Category Archives: preacher

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Practicing Theological Interpretation for Your Upcoming Sermon

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I haven’t read this book, but love the title in light of this coming Sunday’s sermon, The Art of Relevance.

This little series of posts on theological interpretation of Scripture (TIS) is the result of the privilege of spending three days teaching a Ph.D. required course, OT Hermeneutics and Theology to a new group of friends. The subject is important because one of our goals is to interpret the OT so it functions for the church (my simply definition of TIS).

After surveying several definitions of TIS from leading scholars in the field, the common denominator was an interpretation that includes what we normally think of as application. When I saw the book title, The Art of Relevance, it made me think about art and science.

Unfortunately, we haven’t done a great job teaching a “scientific” method/approach for identifying the primary application of a biblical pericope. We’ve done pretty well with our exegetical method to arrive at some form of meaning. What I am after in these posts is meaning that includes authorized application.

My meaning formula for TIS is:

II-M (illocutionary Intent-Infused Meaning) = EC (exegetical content) + II (illocutionary intent)

Even if you’re not familiar with the speech act vocabulary, here’s the point:

when we identify the meaning of a passage for Sunday, we need to include what God intends to do to the church in our text.

The question is, how do we do that? That’s where some art comes into play (because we simply don’t yet have a solid method).

Let’s use Matthew 14:22-32 for our example this week. You remember this narrative: Jesus made the disciples get into the boat, a huge storm hits them in the night, Jesus walks on water to reach them, they are terrified, and He chastises them with, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” As soon as Jesus gets into the boat, the wind stops and they confess, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The disciples begin as a “go and do otherwise” example, but finish in the “go and do likewise category. Help your people follow that same pathway in this text and our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (cf. Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. As you complete your Sunday sermon, see if you can add the intentional element to your meaning. It should sound something like this: “This text is saying…with the intention of…” That combines content and intent that functions for the church.

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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 Summer Sabbatical Is Officially Over Which Means I Wrote Two Books!

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Rest, Research, WRITING, Riding Around Is Over!

Thanks to the leadership of Calvary Bible Church in Mount Joy, PA, Michele and I enjoyed a summer sabbatical. The bad news is it’s officially over; I am headed into my first normal Saturday evening and Sunday morning since May! Lord have mercy!!

However, being away from church duties for those weeks allowed me to write two books.

First, I was able to complete, Preacher As Soul-Watcher: Why You and Your Congregants Need Your Sermons. It’s a theology of preaching in the local church based upon Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Timothy 4:13-16. That book is now available through Amazon in e-book format. The paperback version should be available in a few days.

Second. I have completed the first draft of, The Monday Morning Expositor: Rethinking Your Study Sequence For Sermon Development. Lord willing, it will become available in a week or so. That book is a practical guide for a preacher’s first few hours in the study. It focuses on a reversal of the normal process we learned in seminary. I call these four elements, pre-exegesis. They provide a big-picture look at the preaching portion that becomes the backbone for collecting normal exegetical data.

Back to the first book for a moment. One of my favorite sections in, Preacher As Soul-Watcher, is the exposition of 1 Timothy 4:13-16. Verse 15 ends with a surprise:

“…so that all may see your progress.”

In the book I write, “For some reason it is important for our parishioners to see us advancing….It is important that soul-watchers improve with respect to their faith-journey and ability to minister to God’s people.”

Later I quote Fee’s explanation: “By Timothy’s being a faithful minister of the word of the gospel, the people will be able to see the real thing.” (Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, p. 109, emphasis added)

On July 18, 2024 the WSJ ran an article, Sellouts, Streaming Put Country Atop The Music Business. What caught my attention was how popular Country music is right now and why. Back in June, the country music legend, George Strait, broke a record for most tickets sold at a U.S. concert (more than 110,000!).

And the “why?” One singer, Megan Moroney, said

“Authenticity is selling right now.”

The real thing.

