I recently saw a comment online that gave me pause. The claim was that unless a preacher loves to spend hours and hours studying Scripture, he’s not really preaching, but is putting on a show. There is certainly some measure of truth to this claim. There are those for whom preaching is self-centered. Some desire…

The book of Proverbs is filled with wisdom. This wisdom covers all sorts of topics related to a life of faith, from the very pursuit of wisdom (Proverbs 2:1–15) to avoiding adultery and other immorality (Proverbs 5:1–5) to the call to avoid laziness (Proverbs 6:6–11). A significant part of true wisdom is knowing and understanding…

So often we can read the letters that make up much of the New Testament Scriptures and forget how deeply personal they are. Consider 2 Timothy. The apostle Paul had been arrested and spent a few years awaiting a trial in Rome. He was eventually released and it is quite likely that he made it…

Throughout the Gospel of John we see Jesus performing numerous miracles and signs that reveal his true nature to us. Whether he is demonstrating his authority over creation by walking on water (John 6:16–21) or turning water into wine (John 2:1–11) or claiming to be the one through whom one has access to God (John…

I approach a text for preaching with three basic questions on my mind. First, what does the text actually say? Second, what is God saying to this particular group of people through this particular text at this particular time? Third, what is the best way to say it? Since a text can say many things—and…