This is really a great little book. It provides a two page synopsis of every book of the Bible. each color page has Key Concepts; Key Terms; Key Teachings and Purpose sections – all with some illustrations and or maps etc. The skill and usefulness of this book is the way it summarizes the contents and yet gives you such a depth of information.
A great resource. I have recommended and used it with my Historical Books of The Old Testament Class. Here is a sample from 1-2 kings
It’s been quiet on the blog – last week was crazy with VBS. For 5 nights we feed and provided different programs for 130 men, women and children.
Busy but fun (mostly!). I wanted to share with you one of the videos we made for the worship time. Our Music Minister wrote a ton of songs for this VBS and this is one of them. If you know me, you might see me (and the youth minister Jason). Please remember this is copyrighted to Jon Blamire and Prince George.
One of the many emails we received about VBS came from someone who attended without children. They wrote:
To say the least it was truly an enjoyable week even for those of us who have an empty nest. The music was great as were the program, fellowship and food. It was evident that it took a tremendous amount of time, effort and creativity to put the programs together. The videos were an extra touch that made the programs unique and even more enjoyable.
Thanks again for all you do and the outstanding effort of the entire leadership team.
Blessings.
John
Even though I say so myself – this VBS which was written and produced in house is better than anything I have ever seen from Group. But then again, I would say that – wouldn’t I!!
We have had two fantastic days for Vacation Bible School. The kids program has gone great AND the adult program was also great. The worship has been awesome and the videos are brilliant – I wish I could show you but our music director is forbidding any public release until after VBS finishes!!! He even wrote a FANTASTIC (biblical) song with pluff mud in it (South Carolinians will know what that means). Three more days to go!
God is at work amongst his people!!
This was written by my bosses former lecturer at Trinity School for Ministry in Pittsburgh. It is a good commentary. The advantage of this commentary is its size. This makes Whitacre’s comments concise and to the point, which you must NOT take to mean light. Whitacre is far from light on the text. He has great insight into the Gospel of John and often I would find things in here which were not even mentioned in Hendriksen, Keener or Kostenberger. Also his writing style is easy to read and you can sense the pastoral side of Whitacre. While Hendriksen was my favorite to use, Whitacre is the commentary I would recommend first to those who want to begin studying John.
I liked Keener’s commentary on Matthew and like what he has written elsewhere. This two volume commentary on John is good. It has a wealth of historical background information – which some people do not like. There were a few times (only a few mind) where I just want to get to the meaning of the text. There were a few places where I completely disagreed with him on the meaning of the text. But overall this is a useful addition to your studies in John.
I’ve banged on before about how I think that Dr Paul Blackham is probably the best preacher I have ever heard – and I think is probably the best theologian in the UK. There is NO other preacher, in the UK or USA which I would rather hear and learn from than Paul Blackham (including Piper, Carson and co). I first met and got to know Paul at seminary. We become friends when we realized that our theology was very similar – especially our understanding that Christ appears in the Old Testament. His insight into scripture is a gift second to none. But don’t take my word for it. The blog, Christ The Truth also agrees – and he has some great talks from Paul to download. Go there, listen and feast on some great preaching.
I liked this commentary because Kostenberger gives you great overviews of other scholars view points in a concise, easy to understand way. he is far btter at that than Don Carson is in his commentary on John. I have always felt Carson’s commentary to be over rated. Kostenberger’s clear and easy style helps you through the various issues of a passage. He sometimes missed or sketched over things which Hendriksen would some time in, but for the overall picture and summary of the passage you could not go far wrong with this one.
A while back I mentioned that we had finished a year long Bible Study with the men’s breakfast group on John’s Gospel (see HERE) Over the course of the year I read a number of commentaries – and this one, by William Hendriksen I liked the most.
The enjoyable and useful thing about Hendriksen is that he stays in the text – and he aims to 1) understand the text and 2) seek application from the text. He also employs biblical theology at all times, cross referencing and referring to the whole canon.
