Transforming Sermons: December 2008

Whatever you think about denominational structures, Will Willimon still shows how the stories of Christ shape a people to serve "the least of these."

Moved and moving

To study the Bible and not have a living relationship with Christ will ultimately do you no good. You are either changing, which means movement, or you are just reading about Him like you would any other ancient person. You can read about a famous or noble person and be inspired and go do those things you want to do, but Christ leads you to do what He wants you to do. His is not primarily the power of inspiration but of transformation. If you are truly learning from Him you will become more like Him. You will not only be moved, you will move.

- J.D. Hatfield

Preaching with power

Rick Warren offers good advice on trimming and tightening sermons. And thanks, Cal, for the link.

Newspapers, science, and truth

Here's an example why Brant Hanson will one day be as widely read as Dave Berry at his peak. Brant's already funnier and more insightful.

Jeff Weddle: "The Bible is tough; it makes you face your theology and sometimes it threatens the borders. This is why most people don't really read it. We're safer that way. I'll bet God is not impressed with that approach."

Warning on expository preaching

"In the effort to let scripture speak for itself, we must always remember that our efforts can really hinder what God is trying to say to our people."

Failing at failure?

Dan Edelen is still looking for a gospel that speaks to failure.

"Infinite capacity"

I now realize that every human being has an infinite capacity for self-rationalization and self-delusion. . . .

Pride is a spiritual cancer. And the only cure, for any of us, is to stop looking down and to look up. The cure can only be brought about in someone who has come to realize that the will and power to do good and not evil comes from God alone.

- Chuck Colson

Who's shallow?

Ben Byerly shares insights on African missions. While I can't speak to its accuracy regarding faith in Africa, he really nails certain attitudes all to prevalent in the US:

I bristle every time I hear someone make this statement, “African Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep.” . . .

I sometimes laugh (or cry?) when I hear Americans say that they have come here “to help strengthen the faith of the Africans.” I think to myself, “my friend, you have no idea. I hope you pay enough attention to let the African saints show you what deep faith really looks like.”

Thanks to Kouya Chronicle for the link.

Christmas joy

Here's something for the second day of Christmas: Tony Myles shares some "God-sized stories" from his own congregation.

That's reasonable

Is it possible that you're guilty of turning reason into an idol? If so, please pay attention to these words from a man whose capacity for reason was far beyond most of ours.

Out of our depth

Preachers, here's good advice on facing our inadequacies in preaching.

Eyes right?

let's look at the church for a moment...
it is made up of sinners like you and me.
yes, people, human beings, sinners.

then why does anyone in their right mind
expect the church to be perfect?

- The Blog of Nancy

Dangerous child

Consider:

Sweet little baby Jesus boy.

Won't stay in the box of a manger. Won't stay in the box of a tomb. Won't stay in the box of Christmas decorations that we'd like to keep Him in for the other 364 days of each year.

Won't stay out of our lives, because He loves us too much to let us live only for ourselves and die miserably for nothing at all.

Amen.

Christmas in the dark?

I hope everything is good for you this Christmas. If not, please consider this little essay by Ray Van Neste:

It seems that many people think you can only celebrate Christmas if all is well. You can see this in the various statements beginning with, “It just does not seem like Christmas because ….” Perhaps we set ourselves up for failure by expecting everything to be just right at this time of the year.

That's the opening paragraph. The concluding one is worth the time of clicking on over to Ray's site.

A Christmas message

"If someone were to ask you, “Is God pleased with you?,” how would you respond?"

The call to holiness

I don't care much for the blog post title, but The Seeking Disciple is spot-on with this assessment of Christian discipleship:

God's call is not for me to become a disciple of Jesus only at my baptism and then to lay down my arms but God's call is for me to fight. He wants me to make war against my flesh and against this world. This is not the time to raise the white flag of surrender but it is a time to hate my flesh and to long for God to be glorified in me. God did not give me the gift of the Holy Spirit so that I can merely have some inward witness that I am a child of the King (Romans 8:16-17) but God gave me His Spirit to empower me to holiness (Acts 1:8; 15:9-11; Romans 8:9-11).

Amen.

