Knowing how to provide crisis care is essential, then, to any type of effective ministry.”[1] He begins his introduction with a series of catastrophizes that would demand crisis counseling. Floyd reviewed the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people; the 1997 Columbine High School, where thirteen students and a teacher were killed; the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center building, massacring almost three thousand civilians, and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans which causes 1,836 fatalities. After listing these disasters, Floyd asks, “Are we dealing with a new problem? He answers his question by referring to examples given by Jesus recorded in Luke 13:1-5. Jesus refers to natural and moral evil. The moral evil was Pilate murdering a group of worshippers. The natural evil was the tower of Siloam falling and killing eighteen individuals. Albert Mohler has a good article describing the difference and even overlap of natural and moral evil: The Reality of Natural Evil and Moral Evil: Devastating Earthquake in Afghanistan, Genocidal Attack in Israel (click to open). Floyd concludes, “Crises and traumatic events have been a part of human experience since the creation.”[2]
Read moreTemplate and Rubric for Manuscript Sermon
What is in Bold should be written and included in the sermon.
Scripture: 3 points
Title: 2 points
Introduction: (has three steps)
1. Attention Step: 5 points
2. Interest Step: 5 points
3. Lead into the Subject Step: 5 points (includes the two subpoints)
A. Give the Theme of the Book of the Bible from which you are preaching
B. Give the development of the theme
MPS (Main Point of the Sermon): 10 points
Interrogative statement: 10 points
With a HOW or WHY
Transitional statement: 10 points
a. If How is the interrogative the transitional statement is: We can make disciples By
following these steps (keyword is “steps”)
b. If Why is the interrogative the transitional statement is: We should make disciples
Because of the following reasons (keyword is “reasons”)
I. Main Division (beginning with By or Because) 10 points
A. Explanation: 10 points
B. Argumentation: 10 points
C. Illustration: 10 points
D. Application: 10 points
II. Main Division
A. Explanation:
B. Argumentation:
C. Illustration:
D. Application:
Conclusion (has two parts) 5 points (includes the two subpoints)
1. Repeat or restate the MPS and Main Divisions
2. Give one final exhortation to practice the MPS
For more details and examples, see the post: Construct the Sermon Outline (click to open)
Is the gift of exorcism to be practiced today?
The reason for raising the question, Is the gift of exorcism to be practiced today? is because there are groups (click to open) that believe exorcism is a spiritual gift: “Exorcism is a spiritual gift enabling Christians to confront demonic forces.” One argument against exorcism being a practice for Christians today is that New Testament Epistles do not teach exorcism as a method of confronting demon opposition.
Read moreDietrich Bonhoeffer: Friend or Foe of Evangelicalism
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a blank canvas on which many paint him in their own image. Admirers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 -1945) portray him as a Protestant Saint. His critics expose him as a German liberal theologian—most respect Bonhoeffer as a martyr at the hands of Hitler’s antisemitic Nazism.
Read moreBook of five sermons on Christmas
Becky and I wish each of you a very blessed Christmas. Here is a book of five sermons on Christ’s incarnation at Christmas at Amazon (click to open)..
The Historical/Grammatical Hermeneutic, Part Two
Martin Luther believed that “The entire Old Testament refers to Christ and agrees with Him.” Sidney Greidanus, in Preaching Christ from the Old Testament, wrote that in spite of his warnings against allegorical interpretation, Luther continued using this arbitrary method of interpretation. Ironically, while Luther left some limited room for allegorical interpretation, he apparently had no use of typological interpretation, for, as David Dockery puts it, typology with its foreshadowing “annulled the historical presence of Christ in the Old Testament.” The Antioch School “saw shadowy anticipation of what was to come. This meant nothing to Luther. To him, the Old Testament was not a figure of what would be, but a testimony to what always holds true between humankind and God” (Dockery, GTJ I4/2 (1983) 193.[19]
Read moreThe Historical/Grammatical Hermeneutic, Part One
It is becoming common to hear preachers “finding Jesus” in every text of Scripture. Many name recognized Bible Scholars and popular writers advocate a Christological hermeneutic that forces Christ onto every text. Albert Mohler in He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World wrote:
Every single text of Scripture points to Christ. He is the Lord of all, and therefore He is the Lord of the Scriptures too. From Moses to the prophets, He is the focus of every single word of the Bible. Every verse of Scripture finds its fulfillment in Him, and every story in the Bible ends with Him.[1]
Read moreReview of the Conclusion of Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today
Scott Gibson and Matthew Kim, in their conclusion to Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today, correctly observe: “We note that each author reads the text with a theological framework and makes a theological commitment in his exegesis and preaching” (p. 157).
