Category Archives: need to read

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Learning 21st Century Characteristics From 18th Century, Jonathan Edwards?!? Who Knew?!?

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A Look at What’s in the Heart of all of Us

Over my recent vacation I was able to order a few new books and finished George Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know how much I love reading Edwards. Marsden’s book offers something unique: a look at the abiding influence of Edwards because of how similar today’s mindset is to Edwards’s. I didn’t expect that. I certainly didn’t expect that the similarity is due to the influence of Ben Franklin’s thinking.

I read this kind of material to continue learning about the kinds of listeners I preach to (and the kind of man I am). When we preach God’s Word, what kinds of influences affect the way we fight for faith and righteousness?

How about this list?

  • ever-increasing technology
  • aggressive market capitalism
  • celebration of self
  • trying to balance liberty and equality
  • materialism
  • permissive sensuality
  • nationalism

Sound familiar?

If you enjoy history, you’ll appreciate Marsden’s work on Edwards and Franklin. If you enjoy thinking about preaching to your listeners, you’ll benefit from keeping these cultural characteristics in mind. They influence all of us; they’re in the air we breathe. And Marsden suggests that all of this 18th century “semi-Christian or cultural Protestant” outlook continues today.

If he’s correct, this means that many of our listeners each Sunday believe in God but are most concerned with their own personal flourishing.

And if you have teenagers in your church, here’s their “most typical religious outlook…even those who had been reared in traditionalist Christian churches… ‘moralistic therapeutic deism.’ They tended to believe that there was a benevolent , mostly distant God who wanted people to be good and who might be called on in times of sickness or crisis for help and comfort. At the same time they believed in developing one’s now self-identity.” (p. 26, Marsden quoting Christian Smith’s, Soul Searching: The Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers)

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you and I continue to exegete our listeners while expositing sacred Scripture.

Randal

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Why We Preach With Confidence

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We preach in an environment where God is already at work!

If you’re ever discouraged in your preaching and teaching of God’s Word, John Webster provides a strong dose of encouragement. In his book, The Domain of the Word: Scripture and Theological Reason, Webster writes,

“But in acting as the ambassador of the Word, the preacher enters a situation which already lies within the economy of reconciliation, in which the Word is antecedently present and active….The preacher…faces a situation in which the Word has already addressed and continues to address the church, and does not need somehow by homiletic exertions to generate and present the Word’s meaningfulness. the preacher speaks on Christ’s behalf; the question of whether Christ is himself present and effectual is one which–in the realm of the resurrection and exaltation of the Son–has already been settled and which the preacher can safely leave behind.” (p. 26)

I purchased this book in order to continue to explore the theological interpretation of Scripture, but was pleasantly surprised to see sections like this on the relationship between God, preaching, and the church.

Be encouraged in your ministry because you preach and teach in an environment where God is already at work. We do have work to do in preparing clear words from God from His Word, but the hardest work of God bringing creatures back in fellowship with Himself is something He’s already doing when the sermon/lesson begins.

And that’s why our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus each Sunday (Ephesians 3:21)!

Randal

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Our Dual Role as Exegetes and Theologians

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Preachers function in the dual role as exegetes and theologians.

Recently, I gained the privilege of teaching a Ph.D. class this fall for Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School. The course is BIB 909 Old Testament Hermeneutics and Theology.

One of the many stages of preparing to teach includes selecting major textbooks. One of my choices is Bruce Waltke’s, An Old Testament Theology: an exegetical, canonical, and thematic approach.

[If you plan on preaching from the OT, then this is an excellent resource to have on your shelf. I can’t say enough about the quality of Waltke’s scholarship. Despite being only 100 pages into the book, I am glad I purchased it!]

Near the end of chapter 3, The Method of Biblical Theology (Part 1), section 3 is, “Abstract Themes, Ideas, and Messages.” The last paragraph reads,

“After the exegete has interpreted the text and mined its message, the theologian through critical reflection interprets that message from its old horizon to the new horizons of the canon and then of both to the contemporary church. In other words, the theologian builds his or her interpretation that unites the ancient message with the contemporary world after the exegete has done his or her interpretive work….In this way godly theologians inform the conscience of the church.” (p. 92)

Notice, pastors have a dual role as exegete and theologian for the faith-families they serve.

