christianity

Preachers must learn to observe and interrogate the features of a text as well as to relate and organize their conclusions about the text’s meaning. These four steps are discussed in their logical order, but the sequence often varies and the steps frequently blend in the process of preparing an expository message.

Although homileticians vary over the best time to write an introduction, most preachers begin to construct an introduction after they have roughed out a sermon’s outline, and then they continue to hone its elements as their preparation progresses.

We must perpetually remind ourselves that despite the most fervent diligence to our responsibility to discipline ourselves “for the purpose of godliness,” we cannot make ourselves more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit does that, working through the Disciplines to bring us closer to Jesus and making us more like Him. Any emphasis on the Spiritual

There is an intellectualism that is wrong, but it is also wrong to be anti-intellectual.

Just like those first detectives who failed to see the purloined letter right under their noses, we Christians possess a fabulous tool for cultural analysis and engagement that we so often fail to use, a great resource that can help develop winsome, penetrating, and fresh analyses of cultural trends as well as distinctive, constructive

Still, when I confess a sin aloud, it feels more real. When I hear my own voice admitting that I’ve done something wrong, I’m surprised by how concrete the sin feels.

Relationships: We pattern and rhythm our lives and our world through relationships among family and friends and through relations on social media with their own codes and norms. On a larger scale, institutions like sports clubs, schools, and companies create and sustain patterns of relationships. Our relationship to authority and the state is

So often moral compromise undermines the mission that God has entrusted to us. Blatant moral failure by way of sexual immorality or financial indiscretion can disqualify people for ministry and discredit the God we serve. More subtle moral failures of pride, sloth, lust or greed can sap our power and effectiveness in ministry. Our holy calling and

A will to obey (God’s will) A work to do (according to his own unique design) A woman to love Lacking these elements, a son will flounder in adulthood; he will wrestle with feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, and restlessness. But armed with them, a son becomes equipped to succeed in his relationship with God, in his community and church, and in