A recent article from Abdel Bari Atwan on the CNN website explores Why Bin Laden was Radicalized. It was very interesting for me to learn that Bin Laden was not always as radical as the world has come to know him. It was also intriguing to follow Atwan’s arguments about what it is that actually …
Honestly, if I had to admit to an area of my ministry that I feel weakest in (other than administration), I used to say that it was counseling. Further, I used to say that I hated counseling and I would lecture others on the necessity of spending all of my time in preparation for preaching …
Recently, on a Wednesday night, I shared some thoughts about our responsibility as Christians to engage culture. Al Mohler has defined our (American) culture using seven characteristics, each of which begin with the word self. Self-fulfillment. We are a culture that seeks to satisfy ourselves, seen primarily in the triumph of the therapeutic culture. Self-help …
What is the Gospel? Greg Gilbert begins his little book by asserting the fact that many Christians have assumed the gospel and have even experienced the gospel, but that they cannot clearly articulate what the gospel is. Enter Gilbert’s book. This little book is a fantastic primer on the gospel. We need to constantly be …
“The apostle Paul was consistent. Paul desired “that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). When he said hard things he was able to remind those who knew him how consistent his life was with the gospel (Acts …
“The healthy evangelist is asking these questions and looking for answers so as to guard the gospel. Here is the critical test. Could you have preached that sermon if Christ had not died on the cross? Could you have developed that Christian leadership principle had Christ not been crucified? I’m not saying be impractical-the Bible …
“It is generally true that until we see what the teaching of the gospel looks like in someone’s life we do not really understand what it means. That is why the preaching of the gospel can never be isolated from the life of the church. Only when non-Christians see the power of the gospel in …
Preachers who are faithful ministers of the gospel present the whole glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. That means that we must speak clearly about the reality of the ugliness and penalty of sin, from the pulpits that have been entrusted to us. One of my favorite professors in seminary, Dr. Chad Brand (who also serves …
In light of David’s posts on Preaching Christ, we must also remember to center our preaching of Christ on his cross. John Stott wrote, The fact that a cross became the Christian symbol, and that Christians stubornly refused, in spite of the ridicule, to discard it in favor of something less offensive, can have only on …
“We must throw all our strength of judgment, memory, imagination, and eloquence into the delivery of the gospel; and not give to the preaching of the cross our random thoughts while wayside topics engross our deeper meditations…whatever else you do or do not preach, be sure incessantly to bring forth the soul-saving truth of Christ …