Hendriksen’s insights are often powerful and inspiring, and even when you don’t agree with him, you can’t but help admire the thoughtful exegesis he has taken you through.
A great commentary to have on John’s Gospel.
Well, our VBS (Holiday Club for your Brits) starts Monday. We have written the curriculum ourselves (well, Kitty actually wrote it!!) – our music director has written and recorded our own music – all put to video!! This year it is a family VBS – the kids will have their program and the adults will also have a program – which sometimes will overlap with the kids stuff. Monday to Friday, 5:30-8:00pm, beginning with dinner together each evening. We have 135 signed up – (which maxes out our resources)! The theme – fishing and boats – its called Hooked On Jesus!!!
It should be a stunning week!
Here is our flyer for the event.
And this is our theme song from LAST YEAR – all done in house in our little church.
Can we live different lives, socially and economically as Christians. Cavanaugh say we can – and really we must.
This is a great, small book. It’s 100 plus pages are meaty – much to chew over. And much to challenge us. Cavanaugh’s call is clear and simple, “From a Christian point of view, the churches should take an active role in fostering economic practices that are consonant with the true ends of creation. This requires promoting economic practices that maintain close connections among capital, labor and communities so that real communal discernment of the good can take place”.
Of course most Christians are aware of the plight of factory worker around the world making designer clothing (Liz Claiborne jackets) which while retailing at $178, cost only 77 cents per jacket (56 cents an hour). And of course most Christians are concerned. It is just that most Christians are too lazy (yes, fingers pointed at me too!!) to change our shopping habits. But is it possible to be a business and give to the community? Cavanaugh details the pain-based Mondragon Co-operative which was founded by a priest in 1956. The company employs 60,000 people and has annual sales of $3 billion. But it’s philosophy is based on the principles of distributism: this idea is that a just social order can only be achieved through the distribution of property and a recognition of the dignity of labor. Mondragon is entirely worker owned and worker governed. It is based on a system of one vote per worker. Their philosophy is that labor hires capital, instead of capital hiring labor. The highest paid worker can make no more than six times the lowest paid. 10% of surpluses are given directly to community development projects.
Not only is the company successful and laborers highly satisfied with their work, but the communities in which Mondragon plays a significant part enjoy lower crime rates, lower rates of domestic violence, higher rates of education, and better physical and emotional health than neighboring communities.
There is much more to this book – but I’ll leave you to find out for yourself.
Here is another snipet from this book. I mentioned a while back (HERE) that Cavanaugh states that CEO’s now earn 450 x more than a production worker. Well, he goes on to a fascinating discussion on the ‘free market.’ He argues that :
free market advocates (such as Milton Friedman) want to give individuals freedom – even freedom to make mistakes and even damn themselves. The problem with the free market view is that it assumes that the abolition of objective goods provides the conditions for the individual will to function more or less autonomously. Cavanaugh argues from Augustines thought that the absence of objective good does not free the individual but leaves them subject to arbitrary competition of wills.
So, lets take Roza Martinez. She produces apparel for US markets on her sowing machine in El Salvador. You can hire her for 33 cents an hour. Is Roza Martinez free? Free market advocates say YES. It is her decision to take the job at that pay. Yet for Martinez, the choice is the job or starvation. For Augustine, to speak of freedom in any realistic and full sense is necessarily to engage the question of the true ends of human life. Yet such ends are precisely what free market advocates would banish from the definition of the free market.
Cavanaugh’s point is that the freedom of each economic exchange is subject not just to whether the parties agreed to it – but it must take into account the good ends of human life. That a women would be willing to work at 33 cents an hour and a company willing to employ her on that wage is a negative freedom and not good. The postive freedom – Augustine’s thinking – is that the company must take into account the effect of that employment on the woman’s life and adjust the salary accordingly to a true living wage.
Who would ever dream of saying the words, “John Piper is really not biblical enough in his theology” – or even worse, “John Piper is far too worldly.”
