BOOK REVIEW - "EXPOSITIONAL PREACHING: HOW WE SPEAK GOD'S WORD TODAY (9MARKS BUILDING HEALTHY CHURCHES) BY DAVID HELM

 

What is Expositional Preaching? What are its advantages or disadvantages to other styles of sermons? How does one construct a good Expositional (or Expository) sermon? By the way, I heard Focus On The Family's former Vice President of Church and Clergy H. B. London state there were four types of sermons: Expository, Topical, Biographical, and Longhorn. What's a Longhorn sermon? Two points with a lot of bull in between.

If you're not familiar with Expositional Preaching, this short book by David Helm is an excellent introduction. A brief definition is a sermon based on the Biblical text. This type is designed to focus more on what God said in Scripture rather than our opinions. 

Helm starts off with some errant forms of contextualism. Then, he deals with three key parts of a expositional sermon: 1) Exegesis (getting into the original languages and determining what Scripture is saying to the original audience), 2) Theological Background (Biblical theology, Systematic theology) and 3) How it applies today. Helm holds that if you're skipping one (or more) of these, your sermon is not accomplishing what it should.

You may have seen me review other books of this series. The series is excellent, and that includes this book. I recommend this book and the rest of 9Marks' Building Healthy Churches.

IS THERE ROOM FOR THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IN A CLOSED CANONICAL WORLD? - A LOOK AT PROPHECY, PART 4 OF 5

 

Bishop Blesses a Church, by Marie Ellenreider.

 I've heard of a church that collected the prophetic utterances in the congregation, and consider them equal to Scripture. I noticed a similar thought with Sarah Young's devotionals in the Jesus Calling Study Bible. A new phenomenon? No. The Montanists had the same thought about their "New Prophecy" in the 2nd and 3rd century, encouraging the formation of an official canon.

Let me start by saying that I believe the canon is closed. There is no new Scripture being written today. What is included in the Protestant Bible is sufficient for us.

So is there room for special revelation today? More to the point of this series, is there a place for the gift of prophecy even though the canon is closed?

Allow me to give several points on why I believe in a "yes" to the above.

1. We have the Holy Spirit in us directing us. That is special revelation. 
2.  Not everybody has access to our closed Canon. There are many people groups that have no Scripture, no knowledge of who Jesus is. I have no problem with the sign gifts (including prophecy) being used by God to establish His word now as He did for those who have access to God's Word.
3. Canon comes from the Hebrew word quaneh, which means cane or measuring stick.  Whenever we hear a sermon or a Christian song, let alone what someone is prophesying, I need to compare it with the Canon, just as the Bereans did when Paul and Silas taught the Gospel in their synagogue (Acts 17:11). We should NEVER take someone's word that they're speaking God's truth without comparing it with Scripture.
4. What about those who say that if it agrees with Scripture, it's not necessary and if it disagrees, it's unbliblical? No disagreement about the second clause, but concerning the first: well, does God ever need to repeat Himself? He does in Scripture. The Ten Commandments are given in both Exodus and Deuteronomy. Psalms 14 and 53 are basically identical, the final five verses of Psalm 40 are repeated in Psalm 70, and Psalm 108 is a mixture of the endings of Psalms 57 and 60. There are prophecies that appear in more than one prophecy book. And of course there are two sets of the history of Israel's monarchy and four accounts of Jesus' life. Maybe God wants to remind us of something we should know but have forgotten (either unintentionally or not).
5. Could your pastor be forthtelling God's Word as he preaches? I once filled out an application for pastoring, and it listed a set of preaching styles including one titled "the prophet." They defined that style as one who focuses on contemporary issues and applies God's Word to those items.
6. I mentioned a couple of days ago that spiritual gifts are meant for the local church. Is it possible God has a message for an individual or a local congregation that is more specific to specific circumstances, such as property purchase, a planned ministry, etc.? 

You may agree with me, and you may not. You may have a batch of Scriptures used in context to refute me. But hopefully, I've given something to think about.

BOOK REVIEW: EXPOSITORY APOLOGETICS BY VODDIE BAUCHAM

 

Is apologetics solely the job of trained intellectuals who can stand toe to toe to the philosophers and scientists? Voddie Baucham doesn't believe so. This book deals with how pastors, teachers, parents, and any other believer can defend their faith.

The concept of the book started when a friend of Voddie asked about one technique he uses in preaching and if he could teach it. That method is bringing up questions skeptics/unbelievers would ask and then answering them. Voddie commented that he's not the first to use this approach - Paul does the same thing in Romans.

I highly recommend this book.

Have you ever had the opportunity to defend the faith? What books have you read about apologetics?

ENTERTAINMENT VS. PROPOGANDA

 Anybody else here familiar with the 1982 Oscar nominated "Missing" starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek? 

For those who aren't, the story takes place during the Chilean coup of 1973 and the US' involvement. It focuses on a man who disappears and the efforts of his father (Lemmon) and wife (Spacek) to find him. 

SPOILER ALERT. At the end of the movie, they find the body of that individual. The father tells the embassy that he's going to sue the US government over it, where a worker replies, "That's your right."

"No," the father replied, "it's my privilege."

The first thought that crossed my mind was "Good for you, standing up to those bullies." My second thought was "And that's what the movie's director wanted me to think." I left the theater feeling manipulated.

True, the director was on the left end of the political spectrum. However, my ideological opponents don't have the monopoly on playing emotional puppet master. I've seen some videos recently which are promoting a message I whole heartedly agree with that are poorly written and unashamedly try to play on one's feelings.

Many sermons are designed to trigger an emotional response. There's a popular Christian song that left me feeling my feelings were used. I've read a couple of Christian novels recently where the faith element seemed to be included for the sole purpose of the book being for the Christian market.

Can you get a message across without that manipulation? Yes. I read the novel Jurassic Park. By the time I finished it, I got the strong feeling that author Michael Crichton had written the story as a warning against genetic engineering. But his appeal went to my mind, not to my emotions. It made me think; it did not make me react.

I am an artist, but I'm also a preacher at heart. My creativity is channeled through my Christian worldview and has a purpose to communicate as well as to be quality product. So I do have the concern of trying to get the message to the brain as opposed to tugging and playing with one's heartstrings.

In the novel I'm writing, I have characters with different viewpoints. One way to keep from manipulating is to present more than one perspective and to avoid to stereotypically have the good guys agree with me and the bad guys disagree. 

Are there examples where you feel manipulated by a work of art or a non-fiction book or reporting? Are there examples where your thinking is challenged but where you don't feel manipulated?