Hevel.org: A Chasing after Wind

Here is the text of the sermon I preached this morning, focusing on Hosea 11:1-11.  Believe it or not, I did not set out to write a “Father’s Day Sermon.”  I don’t think the church needs to buy into every cultural holiday that comes down the pipe, and I don’t like the idea of having [...]

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Some of my friends are in the middle of a discussion on Facebook about how to approach the teaching of Hebrew in seminaries: whether to use Bible programs, what grammar to use, etc.  Underlying this discussion is the reality that seminaries and denominations have been dropping the language requirement like a bad habit over the [...]

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This summer I will be teaching a course for laity at the Foothills Presbytery of Upstate South Carolina titled “Theology of the Old Testament Prophets.”  We will meet 7 times, with 3 hours per session, on various Saturdays and Tuesday evenings in July and August.  Anyone within driving distance of Greenville is more than welcome [...]

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I enjoy watching religious television because it is so darn entertaining.  Whether it’s the electric miracles of faith healers or the smooth platitudes of Joel Osteen, there is usually something on to help me forget that I’m supposed to be working.
After a few minutes, however, I remember that not everyone watches this stuff for its [...]

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AKMA posts a wonderful quote from Trollope this morning on the subject of bad preaching, particularly on the effect that bad preaching has on the parishioners.  Lord knows that I have heard plenty of sermons that produced this response:
We desire, nay, we are resolute, to enjoy the comfort of public worship; but we desire also that [...]

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Our topic in the Kerygma Sunday School class yesterday was Deuteronomy 4-6, with a quick look forward into chapters 28-30.  [We are basically working out way through the Bible, and currently using Collins' "short" introduction as a starting point.]  I had the opportunity to discuss Hebrew translation twice in the lesson.  The group doesn’t know [...]

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Wow, I’m not sure what to say about McGrath’s post today.  Evidently some random person who reads Exploring Our Matrix sent a letter to James’ pastor to rat him out for holding heretical views.  I commend James for his calm response to the situation, and for his insightful reflection on doubt, fear, and ostracism in [...]

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Recently, John Anderson wrote about his appreciation for Kenton Sparks’ Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible. In looking up the book on Amazon, I ran across Sparks’ volume from last year, God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship. My review copies arrived this [...]

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[This is the third installment of my series, Introducing the Prophets.  It is a long post, but hopefully the subheadings will help you navigate to the parts that interest you the most.]
Pick up the Bible, turn to a random section of the prophetic literature, and start reading.  Do you understand what you are reading?  What [...]

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Ezekiel 16 and 23 are perhaps the most rhetorically bracing passages in the Hebrew Bible.  John Hobbins over at Ancient Hebrew Poetry tells a story about how he preached on these verses at his aunt’s traditional church, complete with his own vivid translation.  I have to say, he has more guts than I do.
He promises [...]

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