Category Archives: pastor

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How Does Your Text for This Sunday Function for the Church?

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You and I Practice Theological Interpretation Every Week!

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading, A Manifesto for Theological Interpretation, edited by Bartholomew and Thomas. It’s important for our preaching because of the way in which they define TI (or TIS, theological interpretation of scripture):

“…we define broadly as interpretation of the Bible for the church…” (p. ix.)

The question is, what do they mean “for the church”?

I usually expand the definition a little bit by saying that TI/TIS is interpreting Scripture so it functions for the church.

But, then, what do I mean by “function”?

Think of the function of Scripture in terms of what God intends for Scripture to do to His readers. You might recognize that this meaning of TI closely resembles what we’ve always known as the application of Scripture. Christopher Wright wrote describes this as applying life to the Bible (I think he wrote this in his book, The Mission of God).

On page 17 they define TI as:

“…theological interpretation reads Scripture to hear God’s address, so that the church might be transformed into the image of Christ of the sake of the world.”

With those definitions in mind, our pressing question is, how does the text signal its intention?

I’ve been preaching through Matthew’s gospel since returning from my sabbatical so here’s an example from this morning’s study time. My preaching portion is Matthew 15:1-9. The religious leaders question Jesus about His disciples breaking “the tradition of the elders” (they don’t wash their hands!). Jesus replies by challenging them about their habit of breaking God’s commandments by the way they keep their traditions (they don’t care for their parents because they give the money to God).

In vv. 7-9 Jesus insults them (calling them “hypocrites”) and announces to them that Isaiah prophesied about them.

So, it’s fairly clear to me after my Monday morning study session that this text is designed to make sure all professing Christians do not follow the example of the religious leaders. They function as a “go and do otherwise” example.

If you have your text for this coming Sunday, can you identify early on how it functions for the church?

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we practice theological interpretation each week.

Randal

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Preacher As Soul-Watcher Paperback Now Available

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If You’re Like Me and Prefer to Hold a Book…

This week I am still trying to complete some writing projects from my recent sabbatical. One of those projects involved getting the manuscript of, Preacher As Soul-Watcher, in shape for those who prefer the paperback version.

Thanks to my dear wife, Michele, the paperback is available!

My prayer is that the e-book or paperback version encourages pastors to preach for God’s glory in their faith-families.

If you’re not familiar with the book’s content, here are the two Scriptures in focus:

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of not advantage to you. (emphasis added)

1 Timothy 4:13-16 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (emphasis added)

I hope you were encouraged yesterday as you spoke on behalf of our Lord.

Randal

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My New Book: Preacher as Soul-Watcher: Why You and Your Congregants Need Your Sermons

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I finally completed my theology of preaching for the local church!

Wow! This has been on my mind since the mid- to late-90’s! Click here to read a sample section.

What took so long? Life and ministry, I guess, such as pursuing more learning, writing more books, and preparing to teach classes through the years.

My first exposure to Hebrews 13:17 where it really caught my attention was when I was preaching through the book of Hebrews at The People’s Church in Somerville, NB, Canada in the mid-90’s.

Then, at the inaugural meeting of the Evangelical Homiletics Society on the campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I was invited to preach as part of the conference schedule (either the fall of ’96 or ’97?). I selected Hebrews 13:17. It reads,

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

It was important that I remind myself and EHS members that preaching is a subset of soul-watching.

Fast-forward to August 1, 2024 and I finally published my thoughts on a theology of preaching from that text and also 1 Timothy 4:13-16, the end of which reads,

“…Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

For years, God has given me the great privilege of studying hermeneutics and homiletics with other soul-watchers from all over the world. If you have blessed me with your presence in the classroom through the years, huge thanks. You may be interested in this expanded version of some of the things we, no doubt, talked about. If we’ve never met and you’re a pastor that preaches, you might be interested in my thoughts on why our preaching is so important.

You can find Preacher as Soul-Watcher on Amazon (KDP) or click the link above.

May our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as we watch over the souls entrusted to our care (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Over the next few weeks I will provide some excerpts from Preacher as Soul-Watcher. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Curing Souls Through Preaching “beautiful words”

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Are You A Persuasive Preacher?