Well, Dr Peter Masters has written that the new calvinism which has taken off in the USA and UK is too worldly . Read Dr Masters interesting article HERE
READ JOHN 9:1-12
What does the disciples question presuppose about the cause of disabilities?
It presupposes that a disability is caused by sin. That God had judged that person with a disability.
If the man was born blind, then using the disciples logic, whose sin caused his blindness.
Taking the disciples logic the answer would be the parents – or the man if he had sinned in the womb.
What do you make of Jesus’ response? What issue does it raise? Was the man born blind in order to be healed by Jesus?
Jesus is not dismissing that sin was the cause of the disability – only that neither the parents nor the man are the cause of the blindness.
The cause of the blindness is the sin of Adam. Disability is caused by the sin of adam. We live in a fallen world where imperfection, disability and disease are prevalent.
For Jesus, all things, even afflictions, calamties and evil acts have as their ultimate purpose the glorification of God in Christ. God does not let an evil act, or an affliction or a calamity pass him by. He knows. And for all who are in Christ it shall be turned into good as Romans 8 tells us and as the cross illustrates – Jesus suffers the greatest in justice of history – God killed unjustly and without cause.
But what has Jesus come into the world to do?
To set humanity free from sin through his death – he is the light of the world – this man is an example of what Jesus has come to do – set people free from the darkness. Jesus says the night is coming – Jesus’ earthly ministry will be limited in time – which went against the notion of the time that the Messiah and the Messianic age would last forever.
Why does the Bible tell us that Jesus spat in the dirt and made mud? Couldn’t he have just said “Be Healed?”
We don’t know really why he did this. One point is that Jesus is deliberately provoking the Pharisees by making mud / clay, which was considered one of the 39 classes of forbidden work – on the Sabbath (see v14). Another is that Jesus took that which was deemed unclean (Lev 15:8) – spit – and uses it as a symbol of healing. Also, Jesus requires an act from the man – he sends the man to wash his face.
Do you see anything significant in the meaning of the name of the Pool?
Go and wash your face in the pool of Sent. Jesus has told the jews many times he is the one sent by the Father. Maybe this is over spiritualizing, but there might be an illusion here to the jews going and washing in the pool of the sent one.
The healing sends everyone into a spin of confusion – this was healing never seen before – the mans words in v32 show that nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. Yet it really is only confusing because they are trying to find an alternative explanation for what really happened.
Now we have had discussions about hindsight and how easy it is to read back into the gospel of John with what we know. And that is true. But don’t forget there were 12 very ordinary Jews, who while they made many mistakes, and did not understand – they followed Jesus and sought to understand.
READ V13-23
Who the ‘they’ are who brought the man to the Pharisees we do not know – but he is brought to them for questioning.
What has happened to the Pharisees over this healing?
They are divided. Some where saying this man is not from God. Their reasoning went like this:
Major Premise: All people who are from God keep the Sabbath.
Minor Premise: Jesus does not keep the Sabbath
Conclusion: Jesus is not from God.
The other group also had their reasoning:
Major Premise: Only people who are from God can heal
Minor Premise: Jesus has healed a blind man
Conclusion: Jesus is from God.
What does the mans declaration of who Jesus is show about what is happening to him?
He is changing. He calls Jesus Jesus at the beginning. And as all this discussion is going on around him he must be thinking and contemplating and his understanding is growing – Jesus must now be a prophet – the highest accolade he could give Jesus.
The Pharisees are on a campaign to discredit the healing or the blind man.
What is odd about the Parents response to the Pharisees? Why do they act like this – what is missing?
John tells us they are scared about being put out of the synagogue. They are frightened for their own position. Also, they show no sign of happiness that their blind son can now see.
READ v24-34
How would you describe v24?
They are, in my opinion, in a VERY dangerous position. They invoke the name of God in order for the man to speak truthfully only to then attribute God as a sinner.
What remarkable barrier are the Pharisees hitting in this passage?
The truth. The Pharisees theoretical and dogmatic assumptions run into the indisputable and unalterable fact that this man can now see!! He has simply been telling them what HAPPENED!! The plain facts.