Update: John Schroeder shares further thoughts here.

Please pray for David Wayne

Seldom do I ask readers to pray for someone, but please pray for Jollyblogger David Wayne and his family. David is having surgery for colon cancer Wednesday morning, December 24.

Indeed

"The Cross is not a recliner."

Of wild geese and red herrings

Preachers, I hope you don't go on a wild goose chase with this metaphor. As always with preaching, it helps to do one's homework.

Big pictures in little packages

Eddie Arthur has written an outstanding little post on the big picture of the Bible:

The Bible is not a book of religious ideas or rules and regulations (though it does have some of those). Quite simply, it is a story; a love story told by God himself. In the Bible we read how God reaches out to fallen humanity calling men and women back to himself to share in the peace, shalom, which is part of his own nature. It tells how, ultimately, God steps into the world in human form to reveal himself and to die on the cross to open a way for humanity to be reconciled to him and then rises again in triumph defeating death and ushering in God’s reign over creation.

Amen. I heartily recommend reading all of Eddie's essay.

Along similar lines, Dave Bish has posted a fine little essay giving the big picture of God's grace. Here's a sample: "The storyline of the Bible is one that seeks to get Humanity and God walking together again."

A little Christmas gift

In addition to the links I post every few days to free online Bible commentaries, I've been downloading commentaries onto my own computer for quick and easy access. Right now I have more than a thousand of them, enough to fit nicely onto one DVD. It's a very useful study resource if you have a slow internet connection.

I'd be happy to share all these commentaries with you if you're interested. I'm not eager to expose either my e-mail or postal address online, so if you'd like a copy, here's what to do: Find my e-mail address by following the VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE link. Send me an e-mail letting me know you'd like a copy of the DVD, and I'll e-mail you back my postal address. If you'll send me a pre-posted, self-addressed envelope for shipping the DVD, I'll send you a copy--free, as long as you provide postage and a mailing envelope.

Please bear in mind that many of the files I'll be sending you are copyrighted with the stipulation that they not be sold. In other words, free and non-commercial has to stay free and non-commercial.

More light

If you're dealing with seasonal affective disorder, nurse Victoria Gaines has some good, practical and metaphorical advice for you: "We need Light, and a little less scurrying around."

More free commentaries

Today's bible commentaries link is to the works of James E. Smith, professor of OT at Florida Christian College. Dr. Smith is offering free downloads of his commentaries, in .pdf format, on Isaiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Luke, Galatians, Ephesians, and part of Jeremiah.

True revival

All revivals I have read about had various experiences from the revivals of Jonathan Edwards to John Wesley to the Second Great Awakening in the 19th century. The focus, however, of these revivals was not on experiences. Neither Edwards nor Wesley ever pushed people over. Neither Edwards nor Wesley ever made personal experiences the main issues. The revival in Wales at the turn of the 20th century was focused on prayer and meeting Jesus. . . . Crying, shaking, falling down, singing, etc. all took place under Edwards, Wesley, Finney, or Roberts but these were not the issues. Preaching salvation through Christ and holiness were issues.

Revival should not be about experiences. Revival should not be about healings or manifestations of the Spirit or laughing or crying. Revival should be about Jesus and His glorious kingdom. Revival should be about drawing near to God and becoming more like Christ in all our lives. Revival should not be about chaos or even silence. Revival should be about Jesus and Jesus alone. Without a doubt true revival should push us out of our comfort zones into a deeper committment to Jesus but revival should not about anything or anyone other than Jesus. Jesus beign exalted in His Church is what revival should be about as revival brings the Church back to being the Church He has called her to be as found in the New Testament.

- The Seeking Disciple

Escaping the idolatry of celebrity

Matt Dirks looks at the cult of celebrity in the United States. His post ought to remind Christians that we ought not to get swept up in the vortex:

There’s a strange mix of desires that drives us to consume more and more celebrity news. We’re fascinated by the rich and famous and infamous. We love to imagine ourselves in their $5000 shoes and $20 million cribs. But we’re also jealous of the pampered lives they lead and the undue attention they receive (especially the celebrities who aren’t famous for their acting ability or sports skills, they’re just famous for being famous), so we love to see them suffer and make fools of themselves.

