Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Urgency of Preachers (& preaching!)
After a great conversation with a friend on preaching, I was reminded of a quote by the good doctor: "... to me the work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. If you want something in addition to...
One Year to Better Preaching, by Daniel Overdorf
Full disclosure regarding homiletics: I am not a fan of the books that provide thousands of sermon illustrations. I own several of them and just find them to be either a bit shallow or hard to personalize. I'm sure some people find them helpful, but in my experience...
5 Ways to Effectively Live in Conflict
Pastoral leadership often equates to conflict resolution. While you may have spent all of your seminary days thinking you'd be sitting in your office writing sermons based on the ridiculously powerful exegetical insights you gained while parsing through different...
Just How “Christian” is Your Worldview?
I've been thinking a lot about worldviews lately. People often talk about the Christian worldview over and against the secular worldview or the Hindu or Muslim worldview. I've actually been thinking about the different worldviews that exist within the Christian faith....
Is the “Living and Active” Word the Bible?
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb. 4:12) Throughout my life, I've heard a lot of people...
Meet Kenny Burchard…
I am pleased to announce that ThinkTheology.org has a new contributor: Kenny Burchard! I haven't been this excited since I got married! Wait... okay, I'm not that excited (sorry Kenny!), but I am thrilled that he would be willing to join our contributors! I'd like to...
Covenantal Apologetics, by K. Scott Oliphint
Much has been made of K. Scott Oliphint's latest book, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles & Practice in Defense of Our Faith. Apologetics is the theological discipline of defending the Christian faith. Readers who are familiar with the subject will know that there...
Yes, I Use My iPad on Sunday Mornings
A few weeks ago, Matthew Barrett wrote a blog at TGC called, "Dear Pastor, Bring Your Bible to Church." Barrett basically argued that pastors shouldn't use electronic Bibles but should use hard-copy paper versions. He lays out a number of reasons behind his opinion,...
Covenantal Relationships of Sacred Trust
I recently purchased a copy of Harold Westing's Church Staff Handbook. I'm hoping to learn much from Westing in the area of being more effective as a church leadership and ministry team. Though the book is a little dated, it's widely recognized as being a must-read....
The “Secret” to Preaching Sermons w/out Using a Manuscript!
There are a lot of preachers out there who are looking for ways to improve. They spend time reading blogs (e.g., churchleaders.com), listening to MP3's from other preachers, and reading books on the subject. One of the most consistent "secrets" that preachers are...
The Art of Talking Smack on Video Games
Before I had the most blessed honor of marrying my wife, Dawn, she informed me that we had to register for wedding gifts. This was an exciting time for me, as I was extremely interested in plates and cups and dish patterns and kitchen appliances. In fact, I was so...
Misrepresenting the Vineyard: ChristianFallacies.com
See the introduction to this blog category for a background to why I'm taking the time to respond to some of these pages. One of the primary reasons why is because the people I serve as a pastor may take the time to read these pages, and I want to best serve them and...
“Christian” Hip Hop from the Eyes of a Middle-Aged Participant
Rapzilla.com, a website that focuses on Christian hip hop, has an interesting interview with Tim Trudeau of Syntax Distribution. I was part of a hip hop group, Sackcloth Fashion, with Tim and his brother Steve (I was on the album "Something for Everyone to Hate")....
The “Gospel” of the Pentateuch?
For many years, I found the first five books of the Bible rather frustrating and difficult to understand and integrate. All of the basic answers to the questions I had were never adequately answered in some of the churches and classes I took. Looking back on many of...
My Top 5 Books on the Plurality of Pastors/Elders/Overseers
I'm personally convinced that local churches are best governed by the plurality of Pastors/Elders/Oveseers (yes, these are synonymous terms in the Bible). This means that I'm an advocate of having a team of qualified people serving together for the purpose of...
Why We Belong, edited by Chute, Morgan, and Peterson
Dialogue between the different traditions that claim the term "evangelical" hasn't always been gracious or effective. In both history, as well as my own experience, sometimes when different "denominations" talk, they often talk past each other. How can those who claim...
New Blog Series: “Help! I’m preaching a sermon!”
We're starting a new blog category around these parts. We're calling it, "Help! I'm preaching a sermon!" Our goal is to get some of you fantastic biblical scholars, world class theologians, soccer moms, and right-wing fundamentalists to get involved in helping us...
Gregg Allison on the Definition of the Church…
Allison writes, "The church is the people of God who have been saved through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and have been incorporated into his body through baptism with the Holy Spirit. It consists of two interrelated elements: the universal church is the...
A Kingdom-Lensed Approach to the Lord’s Supper…
If you have time, check out my friend Thomas Creedy's Society of Vineyard Scholars' 2013 paper, "Gathering for the Lord’s Supper - the Table at the Center." Creedy's paper is quite good and provides some healthy challenge to the view that I have had in the past and...
Misrepresenting the Vineyard: GotQuestions.org
See the introduction to this blog category for a background to why I'm taking the time to respond to some of these pages. One of the primary reasons why is because the people I serve as a pastor may take the time to read these pages, and I want to best serve them and...
Does the New Testament Teach Christians to Endure or Not?
Related to Matt. 24:33-34, John MacArthur writes the following statement: "... there is the total absense of New Testament instruction to the church as to how it should endure and conduct itself during the Tribulation." (Matthew 24-28, TMNTC, 65). Yes, he actually...
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