Category Archives: relevance

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Do You Know How to Interpret Scripture So it Functions for the Church?

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What kind of interpretation do you practice?

A few posts ago I mentioned returning to this subject of interpreting portions of Scripture so it could function for the church.

This past week I had the privilege of teaching a required Ph.D. course for Lancaster Bible College’s Biblical Studies program. The course is OT Hermeneutics and Theology and I spent some time talking about a method for interpretation.

One thing I noticed is that we are better at summarizing a passage than interpreting it. Even the big idea method I’ve taught for years in advanced homiletics classes is a matter of summarizing, not interpreting.

So, back to my example in Exodus 4:24-26

24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 4:24–26.

Do you know what that pericope means? Do you know which meaning you’re after?

My method aims at meaning that combines exegetical content plus illocutionary intent. The last part is a fancy, speech act theory way of saying that meaning includes what God intends to do to the reader with that Scripture.

So, according to my working theory, we have not interpreted a text until we are able to state God’s intended effect on the reader. Are you able to do that for Exodus 4:24-26?

It might sound something like this:

The result of God attempting to kill Moses at the lodging place was that Zipporah circumcised their son, called Moses a bloody bridegroom, and God stopped the attack with the intention of urging the church to trust that, unlike Moses, their Redeemer kept the covenant for them and transforms them into covenant keepers.

It’s a mouthful, I know. However, the “with the intention of,” part is the critical part of interpretation.

More on that a little later.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you faithfully interpret Scripture.

Randal

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Our New Commentary on Genesis Has Arrived!

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John and I took seven years to write this! Slow, I know!! (*smile*)

What was “forthcoming” for some time is now here!

While I was away on my annual motorcycle ride to old Quebec City with seven others, Michele sent me a picture of the two boxes Kregel sent me. When I got home I had the joy of opening the author copies of my new commentary on Genesis.

It took approximately seven years to complete this project. More than once I said to the Lord, “I love Genesis, but I am so done with it!” (I’m writing now so God was gracious in understanding what I meant.)

The Kerux Commentary series matches a biblical scholar (Dr. John Soden) with a preaching specialist (me). As you’ll see, John did the lion’s share of the work. He is an excellent exegete and adept at starting the move from exegetical ideas to theological ideas that get closer to serving the church.

Each pericope begins with one page that includes an exegetical idea, theological focus, preaching idea, and preaching pointers. Then the section proper begins with Literary Structure and Themes, technical Exposition that includes translation analysis and outline points, extensive Theological Focus, and Preaching and Teaching Strategies.

In the Preaching and Teaching Strategies is a section on Exegetical and Theological Synthesis, an attempt to tie together the exegesis and theology to form a solid foundation for preaching insights. The Preaching Idea is repeated and followed by Contemporary Connections: What does it mean? Is it true? and Now What? (you might remember these as Haddon Robinson’s three functional questions; he used to say you can only do three things to an idea: explain it, prove it, or apply it; this section of the commentary does all three to the degree the preaching portion calls for them).

Finally, I provide suggested preaching outline(s), Creativity in Presentation, and Discussion Questions for preachers and teachers to consider.

Anyway, there it is in a nutshell.

What a privilege for me to be invited to participate. I thank our Lord for insights and endurance to accomplish this in the middle of an extremely busy time in my life. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) whenever Genesis is preached/taught.

Randal

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A Worthy Goal for Our Preaching and Teaching in Church

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Vanhoozer makes a very helpful statement: “…every church should, minimally, be forming readers to…”

I am writing from Elim Lodge in Lakehurst, Ontario, Canada. I won’t show you pictures because it’s located on a beautiful peninsula, surrounded by Pigeon Lake, and you’ll feel badly. The camp director and I studied together 40 years ago in NB, Canada and there are two other couples serving here that our dear friends of ours from our years serving in Canada. It’s been a great reunion.

But, that’s not important right now.

What is important is this statement by Vanhoozer. His Mere Christian Hermeneutics is one of my primary text this year for my Ph.D. course, OT Hermeneutics and Theology (Lancaster Bible College’s Ph.D. in Biblical Studies). In between speaking at the camp this week, I’m prepping for this course that opens August 25, 2025.