So is this really the kind of stuff we want to be thinking about all the time? The well-known verse from Philippians 4 is relevant here: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Amen.

Advent reflections

It's surprising how many Christians celebrate Christmas but know nothing about the corresponding Christian season of Advent. Just as the twelve days of Christmas (December 25-January 5) celebrate the birth of Jesus, the preceding four weeks of Advent remember Israel's anticipation of the Savior. In writing about Advent, Doug Floyd rightly observes that "Our culture tries to bypass the desert of Advent longing and enter directly into the fun of Christmas play." Here's Doug:

During Advent, we learn to enter into the story. Not simply the story of a birth, but the story of death and new life. We discover the story of a people, God’s people who’ve been scattered into exile in Babylon, Assyria, Egypt and the uttermost parts of the earth. They have been forgotten in the “valley of the shadow of death.”

As we reflect on their exile, we may come to realize that it is our exile. For we also know the valley of the shadow of death. In this place of trial, we have faced our own disappointments, our own struggles, our own pains, our own sins. Only in the “valley of the shadow of death” do we come to realize our desperate need for a Savior.

If we are not rescued, we will die in our grief, in our sinfulness, in our unforgiveness, in our suffering and sorrow. The only way out of the valley of the shadow of death is through death. So we look to the king who has conquered death. And now finally we may discover that Advent is both a season of the year and a season of our life.

For it is in the advent season in our lives, the season of waiting and longing and grieving and weeping, that we discover the grace of God flowing down like deep joy from a far country.

Amen.

Ten points for preaching

Worth reading: 10 exhorations for preachers.

Completely safe

"To be entirely safe from the devil's snares the man of God must be completely obedient to the Word of the Lord. The driver on the highway is safe, not when he reads the signs but when he obeys them."

- A.W. Tozer

"Jesus is everything"

I'm not doing a December roundup of the year's best posts, but this may really be the essay of the year, at least for me: Glen Scrivener writes that sinning really isn't the worse thing. Here's the opening:

Oh it’s bad. It’s very bad. It’s murdering your Maker. It’s cheating on your Lover. It’s grieving His Spirit. It’s tearing apart your soul. It’s bad. Bad, bad, bad.

But not receiving forgiveness is far worse. Failure to accept the grace of Jesus dwarfs all other sins in its monstrosity. To refuse the vulnerable humility of God; to trample on the Lamb and blaspheme His Spirit as they offer blood-bought mercy and cleansing - this is unspeakable evil. It’s the reason people perish eternally.

Wow. The whole essay, by the way, lives up to that rather attention-getting opening.

Devastating

What if Jesus had a blog?

Despising death

"If we can feel more of the horror of death might we also know more of the joy of life?"

On preaching Christ crucified

Michael Spencer shares a poignant and personal account of his passion for preaching Christ:

I tell my preachers that I want them to preach the Gospel. I don’t want their stories and anecdotes if they aren’t leading us to the cross. I don’t want to hear lessons from the Bible to help my students be better people. I want them to hear about, be moved by, be compelled to consider the God who was crucified for them.

Amen. And thanks to Jared for the link.

Sermon prep links

Unashamed Workman has reposted its cornucopia of links on sermon preparation.

Real vision

"Whether or not you have a vision statement in the church, make sure the Word of God is preached clearly, accurately, faithfully and applicatonally."

Another Roman Catholic commentary link

Whether you agree with the teaching or not, Bibliclerus is a valuable online resource in offering commentary of Scripture from the perspective of the Roman Catholic magisterium. What's more, you can essentially download the whole site's contents onto your own computer.

Knowing the real enemy

Essays like this one remind me of why Bob at In the Clearing is one of my favorite bloggers:

I don't want to break anyone's heart, but I hope you all know you're probably going to die someday.

I recently heard a Christian friend of mine say, "I just don't understand how God can allow so-and-so to get cancer." I wanted to say, do you really think certain people should be immune from the normal frailties of the flesh? Or that being a believer should mean not getting cancer, heart disease, MS, etc.? The real question is, why shouldn't he or she get cancer? Or you? Or me? Or anyone else?