Tomorrow morning, Lord willing, I will enjoy the privilege and responsibility of delivering the real thing. Authentic preaching.

That means believing what God is saying to us in Matthew 13:31ff.

That means living like I believe it.

That means communicating it is a way that conveys I believe it and live it.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you and I go to work Sunday morning.

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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Trying to Simplify Christ-Centered Preaching: A Summary of my Teaching at Dallas Theological Seminary

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Michele and I Enjoying the Place Where it All Began!

First, thanks to the kindness of Calvary Bible Church’s leadership, I am on sabbatical this summer. That explains the inconsistent postings.

Second, the picture shows me and Michele in front of the sign off of Live Oak street on the campus of Dallas Theological Seminary. We stood by that sign in 1989 upon graduating with my Th.M. degree. What a special place for us!

Third, this past Tuesday I had the privilege to teach a Doctor of Ministry preaching cohort at DTS. This past fall the lead professor, Dr. Roger Raymer, asked if I would teach on redemptive-historical preaching.

To prepare, I read The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (volume 22, number 3, fall 2018, titled, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament). My old DTS professor, Elliot Johnson, and WTS professor, Vern Poythress, were two major contributing authors. Along with another major contributor, Daniel Block, ten respected scholars evaluated each position. It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with some views.

My second task was deciding how to simplify some things since there is a dizzying array of thoughts about Christ-centered preaching. So, here is how I approached the subject matter:

  1. Think of the OT as containing two kinds of texts, salvation and judgment. A Christ-centered hermeneutic/homiletic will accomplish something like: (a) any salvation text in the OT functions for the church because those who are in Christ experience some facet of salvation mentioned in that OT text due to the Christ-event; (b) those in Christ escape the judgment announced in the text because God judged Christ on the cross. A primary hermeneutical question is how those texts will apply to the Church if you decide not to interpret/apply those texts within the context of the whole Canon of Scripture.
  2. Think of OT characters functioning in two ways, either “go and do likewise” or “go and do otherwise.” Just don’t ask parishioners to follow or avoid their example without first addressing the point above. That will keep you from sounding like you’re promoting moralism. Unlike the common alternative to Christ-centered preaching, God-centered, this approach allows the OT to guide our Christian lives just like the Apostles said it should (“These things were written as our examples…”).

Just a couple of ways to simplify some of the subject matter. Lots more could be said and I would be happy to discuss it further with you while I have extra time this summer!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you preach Him each Sunday according to your method.

Randal

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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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From Cicero to Augustine to our Preaching

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Cicero influenced Augustine who, in turn, has influenced all of us!

The last few weeks I’ve been sharing key thoughts from Augustine’s, On Christian Doctrine (translated by Robertson). Because of my emphasis through the years of the intersection of homiletics and hermeneutics, I have read very little on ancient rhetoric. However, Augustine has given me a glimpse of it in this book and another that I began last week (Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal, by Paul R. Kolbet [not Stephen Colbert!].

You might be interested in the following quote from Augustine citing Cicero in the context of your own teaching and preaching work:

“Therefore a certain eloquent man said, and said truly, that he who is eloquent should speak in such a way that he teaches, delights, and moves. Then he added, ‘To teach is a necessity, to please is a sweetness, to persuade is a victory.'” (p. 136).

You and I are not interested in eloquence for eloquence’s sake.

However, we are interested in teaching. I had the privilege this morning again to teach the sacred Scriptures. It was my responsibility to interpret a section in Matthew’s Gospel in such a way that it functioned for my faith-family. We give biblical information and instruction.

We might not think about the second one, “delights.” Maybe because we’re not into entertaining. But what if I changed the angle with a quote from my mentor, Haddon Robinson: “It’s a sin to bore people with the Word of God.” So, if you struggle with the thought of delighting your listeners, you probably don’t struggle with trying to avoid boring your congregants with the Bible.