On page 102 Vanhoozer makes this statement:

“…whatever their particular denominational (or nondenominational) slant, every church should, minimally, be forming readers to read with a distinctly theological interest: to know and love God.”

It’s always helpful for me to hear this kind of condensing of ministry goals. It helps me keep things from getting too complicated.

In our ministry context, the “to know” God part comes fairly easily; historically, it’s expected in a Bible Church that we will learn biblical information about God.

It’s the “love God” part that is more difficult for us.

One way I attempt to form readers with such a theological interest to know and love God is to regularly ask myself and my hearers:

“Do we love God more as a result of learning this section of Scripture?”

That question may help you as you study for sermons and lessons.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as a result of our Spirit-driven efforts to create learners who love Him.

Randal

P.S. Okay, just one picture of Elim.

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Effective Preaching from Judges’ Comments on American Idol 2025

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Three Judges for American Idol, plus Jelly Roll

Almost every year I learn something about effective preaching from judges’ comments on American Idol.

I know; you’re shocked by that. I get it.

But for years I’ve paid close attention to their feedback to these young singing artists. This year is no different. I’m writing this as Michele and I get ready to watch the current episode (they’re down to the top six and I’m rooting for country singer, John Roberts).

A few weeks ago, here’s what legend, Lionel Ritchie, said to my favorite:

“You were so comfortable that it made it believable for us.”

Preaching works like that too. To the degree that you and I are comfortable as a result of trusting the Lord while preaching, there is a level of believability that helps our congregants respond to God.

And then, that same evening, guest mentor and legend, James Taylor, said to the young lady singing the song, Take a Little Piece of My Heart,

“Read the lyrics out loud without the music to get into the story.”

Another gem for preachers. She was singing but she wasn’t believable. She needed to “get into the story.” Again, we help our listeners when we are able to relate well to God’s Word. They sense it and it helps them in some way to believe it too.

By the way, I never remember a year on American Idol where so much attention was given to Christian music. One whole evening was devoted to songs of faith. And Jelly Roll is a guest musician showing up each night and demonstrating incredible heart for these performers.

Thanks for reading a lighter-than-usual post!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we continue to strive for excellence in the delivery of God’s Word each Sunday.

Randal

P.S. Vote for John Roberts!

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How Psalm 92 Functions for the Church: Theological Interpretation and Preaching the Psalms

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When the Psalmist asserts himself by stating reality, something that is true.

I had the privilege of preaching Psalm 92 this morning. It begins:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord…to sing praises…to declare your steadfast love…and your faithfulness…” (vv. 1-2)

This is an example of the illocutionary category called, an assertive. I wrote about all five illocutionary categories in my last post. The categories are important because they can help show what the Psalmist intends to do to us readers.

In Psalm 92 the opening assertive states a reality with the intention of eliciting faith in all of us readers. The Psalmist intends for all of us to believe that this reality is true and respond accordingly. In the case of vv. 1-2 God says it’s good to do three things.

In v. 6 we read, “The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this…” Here is another example of an assertive. This time the stated reality works in the opposite direction. Whereas in vv. 1-2 the stated reality is desirable, in v. 6 the Psalmist intends for us to avoid this reality: we believe this is true and avoid being like this.

If you take a moment to read Psalm 92 you’ll see that the Psalm functions by presenting these types of stated realities. When we preach this Psalm we encourage our listeners to respond according to the Psalmist’s intentions. Those intentions are based on the illocutionary categories.

Is this important? Yes.

Illocutionary intent, according to speech act theory, is part of meaning. Psalm 92 means something at the level of illocutionary intent listed above. This provides a critical link between standard meaning and application.

May our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) when you practice theological interpretation and preach/teach the Psalms.

Randal

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How to Read the Psalms for Authorized Applications

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If Michele says, “Randal, the dog needs to go out,” what she really means is…

After almost a two-year break from preaching through the Psalter, I am back in it. Here is a way for you to discover how the Psalms function for the church. What follows is a summary of illocutionary categories. The term, illocutionary, comes from the world of speech act theory. The categories come from the writings of Austin and Searle. As I result of my recent studies into speech act exegesis, I have added an inferential step (“with the intention of…”) to the categories to show how illocutionary acts do something to the reader.