It is an example for us. We have the truth of who Jesus is. We will face opposition, rejection, dismissal, even attempts to modify the truth but we must continue to stand on the undeniable truth of the God of the Gospel
By v27 the man’s understanding is growing.
What does the man’s question “You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?” imply about him?
That he already considers himself to be a disciple. Maybe this whole charade has helped him understand.
The Pharisees realize that the man has seen through their attempts to trip him up – and so they resort to another sophisticated and educated method – insults!!
We have already seen Jesus show that he has surpassed Moses and that in fact Moses would be their judge (5:45), and yet even here they claim Moses as their standard.
Finally, what has the man become to the Pharisees?
This blind man has become a teacher to the Pharisees. This uneducated, former beggar, dismantles the theologians argument. The Pharisees know that God only listens to the godly who do his will!!
It shows that a person seeking God and his truth will always expose a Minister, or theologians prejudices and agendas.
The man is thrown out being accused of being steeped in sin – which was true – but also now he has encountered Christ his sin has been forgiven.
READ vv35-41
What does Jesus do here in v35
Is this not a beautiful picture. The man has stood up to the Pharisees and been thrown out of the temple. Jesus hears about it and goes and finds him – he is the good shepherd – he seeks this man out. And he completes the conversion – the man worships Jesus.
Jesus again states his mission in v39 – what is it?
The judgment refered to here is the division of humanity into believers and unbelievers brought about by Jesus coming into the world and being the light.
Jesus refers to the Pharisees as blind guides in Matt 23:16 – the Pharisees believed they saw well – Jesus calls them blind.
What v41 intend to teach us?
It is not the Pharisees sin that makes them lost. If they had recognized their sin and were yearning for God no charge would be brought against them. It is their repudiation of grace that makes them lost – for there is no were to go by rejecting Jesus because they have rejected the light, which does not just make them blind, but culpable.
The man was an image of humanity and the Pharisees – blind and lost – and Jesus’ mission is to awaken the eyes of th lost – to be the light which shines and draws people to him. The Pharisees prove their blindness by refusing to see the light and this poor, uneducated former beggar kneels at Jesus’ feet to worship him.
I am reading a fascinating little book right now called Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire by William Cavanaugh.
He quotes, what is for me, a horrendous statistic. In 1980 the average CEO made 42 times what the average production worker made. Today its 475 times.
CEO’s are, in my opinion, over paid in an obscene way. Now, I know the argument simplistically) is that to get the best you pay the huge sums – they carry the burden and they should be paid – and when they fail, the $20m payoff as compensation is valid. I am afraid that it is not valid and I would even throw out that it is unethical and immoral.
More to come from this little book!
OK all you friends and family back in the UK – why not decide to come and visit us over the summer. Check out where we live on this web site HERE - go on, you know you want to!!
OK, so here is what I plan to read over the summer – I may read more, or less, I may even read different books – but these have been set aside for the summer pile;
LETTERS OF C. S. LEWIS edited with a Memoir by W. H. Lewis
Speaks for itself!!
Why do so many preachers make the most exciting news in the world sound so boring?’ That is the question driving this unusual book. In a series of honest, personal and humorous letters, the author also answers the question, ‘What will it take to inspire great preaching for the 21st century?’.
Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
This book will teach you that contentment lies in subtraction, not in addition; that the ABC’s of Christianity are nothing like what you thought them to be; that there is a mystery of contentment, but that once you have learned the way from Christ’s word, you will be able to attain such a depth of contentment as you never before dreamed existed. This is a key book for building up Christian maturity.
No Condemnation: A New Theology of Assurance
In his study of the biblical, theological, and historical dimensions of the question of assurance, Michael Eaton brings a challenge to both traditional Arminianism and Calvinism. He propounds a radical grace, a salvation that overflows in assurance.
Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923
This survey of the demise of the Ottoman Empire reeks of academic turf wars. In assessing the last 130-odd years of the Turkish empire, the authors assault the prevailing wisdom that the decline of the “Sick Man of Europe” was inevitable; they claim, rather, that it resulted from a series of poor choices made by its leaders. This approach is both provocative and productive.