It is true, then, that interpretation doesn’t end with our exegesis. It extends to our ability to locate the message that functions for the church.

You’ve stopped short of that dual role if you cannot articulate what God intends for your preaching portion to do to the church, to your listeners (“the contemporary world”).

Remember, the meaning of your text for this coming Sunday should combine content (exegesis) + intent (theological interpretation). When meaning combines content and intent, you are functioning in your dual role as exegete and theologian.

And our Lord will continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Waltke basis this understanding of our roles on the nature of the Bible. He writes, “The Bible is more than concepts about God….It is God’s address to his people and his encounter with them. His ‘ideas’ and ‘principles’ are true and call for a personal response to obey and participate in the truth, the divine reality.” (p. 91).

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We Practice Theological Interpretation When We Preach (whether we know it or not)

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For the past several years, because of my preaching and teaching duties, I have been enamored with theological interpretation (TI). My recent Ph.D. studies at LBC|Capital created even more time to investigate this as part of my dissertation.

Is it important? Yes, it is.

Because while TI might be more than showing how Scripture functions for the church, it can’t be less than that according to all my research to date. This means that TI forms a foundation for any attempts to apply Scripture.

So, if you asked me, “What kind of book on TI should I read first?” I would answer:

Scripture As Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church by Hans Boersma.

The reason is because pre-modern interpreters–and Boersma–understand Christ to be the key to interpreting Scripture for the church.

If you’re interested in preaching or teaching from the Old Testament, you should note Boersma’s argument:

“that the church fathers were deeply invested in reading the Old Testament Scriptures as a sacrament, whose historical basis or surface level participates in the mystery of the New Testament reality of the Christ event.” (p. xiii)

Some of the primary material is tough to read through, but the book is so helpful for those of us who feed flocks on Sunday from the Old Testament. And, if you’ve studied preaching with me then you will appreciate another look at a hermeneutic that arrives at application “by moving from the Old Testament, via Christ, to the situation of today” (p. xiv).

Well, anyway. When you read, Scripture As Real Presence, you will encounter hermeneutical/homiletical concepts such as:

“sacramental hermeneutic” (pp. 12-13)

“christological/ecclesial allegorizing” (p. 91) [which is important because most of our exposure to the allegorical method is from a “what’s wrong with it” perspective.

“‘christo-ecclesiological’ form of exegesis (p. 148)

“the doctrine of totus Christus–the ‘whole Christ'” (p. 152)

All these concepts will help you think about the relationship between meaning and application, something that you and I engage in every week.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you communicate the results of theological interpretation.

Randal

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Why I Encourage Preachers to Read the Best Theologians

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Bavinck’s one-volume is certainly a good one to read!

If someone asked me to suggest one thing to do to help improve their preaching, I would say:

“Be an avid reader of the best theologians.”

Here’s an example that shows the potential payoff…

The first part of Genesis 3:15 reads,

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring

Bavinck makes a very simple, but profound observation. He says that this is one of the earliest references to the grace of God in the Bible. He reminds readers of a kind of relationship that the serpent and Eve (and Adam) had earlier in the chapter. They were in agreement.

But God announces what He would do from that moment on in redemptive history: “I will put enmity between you and the woman…”

What would have happened to that relationship if God hadn’t graciously stepped in? The fact that God did step in and created enmity explains all dimensions of spiritual warfare and victory in the Christian life.

Sermons that say this are better. Period. I should have observed this through the years, but didn’t. I am indebted to Bavinck for seeing what I missed. This has happened a lot to me this past year as I have read him bit by bit.

Preachers who want to function as theologians for their flocks do well to devour the best theologians they can access and/or afford. Because…

  1. This helps stem the tide of theology-lite sermons created by steady diets of topical preaching in the name of almighty relevancy.
  2. It forces us to think theologically at a depth beyond the norm.
  3. It supplements our exegesis like nothing else I know of.

May our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we do our best by His Spirit and with our Spirit-given abilities/opportunities to be the best theologians we can for the faith-families entrusted to our care.

Randal

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How Rules for Exegesis Affect Preaching

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The Implication of “Scripture’s exactness” on our preaching

If you’ve read some of my material through the years, you know that most of my reading centers on hermeneutics, exegesis, and theological studies. The reason is because I put a premium on those topics in the context of my preaching and teaching homiletics. The reason is because I value their contribution over most, purely homiletical writings. The reason is because of my conviction that precision is more important than presentation.

