The reading of Scripture and the exposition of it are primary acts of worship in the church; they are offerings given to God in reverence and devotion. Reading god’s holy Word in the assembly without understanding, interpretation, or enthusiasm undermines the foundation of all worship, which is to hear from God. When the reading of [...]
Archive for February, 2008
27 Feb
William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)
This is why I like Buckley, “A precocious controversialist, William was but 8 years old when he wrote to the king of England, demanding payment of the British war debt.” From Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review I’m devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died this [...]
27 Feb
Preaching in your public prayers
Are there things we should avoid when we pray in public worship? I listened to a sermon recently in which a well-known expositor began his sermon by addressing Satan in his prayer. Something to the effect of “Satan, you have no authority, you are bound . . .etc.” I listened to another sermon where the [...]
25 Feb
The Ten Most Absurd Statements in the Book of Romans
In NT Greek, there are many ways to say that something is untrue, but none so emphatic as the expression me genoito. This formula literally means, “May it not be,” but it is translated in a variety of ways: “God forbid!” “Of course not!” “May it never be!” “By no means!” “Away with the notion!” [...]
22 Feb
Weekend Fun: Under Neat That
This is why you should not call in your cake orders over the phone. The background story is as follows. A man orders a cake for his departing colleague. Over the phone he requests that the message should read: “Best Wishes Suzanne” and underneath that, “We will miss you”. The cake shop proprietor not only [...]
21 Feb
“The Anticipation of the Messiah in the OT”
How should we go about finding the Messiah in the OT? I would agree with many others who have noted that it doesn’t take a class in hermeneutical gymnastics to see that the OT anticipated the coming of the Messiah. I would suggest that first and foremost we begin with what the text actually says [...]
20 Feb
Jude 22-23: How to deal with problems in the original text
How do you men handle difficult texts of Scripture like Jude 22-23? What do you do when you have 15-20 hours to finish your Sunday morning sermon and you encounter a text that has a number of diverse readings? How would you counsel someone who has seminary training but is not a “Dr. Randy linguist”? How [...]
19 Feb
Applying OT Law Today
J. Daniel Hays has written a helpful article called “Applying the Old Testament Law Today” [Bibliotheca Sacra 158: 629 (2001): 21-35].You can find the full article here. He notes: What approach should believers follow in interpreting the Old Testament Law? In accord with sound hermeneutical method, it should be an approach that (a) is consistent, [...]
18 Feb
Are you still reading?
As pastors we all lament the fact that Bible illiteracy seems to be dramatically high. There are so many reasons for this and studies could be conducted ad infinitum. However, I am a firm believer that much of this can be overcome by getting folks in the habit of regularly reading Scripture. According to some [...]
17 Feb
Worship is a response to what?
“Worship begins with the response to divine revelation. But if little time or attention is given to the revealed Word of God, read, proclaimed, or taught, then to what do people respond? The result is that worship becomes superficial or sentimental. If the church is truly interested in recapturing the spirit and nature of the [...]
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