A Question Of Preaching

What makes good preaching? Do you have any idea? I don’t know that I do. I was trained by some of the absolute best homileticians anywhere, who, in turn were trained be great homileticians, so I have a very specific — and, in some ways, theologically acedemic — view of the preaching event. I have [...]

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A Life of Reading

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As A Witness

On facebook, I’ve been chronicling my ups and downs – mostly downs – in dealing with my former landlady here in Redwood City. From our arrival six months ago, she has been – in our opinions – intrusive, abusive, and over-bearing, to say the least. At first she stopped by the house every day to [...]

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Angry Preaching

I’m growing evermore concerned about the debased preaching in many American churches. Here’s how it goes, preachers are talking about how sin “pisses off” God or that some people think Jesus “dressed like a fairy,” or that Jesus “wasn’t a wuss.” I’ve even heard one well-known pastor tell a story about dismissing a young man’s [...]

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The Real Thing (a reflection on “Lars and the Real Girl”)

Last night I began preparing for my summer preaching series, “Summer Blockbuster.” I’m going to take a look at movies that subversively — even to the authors and producers — tell the gospel in beautiful and compelling ways. One of those movies will certainly be “Lars and the Real Girl.”
Lars… is about a quirky young [...]

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Not Preaching

As the Senior Minister for a church, you might find it odd for me to say this: There are times when I HATE preaching. I don’t mean the craft or the art, but rather having to say anything at all.
What I mean is this: There are times when the words of scripture are so powerful [...]

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