Where did we get this idea that it should be disturbing when a wonderful Christian believer gets sick or dies like everyone else in the history of the human race (with a couple of Biblical exceptions)?

I think I know where we get it. Three kinds of teaching in the church: Poor teaching. Lousy teaching. And downright creepy teaching.

Yep. I highly recommend reading Bob's example of downright excellent teaching.

Preaching from the OT

OT Professor Claude Mariottini has begun a blog series on preaching from the OT. His introductory post is well worth reading, whether you're a preacher or not.

Holding on to God

"Mark this: It is impossible to desert the gospel without also deserting God."

All four dimensions

Keith Brenton considers Jesus' summary of the law in Mk. 12:30 and Lk. 10:27:

Jesus didn't seem to be stating this as a multiple-choice question: "Heart | Soul | Mind | Strength - Choose One!"

None of them is optional. All four dimensions are needed.

Indeed.

Grace communities

How do you shape a congregation into a true grace community? Here are seven ideas from Tim Chester (via).

Gregson commentaries online

Here's a nice find: free online biblical commentaries by John Gregson. Dr. Gregson received his Th.D. from Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary, where he taught and eventually served as president. Just keep scrolling down Dr. Gregson's personal web page, and you'll find links to his commentaries on Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, the pastoral epistles Philemon, Hebrews, and the general epistles.

Patience and power

Preaching ministry requires patience, not just passion. It requires prayer, not just power. It is about long-term faithfulness, not just fireworks. As we head into another Sunday, let’s keep our thinking straight. God is at work in the lives of His people, Christ is building His church, the Spirit is working all week in all manner of ways. We stand to preach and we do so as part of God’s greater work in and through the church.

- Peter Mead

Gift of grace

The Web is full of writers publishing outstanding theology on their blogs. It's harder, though, to find those who show how Christ-centered doctrine is worked out in the quotidian affairs of life. Victoria Gaines is one of those bloggers. Here's a sample:

Understanding is a gift of grace. We won't get it from everybody, but sometimes that's all we need. Reprimands, isolation, and criticism never work for me, but a caring heart ministers deeply.

Too many times I've dispensed needless advice to a hurting friend when all she needed was a hug. Too many times I've misjudged a wrong attitude when it was just someone's fatigue talking. I'm learning to cut people slack and listen with the heart, realizing that our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being are all intricately connected.

Listening with the heart takes practice. Discerning what a person needs {or doesn't need} comes as we're in tune with His Spirit. God always knows what we need. His Spirit will cultivate in us a compassionate, discerning, and caring heart. The more we experience His deeply personal ministry to us, the more we're able to comfort and understand others.

Amen. Thanks, Vicki.

Wow

Have you seen the virtual online tour of Rome, ca. A.D. 320? If not, here's a short introduction to the site.

Friday commentary links

Here's an excellent though bandwidth-intensive resource for online commentaries: the College Press Bible Study Textbook Series, available free for download in .pdf format. These books were published from the 1950s through 1970s from a Restoration Movement perspective. The books themselves are each around 30 MB in size, but the index page at the link above loads easily.

As always, please remember there's a lot more good stuff available from Expository Links.

He teaches

"Teaching and learning is a profoundly important aspect of the continuing ministry of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and by this means the lost are found, the vulnerable made safe, and the Kingdom of God flourishes in the hearts of men and women."

- In the Clearing

Still not about us

Spherical has written a great one-paragraph reminder about the heart of the gospel:

Whenever we take the gospel and make it about us, we are wrong. There is nothing that we can do to earn salvation, merit God's favor, or gain any kind of praise from God outside of embracing His Son. It is not about what we do, but about our entering into what God is doing. And in this is freedom.

Amen.

That sounds right

Here's N.T. Wright (via DashHouse) on stradling the congregation-academy divide in ministry.

'Tis the season to remember death

In the orgy of December, many people are surprised when I remind them that Advent is a penitential season in which Christians, traditionally, prepare for the second coming of Christ by meditating on the themes of death, judgement, hell and heaven. . .