This is an adroitly written evocation of a compelling but enigmatic personality, a man whose ambition, idealism and opportunism would not seem out of place on the political scene today.
It is 1537, and Thomas Cromwell is charged with protecting the newborn Church of England. So when one of his commissioners is murdered in a monastery, he sends his sharpest lawyer to investigate. Historical fiction – a big weakness of mine!
For anyone fascinated by how American politics works, this is a gripping read (apparently). Recommended by my dad!
Is it possible for Christians to relate to Muslims without being politically naïve or theologically liberal? Steve believes it is. He shares his own journey and reflects upon how he arrived at the crucial ingredient grace.
Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life
Drawing on specially collected oral history, this biography fully portrays the person, the work, and the teaching of one of the most important figures in modern Christianity.
William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner
The former leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, Hague has lately immersed himself in biography writing. As with William Pitt the Younger (2005 – excellent book – I read about a year ago), this depiction of William Wilberforce recurs regularly to the political arena of the House of Commons. Incorporating Wilberforce’s domestic life, Hague’s effort is a well-rounded portrait of the pioneering British abolitionist.
John Wesley: A Brand from the Burning
This is a re-read for me. Hattersley convincingly portrays Wesley as a reluctant revolutionary, loathe to leave the Church of England but ultimately doing so and succeeding in initiating a moral renewal that profoundly shaped Great Britain in the century after his death. A nuanced and satisfying portrait from a ‘secular’ or non-christian position.
Every decision you make sends you down a path. And every path has a destination, good or bad, painful or joyful, fruitful or damaging.
Most of us do not take into account, or calculate the possible destination of a decision. From a person who has drunk too much deciding to drive home to the well educated, middle class, successful person who decided to finance a new car they cannot quite afford, or invest in a stock which is a gamble, or even to having an extra marital affair.
Andy Stanley’s book examines how people, even smart, well educated people, make decisions which lead to the path of disaster or ruin, and how we can begin to avoid traveling such paths.
As a pastor of a large church, Stanley often sits listening to a congregation member explaining why things have gone wrong in their life thinking “How on earth did you not SEE that coming?” Stanley writes regarding a friend whose lung cancer has returned;
“Our hearts are broken. But no-one is totally shocked. He’s smoked since he was a teenager. Does that make it any less painful? Nope. Do I still pray for him? Yep. Does God still care? Absolutely. Will forgiveness reverse this? No. Will his teenage son learn something through this? I hope so. Does everyone who smokes dies of lung cancer? No. Is God punishing him? I don’t believe so. He chose a path…..”
Over spending, bad purchases, poor investment decisions, smoking, taking drugs, driving too fast, buying houses you can’t afford, poor relationship decisions are all decisions which send you on a path which has a destination – bankruptcy, foreclosure, diseases, serious injury, divorce etc.
So, what is Stanley’s solution? Using the story of King Saul and David, when David had opportunities to kill Saul, but refused because Saul was still God’s anointed, Stanley lays this principle out for us:
David honored the law, principles and wisdom of God and the story ended well…..God’s will for your life will always line up with his law, his principles and his wisdom.
That is the key – even in the most emotionally charged situations, if we focus on God’s law, principles and wisdom we will gain clarity, and if we then ACT on these three things then our decision will take us on a path where it’s destination is God centered.
This of course requires us to submit – submit to God. Choosing the right path begins with submission to God, not information, or even direction – but submission.
Stanley unpacks what this looks like throughout the book. Submission is not easy – and it does not mean an easy path. One of the last stories of the book illustrates this. A dear friend of the Stanley’s had cancer. In a conversation with her she told them that “Once I was able to accept the cancer as coming from the hand of my heavenly Father I was okay.” This statement stunned the Stanley’s. She explained that she believed that God had the final say-so over what could and could not enter her life. She didn’t pretend cancer was a good thing. She didn’t believe cancer was from God. She believed it was part of his plan for her. This gave her peace. She had submitted to God – and therefore the path she traveled was a God centered path.