Read moreReview of Paul Scott Wilson's "Law-Gospel View" of Preaching
In Scott M. Gibson’s and Matthew D. Kim’s Homiletics and Hermeneutics (Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2018) Paul Scott Wilson presents his view of interpreting and preaching called the Law-Gospel view. Wilson’s one text, one theme, one doctrine, one need, one image, and one mission is just another way of saying what many homileticians describe as one preaching unit or the text (one text), one MPS (one theme), Argumentation (one doctrine), Interest Step in the Introduction (one need), Illustration (one image), and Application (one mission).
Read moreReview of Bryan Chapell's "Redemptive-Historical View" of Preaching
This post reviews “Redemptive-Historic View” by Bryan Chapell in Scott M. Gibson’s and Matthew D. Kim’s Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today.
I agree with Byran Chapell when he warns that the redemptive-historical view of forcing Christ into every text has “been abused, in ways that are now obvious to us, by ancient allegorism that sought to make Jesus ‘magically’ appear in every Bible passage through exegetical acrobatics that stretched logic, imagination, and credulity.”[1] This is a candid admission.
Read moreGod’s Prophet Isaiah
One of the main prophets and/or leaders in the Kansas City Prophets movement was Bob Jones (no relation to Bob Jones of Bob Jones University in South Carolina), the movement's visionary. He was said to have been specially anointed with supernatural visions from the Lord and a prophetic gift. However, he was quoted as saying that the general level of prophetic revelation in the movement's "prophets" had an accuracy level of about 65 percent. He said some prophets were as low as 10 percent accurate, with some of the "most mature" prophets having a rating "approaching 85 percent to 95 percent." [1]
Deuteronomy 18:20-23 is the test of a prophet in the OT. A biblical prophet has an accuracy rate of 100 percent.
Read moreImputed righteousness verses Infused righteousness
Many conservative evangelicals pushed back on Evangelicals and Catholics Together in 1994.
Charles Colson represented evangelicals and Richard John Neuhaus represented the Catholics. The gospel was watered down: “We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ.” (click to open). But the indispensable word "alone” was left out. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. R. C. Sproul wrote Justification by Faith Alone to correct this biblical error.
Read moreThe Imputation of righteousness is the only ground for justification
I hope the title of this article reveals the importance of the doctrine of imputation. Many conservative evangelicals pushed back on Evangelicals and Catholics Together in 1994. Charles Colson represented evangelicals and Richard John Neuhaus represented the Catholics. The gospel was watered down. “We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ.” (click to open). But the indispensable word "alone” was left out. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. R. C. Sproul wrote Justification by Faith Alone to correct this biblical error.
Read moreFreedom of the Will verses Bondage of the Will
Are the unsaved responsible for believing the gospel of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection that we witness or preach? Do they have a choice? Are unbelievers only the passive recipients of regeneration? These questions have been debated for centuries. Michael Barrett (click to open) writes articles on this debate between Augustine/Pelagius, Luther/ Erasmus, Calvin/Arminius, and John Edwards/John Wesley. The debate rages today between proponents of Free Will and the Bondage of the Will. My thoughts on the debate are that some who teach the freedom of will promote a free will that is too free. Some who contend for the bondage of the will advocate a will that is to bound.
Read moreBart Ehrman verses Lee Strobel on Inerrancy
Jesus authoritatively declared, “Thy Word is Truth” (John 17:17)! It is up to you to believe His claim that God’s Word is trustworthy or to reject as contradictory. Those who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and those who reject the truthfulness of Scripture have the same evidence and yet come to opposite conclusions. The same is true with Christ as the Son of God. Those who receive Him and those who reject Him as Savior have the same facts. One repudiates and one accepts. I will give one example of each: Bart Ehrman and Lee Strobel.
Read moreAn Expanded Trinitarian Glossary
At baptisms, we repeat the words of Christ in the Great Commission “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” without realizing that we are referring to the stragglingly in-depth doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus in the taught both the oneness of God’s essence and the threeness of the Persons in the Trinity in the baptismal formula: “Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). The one deity of the Trinity is seen in the singular “name” because God is one in substance or essence. But then Jesus followed up saying baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” or the three persons of the Trinity.
Read more