Monday 27 August 2012

John piper explains the difference between preaching and teaching (video)

Posted: 26 Aug 2012 03:29 AM PDT

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/faC1SV9xB5Q/what-is-preaching

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Preachers & Preaching: Martyn Lloyd Jones Sermons available free!

Posted: 22 May 2012 02:12 AM PDT

The messages that the classic preaching text Preachers & Preaching is based on are available free for the first time. You can download them on the MLJ Trust site. You will have to register first.

Monday 27 February 2012

4 Preaching Tips

Posted: 26 Feb 2012 02:25 PM PST

From the Ordinary Pastor Blog.

Four Easy (and often overlooked) Tips that Could Improve Your Preaching

February 23, 2012 by Erik with 15 Comments

Photo by Tony Reinke

I have never met a preacher who did not want to increase the effectiveness of his sermon. The question is where to start? We often, and rightly so, head over towards the practical application of the Word itself. We spend more time praying, reading, studying, writing, and thinking. These are good and right. I encourage all of this. But the focus of this post is a little different. Without discounting these I want to just highlight a few practical items that I have seen work well in the church where I serve. I am obviously not John Piper and don't pretend to be him on Sunday morning but people at Emmaus Bible Church like preaching. I think that some of these practical items below have helped.

Make the preaching on Sunday AM a big deal. I remember visiting with a seasoned pastor before we started down the church planting road. I asked him for a few top priorities for me in taking on this task. He said, "Make Sunday morning like NFL Game Day." His point was to make Sunday morning, and in particular the Word preached, to be the highlight of the week. In short, he was saying to get people to love the Word and the preaching of it. I have endeavored to do this. We are not there but…it is something I am chasing.

Encourage (expect) members to do their own sermon prep. We recently have gone through What is a Healthy Church Member in our home groups. In that book Thabiti has a chapter on being an expositional listener. Each group spent time talking about what this means for us as a church and individuals. We have also done several blog posts on the church website discussing the book Expository Listening. One thing this does is put the Sunday morning gathering and the sermon in particular on the table. It helps with practical things like reading the passage beforehand, getting some good rest on Saturday night, praying for light, praying for the preacher, etc. There are some really practical items that the church member can do in their own sermon prep. As a church we are now going through the practice of what it means to be an expository listener. We discuss this in our small groups throughout the month. The priority and the practice are gaining traction. (example of blog article)

Promote the sermon by providing the text and the outline in advance. This is so easy and so good. In our context we send out the Scripture passage and outline on a Thursday or Friday. I post it on the church website and include with it a snippet about the sermon. I have heard from numerous people of how this practice has helped them with the previous two observations. It also encourages Dads to lead by talking to their family about the sermon prior to and after it. Again, very easy and very beneficial. (example)

Provide an outline. If you provide the info in advance then you might as well print it out and give it to folks. Early on my wife encouraged me to do this and it has paid huge dividends. The handout not only provides a road map of where you are going on Sunday morning but it also teaches how to break apart a passage. However subtle this might be it is significant. In our small groups when people are talking about the sermon together we see many people pull out their handouts with all kinds of notes and application points written down. They are taking the sermon home with them. It's very helpful. (here is an example, again nothing too profound about this).

Engage people with the text. After preaching it is good to talk with people about…the text. Interact, cement, encourage, perhaps even correct. Bang those homiletical nails in a little further. If you just spent 45 minutes hammering this home don't shift to talk about the weather or your garden. Create the environment to talk about the passage. Talk about God. This is always good.

These are practical tips that may or may not help you. I share them because they have helped us in our context. If you have other tips please send them my way.

Monday 16 January 2012

Does God Care whether Tim Tebow wins on Saturday?

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 10:32 PM PST

Andrew Naselli has linked to an article in the Atlantic. You can read the article on the Atlantic page.

Video on the building of a school in Vietnam

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 01:14 PM PST

Video from Stuff Christians like. They raised the money to build a kindergarten in Vietnam in 18hours.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Infographic of the Order of Salvation (Ordo Salutis)

Posted: 11 Jan 2012 09:59 AM PST

A visual version of the order of salvation. Start at the bottom. Download a high quality version of the picture.

Posted: 11 Jan 2012 09:45 AM PST

Justin Taylor has begun a series asking pastors to recommend articles that have had a special impact on them. He begins the series with Bryan Chapell's recommendations. You can see the post at Justin Taylor's excellent blog. Actually you can view the whole series here.

