aBeLOG
Welcome to the aBeLOG, a series of (hopefully!) fortnightly posts on all matters homiletical. I intend to touch on whatever grabs my attention regarding preaching—issues contemporary and ancient, ideas hermeneutical and rhetorical, personalities conservative and liberal, publications antiquarian and avant-garde. Essentially, I’m going to follow my own homiletical olfactory instincts up rabbit trails and after red herrings. Comments are always invited and appreciated.
Big Idea Interview
The other day, Matt Woodley of Preaching Today (an arm of Christianity Today) interviewed me on their “Monday Morning Preacher” program about an article I had written last year in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. That article (“Time to Kill the Big Idea?”), a couple of responses from others, and my rejoinders to those responses, can all be found on this page.
Interview here. Enjoy!
Hermeneutics and the Gift of Singleness
Dr. Hershael York is the Dean of the School of Theology and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY). This enterprising young man is also senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. And, to me, Hershael and his wife are good friends.
(Several years ago, I featured him on these pages in my “How I Preach” series.)
When I was at Southern Seminary in March of this year to deliver the Mullins
Ephesians 1:1–14
God who blesses his people, redeeming them for his grand plan to consummate all things in Christ, is worthy of being blessed.
This opening section of the book of Ephesians, at first blush, seems to be rambling. But one notices that God’s grand design is clearly stated in 1:10—“the consummation of all things in Christ.” Right now, everything is broken, undone, chaotic. But one day, in God’s grand design, everything is going to be integrated, harmonized, and aligned
Refresher!
Another quick note …
Dallas Seminary is organizing a Preaching Refresher (with me as the “refreshment”) on Monday, July 20, 2020, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm Central Daylight Time. On Zoom.
I don’t intend to talk that long, of course. Perhaps for half the time, reserving the rest for Q&A. So here’s your chance to “refresh” yourself with some of the new takes on preaching and to clear your doubts.
Registration has a minimal charge,
Preaching & The Joseph Story
I have had the privilege of having Josiah Boyd in my class when he was a Master of Theology student at Dallas Seminary. He is now working on his Doctor of Ministry degree, while pastoring Oakridge Bible Chapel in Oakville, Ontario, north of the border.
Over the years, we have maintained a blessed friendship, so when he asked to interview me recently, it was a privilege to oblige. Josiah had recently preached through the Joseph Story (Genesis 37–50) and wanted to get my
Preaching @ Northwest 2020
Quick note …
I am preaching at Northwest Bible Church, here in Dallas, on July 5, 12, 19, and 26 (9:00 am and 10:35 am).
Four sermons on 2 Timothy: Completing the Course!
[Please check here for streaming links and restrictions on numbers attending due to COVID-19.]
[For other speaking events, see here.]
Ephesians: Introduction
This is the first in a series of posts on each pericope of Ephesians, essentially a distillation of what is in my Ephesians commentary (more on that here).
The theme of Ephesians is clearly established early on in 1:9–10.
… the consummation of all things in Christ—
the things in the heavens and the things on the earth in Him.
Ephesians 1:8–10
God’s plan, his “administration/working out of the fullness/completion of time,” is to “consummate/bring together/unify
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching. 