Of course, not all our dreams or hopes will come true. Stanley’s last chapter, Road Closed, is a useful look at what happens when through either one decision, or not fault of our own, our path is stopped and our hopes and dreams end.
This is really a great book for all believers to read. But primarily for me, I will give this book away to young people – especially those going to college, young youth pastors and young ministers. Another ‘must’ read book for apprentice and leadership programs, and with the study guide in the back it will serve as an excellent book for discussion.
Watch it HERE
OK, so people are not happy about BNP having won two seats in Europe. But then I read the most stupidest comment from Members of Unite Against Fascism. They say:
they wanted to “defend democracy” against what they regard as the “fascist” and “racist” policies of the BNP.
Can anyone please see the stupidity in this statement? The two BNP people were elected BY DEMOCRACY – they are elected legitimately through an valid election. The Members of Unite Against Fascism need to protest against the people of the constituencies who elected these guys. Democracy may not always give you the result you want – but then should we decry democracy as UNFAIR!!
I am not thrilled that the BNP are elected – but then again, it says something about the nation, its people and those living in the areas which elected them!
If you read my previous comments on Piper and Wright (HERE, HERE and HERE) then you will understand when I say, Piper lost!
This really is a great book. I think Wright has been given a very bad press about his views on Imputed righteousness – and while there are a great many people whom I respect and know who think Wright is close to abandoning orthodox belief, this book shows no signs of this. It is sound – well argued and thorough. Wright affirms and stands on the theology of both Calvin and Luther on this issue and upholds the law-court metaphor of justification and righteousness. In reading this I saw very little difference in John Piper and Wright’s overall theology (something which wright says in the book – the gap between them is really very small). What separates them then? Why does Piper get all hot and bothered about Wright? Well, contrary to popular opinion wright does not deny imputation. He accepts that we are declared righteous by faith in Christ. However he does reject an imputation which says that Christ’s ‘active’ obedience (instead of his ‘passive’ obedience) could replace our sinful status in God’s eyes. In other words, for Piper, we are imputed ‘moral’ righteousness – for Wright, the righteous is never ‘ours’ – its always God’s righteousness – but he DECLARES us righteous through Christ.
I read an AWESOME review of Wright’s book by a great theologian, Craig Bloomberg – you can check it out HERE.
He articulates Wright’s book very well (better than i could). But he raises two great points – the first is that this debate is such that ‘few can accurately describe just exactly what is being debated’. Many know that Piper disagrees with Wright but few could actually explain the issues. People are calling Wright a ‘heretic’ on an issue they could not articulate. Mmmmm!
Secondly, Bloomberg writes (at Piper) “Those who find sixteenth century formulations of theology the best ever produced in Christian history and not to be tampered with in any fashion even on the basis of scripture itself, will struggle with Paul’s repeated references to the Christians being judged according their works.” I find that with Piper he s0metimes upholds the Reformation and it’s theological position, rather than the text itself.
On this occasion, Wright has clearly trounced Piper’s argument to the ground, using scripture and very sound exegesis. I’ll end with a somewhat damning quote from Bloomberg re Piper:
Paradoxically, for all Piper’s stated desire to center on God’s glory, his preoccupation with individuals’ salvation at the expense of the larger social, ecological and eschatological dimensions of Paul’s doctrine leaves him with a much more human-centered gospel than Wright’s.
Ouch!
C.S Lewis defines the mark of an unliterary man as someone who reads a book only once (see An Experiment In Criticism). His exact quote is “The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers ‘I’ve read it already’ to be conclusive argument against reading a work.’
Oh my!!
Well, we are on week three (of Ten) of our second theological course, Historical Books of The Old Testament. We completed the first course (Synoptic Gospels and Acts) and after a short break our group was eager to get going on the next one.