- Kim Fabricius

Seriously

As I anticipate Christmas in the shadow of my own unemployment, this one really hit home with me: Krusty Sage urges Christians, "Quit buying crap you can't afford just 'Because it's Christmas.'" Here's a taste:

"Oh, but it's Christmas! It's a special time of the year! I know, we're in debt, overall, but it's Christmas, and that's only once a year, and -- "

"And..." you're an idiot. Seriously.

The Sage says it in love. The Sage also says, in love, that if you spend $150 on your kid for Christmas when you don't have $150, you're not only giving your kid a neat-o Nano, you're giving your kid a gift that keeps on giving: The gift of foolishness, surrounded by beautiful lights, the scent of pine, and fudge. The gift of foolishness, on display, etched in memory. Ah. . . .

Christmas is not "supposed to be" you, buying stuff you don't have money for. Sorry. If you're a dad, and feel bad because you can't spend hundreds on everybody, tell them you don't have the money for it, and you'll still have a great Christmas. If that makes you feel bad, man up. You're being bullied by a bunch of advertising majors.

That's only the beginning. Please read the whole essay.

Good point

David Wayne has about got me convinced: superficiality is a foundation for meaningful relationships.

Roman Catholic Bible commentaries

There doesn't seem to be an overabundance of free biblical commentaries online from a Roman Catholic perspective. One exception can be found in the Most Theological Library, an online collection of writings by the late Roman Catholic priest, William G. Most. You can download a single .zip file (451 KB) with thirteen of Dr. Most's commentaries (including Wisdom and Sirach) in .txt format here.

Other resources from a Roman Catholic perspective are the writings of Don Schwager, whose website includes devotional commentaries on each of the four Gospels, Hebrews, and Exodus.

Even if, like me, you disagree with wide swaths of Roman Catholic doctrine, these commentaries are at least illustrative and at times insightful.

As always, if you're looking for links to the best online Bible commentaries, please remember Expository Links.

Free from the tyranny

Dan Cruver offers a beautifully succinct explanation of what's at stake in finding our identity in Christ:

I have lived long enough to learn from experience that if I am not functionally finding my identity in who I am as God’s beloved son, as a co-inheritor with my elder brother Jesus, something else will step in to be my functional identity. If the good news of my adoption as a son through Jesus Christ is not what functionally defines me, by default I will seek to be defined by something that was never meant to define me.

Amen.

Putting "pro-choice" to work

"Once you get past the rhetoric of choice, what’s left is a bloody and, for most people, disreputable business."

Happy 400th

Happy birthday to one of my favorite writers and the man for whom I am, indirectly, named.

What are you preaching for?

Cal Habig encourages preachers to ask ourselves a few questions:

What is it that we expect from preaching? Is that everyone will like us? Is it that people will recognize how erudite we are; how folksy we are? Is it that this one sermon will change the behavior or worldview of an entire congregation? Is it that we can speak in subtleties and that people will “catch our drift” without us offending them? That people will see how to apply the text even though we don’t tell them to?

Do I want to preach in order to become the preacher of a large mega-church? Do I want to preach and become the talk of our community? Do we want to preach and have hundreds come to Christ? Do I want to have people say that I am the next… (fill your preaching hero in the blank).

We certainly ought to examine ourselves and be able to answer these questions. And once we do--flawed vessels that we are--it's time to get on with the work of preaching Christ.

Getting serious about getting serious

"I am perpetually amazed when the Church in America sounds an alarm on an issue only to do nothing practical to address it."

Eastern Orthodox commentary links

If you're looking for a somewhat different perspective in biblical commentaries, you might be interested in a couple of sites offering downloadable commentaries from Eastern Orthodox traditions.

At Coptic Orthodox Electronic Publishing, Australia, you can find commentaries, in .pdf format, by Tadros Y. Malaty on Genesis, Deuteronomy, Numbers, Ruth, Philippians, Thessalonians, Philemon, and Revelation. Those and more commentaries by Mr. Malaty are also available at the website of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.

Also, Alexander Mileant of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has posted commentaries on Romans, Ephesians, and Revelation.

As always, a link to a given commentary is not an unreserved recommendation. I've given these resources only the most cursory examination and encourage you to use them with discernment. And if you do use them, please let us know your own thoughts.