Personal Note: Thanks to the generosity of the Calvary Bible Church leadership, I am writing during June, July, and August while on sabbatical. In June, Michele and I are residing in St. Petersburg, FL (another example of someone’s generosity!). No wonder the snowbirds leave before June! It’s hot! I have three writing projects on the go this summer. The first is to complete a book I began years ago, The Preacher As Soul-Watcher, a theology of preaching in the local church. The second is tentatively titled, The Monday Morning Expositor: A Guide to a Preacher’s First Few Hours of Study. Finally, I will attempt to turn some of my recent Ph.D. dissertation into a hermeneutics text that bridges the gap between exegesis and application by an analysis of what we mean when we say a text means something.

But, that’s not important right now. What is is more insights from Kolbet’s, Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal.

As Augustine trains for pastoral ministry he encounters something called, psychagogy. It describes a practice whereby mature individuals influenced less mature individuals to become more wise in the way they lived. It was an ancient term for mentoring or the care and cure of souls.

The reason why this was on Augustine’s radar is because he was trained in rhetoric and that field used psychagogy. But, as with almost everything in Augustine’s early life and training, he had to sanctify the practice. In the case of psychagogy, Augustine had to disinfect the common practice of persuading others with things that were not true.

So, Augustine wrote that in the case of being clergy, it was important to use, “a kind of speech whose persuasiveness does not diminish its truthfulness.” (p. 9)

That’s a great reminder for me. My preaching needs to include persuasiveness connected to truthfulness. I persuade my listeners to respond according to God’s intention for that particular preaching portion. I have written extensively about locating the intention of a text and how that intention is directly related to meaning.

But back to what Augustine was reacting against. On p. 19 Kolbet cites Plato:

“The soul is cured by means of certain charms, and these charms consist of beautiful words.” (Chrm. 157a)

It might be too much of a stretch for you to think of your Sunday ministry in those terms. I liked the thought of preaching “beautiful words” of the Gospel each Sunday. I like the thought of curing souls through the “charms” of preaching. Not in terms of casting a spell or magic formula, but in terms of pull, appeal, or draw.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we persuade our listeners to worship as we preach the Word.

Randal

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The “intense preparation” it Takes to Preach Without Notes

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It’s not so much about whether you have notes or not, but…

In my previous post I mentioned reading, Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal, by Paul R. Kolbet. It’s one of those books that majors on pastoral ministry with a minor in preaching.

One of the interesting things about the book is that it shows how the Greco-Roman world of Augustine’s day influenced his understanding of pastoral ministry. One way the G-R world influenced Augustine and all public speakers was in the area of speaking without notes.

Here’s an example:

“To a sophist’s audience, such oratorical display appeared spontaneous and effortless–the ad lib creation of the moment coming into existence in their very presence–but that spontaneity was, in fact, an illusion made possible through intense preparation and skillful use of known rhetorical methods.” (p. 21)

Yes, “an illusion made possible through intense preparation…”

Elements of that kind of intense preparation are:

  • Begin writing your sermon from the moment you begin studying the text. This means training yourself to never write notes without thinking about how you will say it to your listeners. As you write, you’re talking to them about them from the biblical text.
  • Treat your biblical text as your cue card. If you are an expositor, then the Bible is your primary manuscript. I use to tell preachers-in-training: “If you lose your place in the sermon, just look down at your Bible, find your place in the text, and continue. No one knows your plan which means they don’t know you’ve lost your place unless you tell them.”
  • If the biblical text is your cue card, that means you should be able to follow the logical flow of thought or argument of your text. This is critical for helping your listeners follow along with you. This will prevent you from losing your place.
  • Internalize both technical and restatements of the most important theological concepts in your text. This does take some time and effort. Know key definitions from HALOT or BDAG, for instance, but also an easier-to-understand version you’ve created.
  • Finally, save time Saturday evening and early Sunday morning to read through your manuscript carefully, editing along the way. You’ll experience times when you say, “That isn’t clear to me,” or “I lost myself at this place,” or “There’s a better way to say that.” Great learning takes place during these practice sessions.

And, the bottom line is, it’s not how many notes you have or don’t have in the pulpit that makes communication effective. It’s how well you communicate with your parishioners. Do they hear you talking to them about the Bible or talking to them about them from the Bible?

May our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you continue to communicate His Word each Sunday.

Randal

P.S. Most Sunday’s I have on my iPad a limited number of Scripture verses or quotes from authors that I don’t want to memorize, but want to read.