We are having a good time together – it really is great fun to see people released into thinking theologically about scripture – especially the Old Testament. We have our weekly tutorial tonight – which I look forward to so much!! Wanna join? Let me know!!!
Watch it all HERE
Some VERY important lessons!!
I got hold of this book the other day: Explosive Preaching: Letters on Detonating the Gospel in the 21st Century: Letters on Transformative Preaching for the 21st Century . It’s hard to get hold of in the States and so I ordered from the UK.
In it, the author shares about a preaching course he help set up for the church in China:
66 – Each student, by the end of the year, has to be ready to preach (without notes) a one-hour sermon on each of the 66 books of the Bible. This sermon is to include an outline of the content of the book, and contemporary application to the individual, the church and the nation of China. At the end of the year, 3 books would be selected at random, then the student has five seconds to launch into their message.
33 – Each student had to prepare 33 one-hour sermons on the life and work of Christ, each based on a single verse (only 10 allowed from outside the gospels). His whole ministry must be covered, from pre-existence to second coming (although I’d suggest His ministry extends beyond the second coming!) Interestingly, students are allowed one page of notes per sermon in this category!
1 – Each student has to prepare an “end-of time” sermon – any length (since time constraints are irrelevant in eternity). The goal is to help the student consider the whole salvation story from God’s point of view.
Now THAT’S a biblical homiletic curriculum!
“So, two weeks ahead I sit down with the text of the passage of the Bible I’m going to preach on and I spent about four hours figuring out what I think the outline of that text is, the meaning of the text, I need to look up what the commentators think about, maybe problematic verses, and I come up with an outline and a basic, you might say an exegesis or an exposition of the passage itself. I write this up and I send it to my musicians, we’re going to be putting it in a bulletin and then they’re going to be choosing music for it. I send it to other preachers who some of them are going to be preaching sermons on the same text. Then, three days before, I sit down with this outline and I spend another four hours turning the bible study into a sermon and they’re not the same thing. Bible study is more abstract, what does the text say. The sermon is more life related, what does this mean to me. So I spend four hours two weeks ahead on the text. I spend four hours turning it into a life-related sermon and that’s usually on the Friday before. And then on Saturday, I spend another six hours on it just trying to make it shorter, because it’s always too long and so I make it shorter, make it shorter, make it shorter, make it shorter. So I spend about 14 to 16 hours a week writing a sermon and I spend all day preaching it because I speak four times on a Sunday. And so I actually put in about 25 hours a week into producing and delivering one public speaking presentation before I do anything else in my job.”
Great stuff – huh! You can check out more HERE.
Of course, the great awakening of the 18th century would NEVER have happened under this system – because Whitefield, Welsey and Edwards had NO time to prepare their 15 / 20 or more messages a week that they preached. For Whitefield, his preparation were the hours of quiet devotional study in the early mornings pouring over the Bible and reading Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
I spent Monday and Tuesday at a leadership conference our diocese ran just up the road from us at Litchfield Beach and Golf resort – a stunning place!!
Reggie McNeal was keynote (Missional Renaissance, Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders , The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church ).
Reggie was an entertaining speaker – but in terms of content it was (I thought anyway) shallow. It was also very old material – probably 5 years old in terms of what has been said and written about. For me the issue is ‘Yes, we know that the way we do church is kinda broken – how many more ways can we say it.’
The seminars were OK – again shallow but probably useful for some. Not sure it was worth the $125 registration fee though.
Sunday was Kitty’s birthday. After church I went home only to find my computer not working. Kitty and I were going out to the cinema to watch the new Star Trek – but when I discovered my computer was not working I started to get a little too focused on trying to fix it!! I managed to put down the computer and saw Star trek – an awesome movie!! Came home – called Apple support – and discovered my harddrive was completely gone! So, they order a box to be sent to me so I can return the laptop. Now, get this – I get it Tuesday – I post the computer back Tuesday and I get my laptop BACk on Thursday morning, 10:30am, completely fixed, some new upgrades and even having some of the wear and tear taken care off.
Hence – the lack of posts recently.