Bryan Chapell: Three Classic Articles Worth Reading

A while back I asked several pastors and theologians what sermons or essays they would recommend that had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading. I thought it might be helpful to repost some of these by individual author.

First up, Bryan Chapell, president of, and professor of practical theology at, Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Here is what he passed along:

J.I. Packer, "What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution"
Francis Schaeffer, "A Day of Sober Rejoicing"
Thomas Chalmers, "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"

Justin Taylor

Thomas Chalmers, "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"
Jonathan Edwards, "The Excellency of Christ"
B.B. Warfield, "The Religious Life of Theological Students"
B.B. Warfield, "The Emotional Life of Our Lord"

So I thought it might be helpful to ask some pastors and theologians what they would recommend as sermons or essays that have had a special impact on them, or that they would seriously urge students and pastors to consider reading.

I'm thankful for all of the responses. I've tried to add as many links as possible to free versions online:

Bryan Chapell

J.I. Packer, "What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution"
Francis Schaeffer, "A Day of Sober Rejoicing"
Thomas Chalmers, "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"

Graham Cole

"The Martyrdom of Polycarp"
Adolphe Monod, Adolphe Monod's Farewell to His Friends and to His Church
B. B. Warfield, "Imitating the Incarnation"

Mark Dever

Jonathan Edwards, "A Farewell Sermon"

Dever also mentioned three books:

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress
Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry

Kevin DeYoung

John Piper, "Boasting Only in the Cross" (Passion OneDay 2000 sermon)
C.S. Lewis, Introduction to Athanasius' On the Incarnation
J.I. Packer, Introductory Essay to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
Jonathan Edwards, "Heaven, a World of Love"
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "What Is Preaching?" (included in Knowing the Times)
J. Gresham Machen, "What Is Christianity?" (in Selected Shorter Writings)
J. Gresham Machen, "History and Faith" (in Selected Shorter Writings)
J. Gresham Machen, "What Is the Gospel?" (in Selected Shorter Writings)

Stephen J. Nichols

J. Gresham Machen, "The Good Fight of Faith"
Jonathan Edwards, "The Most High, A Prayer-Hearing God"
John Chrysostom, "Homily 21, On Ephesians 6:1-4"

Ray Ortlund

Francis A. Schaeffer, "The Lord's Work in the Lord's Way"
C. S. Lewis, "Three Kinds of Men"
Martin Luther, Letter to Jerome Weller, in Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, edited by T. G. Tappert, pages 84-87.
Jonathan Edwards, on spiritual pride, in "Thoughts on the Revival," in Works, I:398-403.

John Piper

C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory" (first sermon in the book by that title)
C.S. Lewis, Introduction to Athanasius' On the Incarnation
J.I. Packer, Introductory Essay to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
Jonathan Edwards, "A Divine and Supernatural Light Immediately Imparted to the Soul"
Martin Luther, "Justification by Faith" (Luke 16:1-9) in The Protestant Pulpit, ed. by Andrew Blackwood
Charles Spurgeon, "The Minister's Fainting Fits"
Charles Spurgeon, "The Blind Eye and the Deaf Ear"
Geerhardus Vos, "The Scriptural Doctrine of the Love of God"

David Powlison

B. B. Warfield, "Imitating the Incarnation" ("The last page and a half offers the most riveting description of the goal of Christian living that I've ever read.")

Fred Sanders

Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man
Athanasius, "Letter to Marcellinus on the Reading of the Psalms"
Lancelot Andrewes, Private Devotions

R.C. Sproul

Jonathan Edwards, "A Divine and Supernatural Light"
This section of Luther's last sermon at Eisleben

Carl R. Trueman

R. V. G. Tasker, "The Biblical Doctrine of the Wrath of God"
Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness"
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" [the most brilliant statement (and example) of clear prose—something which pastors and theologians need to grasp.]

Bruce Ware

R.C. Sproul, Lecture on "The Locus of Astonishment" (A brief summary is availablehere. For a similar talk, listen to "When Towers Fall.")

Donald Whitney

Charles Spurgeon, "The Minister's Fainting Fits," from Lectures to My Students.
Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on "The Eternal Name," from Ps. 72:17, no. 27 (New Park Street Pulpit), May 27, 1855 PM
Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on "Baptismal Regeneration"
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "'But God': The Christian Message" (Ephesians 2:4)