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Our Privilege as Preachers to Play a Part in the “Cure of Souls”

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Soul-Cure is an ancient profession!

I recently put aside some hermeneutics reading to invest some time thinking about pastoral ministry and preaching. That involved reading a delightful book, Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal, by Paul R. Kolbet

On the very first page I struck gold with this quote:

“Who, then, will be this doctor of souls? What will his drugs be like, and what form will the regimen he prescribes take?” (Maximus of Tyre, Diss. 28.1)

Maximus is a late 2nd century rhetorician and philosopher or sophist. A couple of centuries later Augustine will emerge as one of these “doctor of souls.” While I knew that Greek rhetoric greatly affected Augustine’s preaching ministry, I did not know that his pastoral ministry was also influenced by Greek thinking.

In the coming weeks I will continue to share some insights from this helpful book. For now I wanted to begin by saying that we preachers are “doctor of souls” and the Word of God is our written prescription. In the broadest of terms, every time we apply our lives to the Bible we are showing elements of “the regimen” required for the cure of souls.

One part of sacred Scripture that guides my thinking is Hebrews 13:17

 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Heb 13:17.

God has given us a tremendous privilege to “watch over…souls” each Sunday. I hope you know how important you are to your flock’s spiritual health. It’s all because of the gift He’s given you.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we faithfully prepare for this coming weekend’s preaching ministry.

Randal

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How Did Edwards Identify Genuine Believers? Does It Matter?

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Part 2 of, Can You Tell The Difference And Does It Matter?

As I wrote last time, Jonathan Edwards spent an enormous amount of intellectual energy trying to tell the difference between genuine and counterfeit Christianity. In Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light, is a chapter, But How Do We Tell? The Signs of Rightly Ordered Loves. Marsden lists twelve “positive signs” of genuine faith (p. 109).

Edwards’s starting point, similar to Augustine, is “a ‘new sense’ of God’s love. (p. 112) That spills over, of course, into a new sense of love for God. The first three revolve around some aspect of love. I have found this such a helpful way to address my listeners. Often I will ask whether this instruction from Scripture makes us love God more. Keeping our affections front and center is a helpful antidote toward any tendency to engage in a more sterile or clinical kind of faith.

I found Edwards’s sixth sign extremely telling: humility (p. 117).

Marsden writes, “Edwards highlights humility as ‘a great and most essential thing in true religion.’ In that emphasis, he stands firmly in the Augustinian and Reformed tradition–and in fact in a note he quotes John Calvin, who in turn quotes Augustine, saying that if asked what was the first precept of the Christian religion, ‘I would answer, firstly, humility, secondly, and thirdly, and forever, humility.'” (p. 117).

Earlier Edwards points out that one of the primary character traits of hypocritical or nominal Christians “is that they are in love with their religious experience; they value it for what they get out of it.” (p. 118)

Of course, humility is tricky: “So Edwards says, ‘An infallible sign of spiritual pride is persons being apt to think highly of their humility.'” (p. 119)

Edwards’s other traits in the list of twelve make for interesting reading.

It’s a reminder to me that each Sunday, I am preaching God’s Word to a mixed crowd. Our preaching portions in Scripture will address various aspects of genuine, saving faith and its opposite. As you look for such things in your Text for this weekend, may our Lord receive “glory in the church and in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How to Tell the Difference Between Sheep and Goats: It Mattered a Great Deal to Edwards

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Can you tell the difference between sheep and goats? Does it matter on Sundays?

I trust you experienced a rewarding Easter celebration with your faith-family. I know Michele and I did.

You may recall earlier posts containing excerpts from Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. It’s amazing how current Edwards’s approach is even though his 18th century context and style of ministry is so different from ours.

One lasting effect of Edwards’s thinking and writing is his well-known, “A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.” I first read it as part of my required reading in the mid- to late 80’s when I studied the church in America at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Marsden writes, “Edwards spent almost his whole life wrestling with the question of how to tell the difference between authentic Christian experience and its imitations: self-delusion and hypocrisy” (p. 104). He describes Edwards’s understanding of “affections” as,

“the sort of love for a person that brings joy unspeakable. True affections for Edwards include the joy and delight–at the heart of his theology–of experiencing the beauty of perfect love” (p. 106).