[Caveat: however, I work hard at both precision and presentation and realize that poor preaching can eclipse the exegetical/theological precision used in the sermon development stage.]

Last week I began reading, Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Rules for Exegesis, by R. B. Jamieson and Tyler R. Wittman.

Chapter 3 contains an interesting discussion of “Scripture’s Exactness” (p. 50). The section begins:

“Early Christian interpreters often spoke of Scripture’s ‘exactness’…to underscore divine teaching’s intentionality, reliability, and attention to detail” (p. 50).

The authors explore two implications of this concept.

First, God chooses His words very carefully. This is especially important when considering how many different authors, styles, and genres are in Scripture. God chooses those words very carefully (you will, no doubt, read this through the grid of your own view of inspiration).

Second, and I will quote them here, “what is taught carries a degree of precision that we must grasp” (p. 51).

Therefore, during sermon development it is important that I pay close attention to the words God uses to reveal Himself and His plan for His people. I cannot be a lazy reader, but a close reader of Scripture. That will serve my faith-family well as I prepare to read with them each Sunday.

The second implication for preaching is that, by God’s grace and the Spirit’s enablement, my precise understanding of Scripture must match Scripture’s precision. That almost always requires me and you to paraphrase and restate what God is saying precisely. That means you and I must choose our words and illustrations very carefully to be as precise as we can be. An example is our use of the word, trinity, or nature, words which may not be found in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek.

Anyway, I hope you get a taste of how a doctrine such as Scripture’s exactness affects our preaching. May our contemplation of God’s inspired revelation and its implication result in God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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A Fresh Definition for the Next Time You Preach on Sin

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What’s your go-to definition for explaining what Adam did?

One of the values of reading theology is that we can gain more precision for explaining key doctrines such as sin.

I have been enjoying and profiting from Bavinck’s one volume, The Wonderful Works of God. In his chapter on sin and death, he provides some non-mainstream definitions of sin.

My standard definition of sin takes me back to my theological training days in the early ’80’s:

Sin is any lack of conformity to the character of God, whether by act, disposition, or state.

I don’t know whether that is a quote from a theology book or from one of my professors. I just know I never forgot it. It’s a pretty good definition.

But, when you preach on sin in the future, see if the following definitions help you communicate this important doctrine:

“It is a deprivation of that which man, in order to be truly human, ought to have; and it is at the same time the introduction of a defect or inadequacy which is not proper to man. (emphasis added)” (p. 211)

“…sin is not a substance in itself, but that sort of disturbance of all the gifts and energies given to man which makes them work in another direction, not toward God but away from Him. (emphasis added)” (p. 211)

What I’ve appreciated is the fresh angle on a very familiar biblical concept (at least, very familiar to most of my congregants). So, this helps them process sin differently than they have before.

And for those that haven’t been introduced to the subject yet, what a great place for them to begin. They can begin to think about their own humanness or what it means to be fully human (sounds a little like C. S. Lewis on the Christian Life, I know). They can think about their purpose in life, a question which I’m told, evidently continues to plague our younger generation.

So, tuck these robust definitions away so they’re ready for use and our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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One Way to Become a Better Pastor-Theologian: Read Stuff Like This!

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I am enjoying this three-volume set so much!

The longer I am privileged to serve as a pastor the more I feel the need to become a better theologian. And, so far, it looks like the three-volume translation of Mastricht’s systematic theology (“…originally written in Latin and subsequently translated into Dutch and now being simultaneously translated into English and re-translated into Dutch…”) is going to be a tremendous help.

Here’s why. First from the Editor’s Preface:

“As a systemic theology or body of divinity, this classic…combines a rigorous, biblical, and scholastic treatment of doctrine with the pastoral aim of preparing the reader to live for God through Christ.” (p. xi, emphasis added)

And from the Translator’s Preface:

“Mastricht is a pastor writing to train pastors…” (p. xvii)

And, if that wasn’t enough to sell me on its value:

“…Mastricht insisted that preaching and theology must be inextricably linked.” (p. xviii)

Finally, lo and behold, before the systematic theology begins, Mastricht decided to write the first 31 pages describing, “The Best Method of Preaching.”