Here are how the illocutionary categories function in the Psalms:

Assertives = the Psalmist asserts himself by stating something to be true or announcing the current state of affairs with the intention of eliciting faith in the biblical reality and the desire to enjoy or avoid the state depending on its character.

Directives = the Psalmist directs the hearer to do something through a command or instruction with the intention of urging either adherence or avoidance depending on the nature of the command.

Commissives = the Psalmist commits himself to some future action through making a promise or stating that he will do something with the intention of urging readers to follow.

Expressives = the Psalmist expresses himself in the sense of revealing feelings, such as thankfulness or gratitude, or thoughts with the intention of eliciting the same feelings in the reader.

Declarations = the Psalmist declares something and in the act of declaring, that something becomes reality such as a blessing with the intention of the reader experiencing the created condition.

In summary, assertives assert, directives direct, commissives commit, expressives express, and declarations declare.

When you work in the Psalms watch for the Psalmists doing these things.

In the case of Michele stating, “Randal, the dog needs to go out,” what she is doing is really asking me to take the dog out. That’s how illocutionary intent works.

As you allow these categories to work for you, your listeners will hear how the Psalms work and our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Practicing Theological Interpretation: Jesus’s disciples feed “about five thousand men…”

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“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Ya! Right!

Like you, maybe, I’ve come through an Advent series. I am currently in a mini-series on Covenant Church Membership to begin the new year. Lord willing, in a few weeks I’ll settle back into a “normal” series through Matthew’s Gospel or back to the Psalms.

In today’s post I want to continue to explore how Scripture functions for the church (theological interpretation). My example is from Matthew’s account of feeding the five thousand in 14:13-21.

You can tell from v. 16 that Jesus is going to teach His disciples when He replies to their idea with, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Then they respond with, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”

God is speaking to His people, to us and our congregants, through this impossible request.

I titled my message: The Earthly Life of “God with us”: Sharing His Compassion to Help Heal a Badly Broken World

The compassion part comes from v. 14 (“…and he had compassion on them…”). Evidently, His disciples didn’t catch that yet. Or, to be fair, we might say that they have compassion but can’t get beyond the impossible ministry assignment.

You might develop this in different ways, but the primary applicational angle stems from vv. 16-17.

What did the disciples learn from this miracle? Imagine what they thought when they reflected on what just happened, what they were able to do because of Jesus’s power.

That’s the point. And the narrative leads us there with the interaction between the disciples’s statement about the situation and Jesus’s viewpoint.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you and I continue to read Scripture so it functions for the church.

Randal

P.S. What an exciting day for our country and a vivid reminder of how much we need to pray for our governing officials!

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The Monday Morning Expositor: Announcing A New Arrival!

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That’s not me in the picture, but pretend it’s you on a Monday morning when you are preparing to preach. What do you do for your first few hours?

I am happy to say that the e-book version of my latest book, The Monday Morning Expository: Rethinking Your Study Sequence For Sermon Development, is available.

The book is arguing a reversal of the normal study sequence. Usually, pastors begin to do their exegesis and amass all kinds of exegetical data from the passage. That results in notes filled with isolated fragments of meaning.

Through the years I’ve heard this comment from preaching pastors: “I get toward the end of the week, have lots of notes, but still don’t have the sermon yet.”

As I’ve thought about those comments and experienced it myself in my early years, it led me to the contexts of this book. I give more detail early in the book about how the new sequence came about in my own practice.

For now, if you would like to think about the first few hours of your study for sermon preparation, you might be interested in my book. It fleshes out the following acrostic (my students and blog readers might recall this):

A.B.I.T

Argument, Big Idea, Intention, and Theology.

If you practice this method on Monday morning, or whatever day your first few hours of study occur, you will end up with more of a big picture of the meaning and application of your preaching portion. You will have the gist of the sermon even though you don’t yet have all the exegetical details.

I know it sounds backwards, but that’s the point. Trust me when I say, you can gain great insight into preaching your passage with this process.

Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying preaching through Advent. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) through our Spirit-driven efforts.

Randal

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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.