Okay, let me stop and say that my ministry for over 30 years has been in the context of two, Bible Church kind of churches. I half-jokingly say to our folks, “We’re a Bible Church which means we don’t feel anything.” It’s true; we don’t feel much and rarely do we let it show on our faces on a given Sunday morning. So, this makes it difficult to know if my listeners are experiencing authentic Christianity.

Edwards asked how we know the sheep from the goats.

He begins with indicators that don’t prove anything:

“high emotional experiences, preoccupation with religious things, readiness to quote Scripture, great self-confidence in one’s own spirituality, and other traits that can be found among hypocrites as well as among some genuine Christians” (p. 107).

As you can see, counterfeit Christianity exists. But Scriptures often provide ample opportunity for us to challenge the kind of faith our listeners have. One way is to continually ask if their faith-journey includes a dose of “joy and delight” and the “beauty of [God’s] perfect love.”

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we address both sheep and goats each Sunday.

Randal

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How Jonathan Edwards Helps Me With Applying Scripture

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Helping our Listeners Know What Influences Their Life Choices

Most mornings I continue to read Jonathan Edwards’s sermons as part of my devotional life. Along the journey through his preaching–currently in the Yale volume covering 1730-1733–I read for homiletical insights with the goal of being a more effective exegete/theologian/preacher.

Almost every sermon helps me learn how to apply Scripture. Edwards was meticulous in his application.

In his sermon, The Duty of Self-Examination, from Haggai 1:5 (“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”), Edwards tells his listeners:

“We ought to consider which has the greatest influence upon us: our carnal appetites, or the promises and threatenings of God’s Word” (p. 486, vol. 10, Kimnach).

You’ll certainly want to explain “carnal appetites.” After you do, you have one half of an equation that affects our daily choices. The other half features two elements of sacred Scripture: promises and warnings.

Then, Edwards describes every moment of temptation:

“When there is set before us a self-denying, mortifying duty and a pleasant sin, for us to take our choice, the sinful pleasure and delight allures and entices on one side, and the favor of God and heaven invites on the other. Which do we choose, which has the greatest influence upon us…” (p. 486).

Your Scripture for this coming Sunday could have either direct or indirect reference to our “carnal appetites” or to “the promises and threatenings of God’s Word.” If so, then it’s a matter of identifying some specifics.

For instance, which element influences our thought life? What about the words we speak to each other?

And then, with typical Edward-like seriousness he states:

“Every man is in the way to heaven or the way to hell, and the way that we are now in, if pursued, will certainly bring us to one or the other of these” (p. 488).

And all that before the Application section of the sermon!

I hope that these excerpts from Edwards’s applicational angles helps you help your congregants put God’s Word into practice so that God continues to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Why Jonathan Edwards Was So Concerned About Identifying Genuine Faith and Why We Should Too

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“Edwards…offers every sort of professing Christian some important guidelines for assessing the authenticity of faith.” (Marsden, p. 103)

If you have read some of my earlier material you know I learn a lot from the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. It’s because he thinks at a level I never will. But it’s also because, despite hundreds of years separating us, our ministry contexts are similar.

Marsden makes this clear in, An Infinite Fountain of Light, and the chapter, Edwards and the Churches That Whitefield Built.

That shared context began with the likes of George Whitefield. Marsden reminds us, “The evangelists who succeed best are those who can attract the largest audiences. Think Billy Graham, for instance. This, plus the “populist-based versions” (p. 99) of the Gospel meant that churches were attended by those who professed faith in Christ, but who may not be genuinely saved.

Marsden writes, “Edwards spent almost his whole life wrestling with the question of how to tell the difference between authentic Christian experience and its imitations: self-delusion and hypocrisy.” (p. 104)

[If you haven’t read it, you might consider Edwards’s, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.]

I will go further in to this next time, but for now I wanted to ask you to consider your ministry context.

One of the scariest things I heard as a young pastor-in-training was something Chuck Swindoll said about his ministry in Fullerton, CA. I will never forget him saying that the longer he pastored, the more he believed that less and less of his people were saved.

It’s probably a good idea for you and me to keep this in mind as we preach and teach God’s Word. You may have noticed how much Scripture challenges the reader to make their calling and election sure (to quote from one place). One of my personal goals is to preach in such a way that there are no surprises at the Judgment for my faith-family.

May our Lord received glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you follow Edwards’s example of making sure your listeners know that their faith is genuine.

Randal