Teaching to observe everything

In the Clearing has been featuring articles on Jesus' commandment in the Great Commission to teach:

When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples on their own for the first time, they simply repeated the message that Jesus had been preaching. Repent. The kingdom of God is here. In that way they initiated the process by which, person by person, the Kingdom of God salvages lives, heals souls, and fills hearts with joyous gratitude.

Amen. I look forward to Bob's continuing series on this topic.

Glorifying God in preaching

This one has been around for a while, but it's worth reading in any case: why expositional preaching is particularly glorifying to God (via Unashamed Workman).

Feeling small?

Someday I will stand before God and give an account of my life. Right now I stand before the forces of history, and I feel small. But winning is not essential. Getting ready to give a good account to God is the only essential. On that great and final day, even small things will matter.

- Ray Ortlund

Growing together

J.D. Hatfield reminds us that spiritual growth is not merely an individual process:

None of these commands to love and serve one another have any meaning apart from the primacy of a local body. You cannot exhort one another if there is no other. Of course it is also about others we meet who are believers from other places, and people outside who aren’t Christians. But the word must dwell in us, as a unit towards one another, before it may dwell in us outside that structure, at least as far as growth is concerned.

We grow best within the context of community, we grow as a group of individuals and we grow together as a unit, each individual is growing deeper and higher and together we also grow deeper and higher. The well ordered church, one that truly has a right view of God, as all in all, this is the place of blessing. The Vinedresser is tending His fruit and pruning His crop in His greenhouse, and if you are not there, you are not planted in the right soil.

Amen.

Cleansing disorientation

"I was wondering, what must it be like to be "cleansed" of every idol in my life?

"I think it might be a little, well, disorienting."

Old Testament commentary links

This was a pleasant surprise: online commentary of the entire Tanach by the medieval Jewish rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi). It's not a Christian commentary, of course, but Rashi's notes may at times be enlightening for a Christian reader.

New black death

It's probably long been true, at least metaphorically, but this year's Black Friday death at a Long Island Wal-Mart brings the situation into sharper relief:

The term "Black Friday" traditionally refers to the day after Thanksgiving when shoppers start their holiday shopping and retailers start to see their balance sheets go from red ink to black ink, from deficit to profit.

This year, "Black Friday" has come to mean something else to me. Black Friday, I realized today, means death by consumerism.

How very sad.

Changing into the new

J.D. Hatfield has written an excellent essay on the process of changing into a new creation in Christ.

What does God have to say?

Jared Wilson, following the lead of John Piper, urges preachers, "Don't waste your pulpit!"

I don't want to preach, leave the building in my car, get hit on the interstate and die, and have anyone be able to say, "His last message was on our inner potential to be awesome," or whatever. I want to teach so that if any given message is my last, it can't be said that I went out failing to have preached the gospel, failing to have proclaimed the glory of God.

Amen.

Ruth as priest?

This is a thought-provoking idea: the priestly image of Ruth (HT: blue fish).

Today's link to commentaries

The Christadelphians are not the most well-known Christian group, but from what I've seen they've published a solid set of commentaries (all available free for download).

Update: If you're not familiar with the Christadelphians or their doctrine, you really ought to take a minute to read the Wikipedia article on them, or at least have a look at the comments section of this post.

The missing ingredient?

Craig Brian Larsen sees a blind spot in much of today's writing on spiritual formation:

Books on spiritual formation speak my language. I'm a pastor who wants to see people grow into strong disciples of Jesus Christ. Disciplines of any sort appeal to me—spiritual disciplines in particular. That's why as much as I respect those who have written on spiritual formation, I was surprised to find that they have a large blind spot: their view of preaching.

Read books on spiritual formation and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who lists listening to the preaching of God's Word as a first-order spiritual discipline. Granted, the writers typically are not attempting to provide an exhaustive list of spiritual disciplines. If asked, I'm sure they would unanimously say listening to preaching is a spiritual discipline. Still, the writers I have surveyed typically mention listening to preaching under the broader discipline of studying the Word—if they mention it at all.

Too true. Darryl Dash, by the way, shares related thoughts in his essay on preaching out of season.