Finally, the third element, persuasion, is one that I expected to hear, even with my limited reading of ancient rhetoric. And this is one that you and I are extremely interested in. All our efforts to teach serve the goal of persuading our congregants to respond properly to sacred Scripture. Preachers talk about application or persuading listeners to apply their lives to the Bible.

N.B. You may recall from earlier posts that authorized persuasion is organically connected to theological exegesis. This requires skill to identify meaning of a passage that includes what God intends for that passage to do to listeners.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we begin preparing for victory in our next preaching/teaching assignment.

Randal

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Assisting our “Silent Learners”: Augustine on Preaching

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Some of Our Listeners may Be Silent, but They Are Thinking.

I wrote recently that I finally read Augustine’s classic little paperback, On Christian Doctrine (translated by Robertson). Augustine provides a look at one challenge of the traditional, monologue sermon. He instructs his students,

“In a conversation anyone may ask questions. But where all are silent that one may be heard and all are intent upon him, it is neither customary nor proper that anyone inquire about what he does not understand. For this reason the teacher should be especially careful to assist the silent learner. [emphasis added]” (p. 134)

You can see that, in Augustine’s day, preachers didn’t engage in dialogue with their listeners. In his era, all were “silent that one may be heard and all are intent upon him.” Probably your preaching resembles that too. You preach and your parishioners listen without asking questions about what they don’t understand.

Here are some things to think about as you develop this week’s sermon(s) that will help you “to assist the silent learner”:

  1. As you study your preaching portion, make a list of all the questions you have of this text.
  2. Try to anticipate the kinds of questions that someone who has not studied as much as you might ask of that text.
  3. Try also to anticipate the disagreements they may have with you as you preach. One homiletician called these push-backs, contrapuntals (I knew you’d like that word!).
  4. During the sermon, ask your listeners questions in such a way that they know you expect them to answer. Even if you don’t expect them or necessarily want them to answer, still ask a question sincerely to help them think with you. I say that because, through the years, I’ve seen more than one preaching ask their congregants a question in such a way they knew he really didn’t expect an answer.

Our typical monologue-method on Sunday mornings presents some real problems for communicating biblical truth. Through the years I’ve found a conversational style to be more effective than the one-way method. Most of my listeners are used to monologue sermons, but appreciate the conversation.

If you find that you fit into Augustine’s mode of preaching, may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you carefully assist your silent learners.

Randal

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Current Preaching Challenges from our 18th Century Brothers

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The 18th Century Gave Us Edwards, but Some Troubles Too!

One of the unexpected takeaways from Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century, is to learn some of the traits or tendencies in 18th century evangelicalism that affects our pastoral ministry and preaching.

The first two are big ones:

(1) “distrust of established institutional authority and

(2) increasing trust in individual experience.” (p. 82)

You and I continue to preach in this context. It’s an uphill, yet winnable situation as God gives ears to hear. Part of making it winnable is you and I being aware of these tendencies and being able to address them when appropriate in our preaching portions.

An interesting factoid is that George Whitefield and John Wesley contributed to this! Marsden writes, “Both were ordained Anglicans, but each effectively ignored most formal church authority” (p. 83).

Marsden goes on to add other tendencies that continue to plague us:

“to favor strong, inspiring, individual leadership over institutional tradition [later Marsden called it, “the rise of celebrity culture”, p. 89], to divide over differing doctrines and practices, and to grow through splitting” (p. 83).

The first tendency is something that we and our leadership must keep in mind. We do need to lead from the pulpit and part of that leadership involves championing the local church.

The second tendency requires an all-out effort “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We need wisdom to proclaim doctrine humbly and to shut down unbiblical divisiveness.

What scared me the most through those pages was thinking of how great preachers like W&W can contribute to negative elements in the church. God help us!

I find it helpful to have this kind of information in my mind as I think about the challenges of preaching. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you minister in this context which began in the 18th century.

Randal