For years I’ve had the privilege of teaching preaching. Each year I urge my new friends and colleagues in ministry to become better theologians for their flocks. One way to do that is to regularly read robust writings of ancient theologians (Petrus van Mastricht lived from 1630-1706).

If you’re a Jonathan Edwards fan, Neele writes, “And if the words of Edwards Amasa Park (1808-1900) can be relied upon, Jonathan Edwards Jr. (1745-1801) read Mastricht’s TPT seven times” (p. lvii). Edwards is quoted as saying that Mastricht’s book was “much better than…any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion…” (p. lviii).

Pretty high praise coming from Edwards.

Lord willing, I am excited to read these volumes and see if it was worth Edwards reading it seven times.

More than that, I hope you will join me in becoming a better theologian for your faith-family so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What We Preach No Matter the Preaching Portion/Pericope

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Abe’s new book is very helpful, especially in the discussion about theology and application.

I decided to select Abe’s new book, A Manual for Preaching: The Journey from Text to Sermon, as one of the required textbooks for my upcoming sections of PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics (Lancaster and D.C. locations of Lancaster Bible College|Capital Seminary & Graduate School).

Abe does an excellent job summarizing the preaching task with respect to what happens each Sunday in church. Think about your preaching portion from this morning or the one you will be preaching on this coming Sunday. Can you see your preaching fitting into the following description?

“So each pericope [the section you’ve selected to preach on] is God’s gracious invitation to humankind to live in his ideal world by abiding by the thrust/force of that pericope–that is, the requirement of God’s ideal world as called for in that pericopal world segment (e.g., listening to/obeying only God’s voice, from 1 Sam. 15 [where King Saul failed miserably!]. And as humankind accepts that divine invitation and applies the thrust/force of the pericope, week by week and pericope by pericope God’s people are progressively and increasingly inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values” (p. 29).

If we’ve selected them properly, our preaching portions contain “God’s gracious invitation” to our listeners to inhabit “his ideal world.”

That happens when we urge them to be or do what the pericope is requiring (what Abe calls its “thrust/force”).

Sunday after Sunday the cumulative affect is growing more and more into the likeness of Christ (“inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values”).

Can you see why it’s impossible for congregations composed of some with “ears to hear” not to grow into a mature Body?

I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than being the mouthpiece for God’s invitation to live in his ideal world. And as we do that each weekend, may He receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Practicing What You Preach. Literally, I Mean.

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Practice Makes Perfect, Sorta.

In one of the main passages devoted to guiding pastoral ministry, Paul says to Timothy,

“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” (1 Timothy 4:15)

I am currently two-thirds through writing a manuscript for my second full-length book tentatively titled, Preacher As Soul-Watcher. 1 Timothy 4:14-16 is the second of two passages that create a strong foundation for a theology of preaching in church.

The research and writing, along with teaching Advanced Homiletics for Lancaster Bible College|Capital Seminary & Graduate School, affords me opportunities to see new material such as Jared Alcántara’s book, The Practices of Christian Preaching: Essentials for Effective Proclamation (Baker Academic, 2019).

I had the privilege of meeting Jared when he was a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and attending the Evangelical Homiletics Society. I was thrilled to receive a copy of his book.

In describing famous saxophonist, Charlie Parker, Jared wrote that he “majored in zeal and minored in skill” (p. 2).

Probably that’s not what you and I want our congregants to say about us!

Jared’s research for the introduction led him to the phrase, “deliberate practice” (p. 5). If you’ve played a sport or instrument you know it’s possible to practice poorly. So, you know it’s possible to preach week after week–a few weeks ago I surpassed the 2,000 sermon mark–and not get any better.

Jared writes, “The central claim of this book is that preachers who cultivate life-giving preaching habits through deliberate practice will enhance their proficiency, grow in their commitment, and flourish in their homiletical ministry” (p. 5).

Okay, we could have some interesting discussions about this especially the last part which doesn’t take into account those preacher who enter dysfunctional churches, experience oppressive cultures, move on to their next assignment, preach the same way and flourish. But that’s not important right now.

What is is that it’s possible to preach and not practice the craft and all that’s wrapped up in the craft including the spiritual disciplines.

And Paul was the one who wrote for God, “Practice these things…” It’s very likely that His gift + your deliberate work + His blessing, including providing your congregants with ears to hear, can continue to give Him glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal