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.
Genesis 15:1−16:16
Mature faith even in unfavorable circumstances enables the believer experience blessing and bring blessing to others.
Taking the patriarch outside to view the night sky, God unambiguously asserts that Abram would have innumerable seed. Yahweh who “brought forth” Abram from Ur (15:7), could surely “bring forth” a heir from Abram’s body (15:4), as he illustrated by “bringing out” Abram to view the night sky (15:5). To this Abram responds with faith (15:6). But
Dennis Johnson: How I Preach
Dennis Johnson: And this is How I Preach …
[Dennis is a scholar, and a thoughtful one at that. On matters relating to centering sermons on Christ, he comes from a venerable Reformed tradition. He has been teaching practical theology in Westminster on the West Coast and is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church of America. We shared a podium at last year’s Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society and I felt his perspective on preaching related matters
Genesis 13:1−14:24
Correction of faithless behavior and return to faithful obedience to God’s demand, trusting in God’s sovereign timing to keep his word, results in divine blessing.
There is a clear sense in which Abram’s departure from Egypt in Gen 13 is a positive event—a return to the sphere of divine blessing, for there are allusions to the exodus of the Israelites from that land: Abram “goes up from Egypt” (13:1; and Exod 17:3; Num 20:5; 32:11; etc.); he is enriched in Egypt
Steve Mathewson: How I Preach
Steve Mathewson: And this is How I Preach …
[Steve’s been a fixture in the camp of serious thinkers of preaching. Particularly on preaching Old Testament narrative, this man’s wisdom is worth tapping. And his three decades of preaching experience have given him an abundance of that rare commodity. We shared a conference session last year at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The gracious and kindly soul he is, he consented to participate
Genesis 11:27−12:20
God’s blessings are fulfilled through obedience that sacrifices and that relinquishes human contrivances in favor of an unshakeable trust in God.
Primeval history (Genesis 1–11) leads to patriarchal history (Genesis 12–50). The former ends on a rather depressing note: mankind seems prone to sin, and sin only seems to worsen with each generation. After the Tower of Babel episode, it seemed to have all gone irremediably awry.
But at the outset of his story, Abram is
Kent Anderson: How I Preach
Kent Anderson: And this is How I Preach …
[Kent Anderson has been in ministry and involved heavily with the field of homiletics for several decades. And he is a charter member of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. Not to mention his enthusiastic activities of authoring and blogging (check out his blog here). He’s been a fixture of preaching in evangelical circles all over Canada, and
Lectures
Videos of the 2015 Griffith Thomas Lectures at Dallas Seminary (February 3–6, 2015), have been uploaded here. Each of the four lectures is about 40 minutes in length.
February 3: A Vision for Preaching: Importance
February 4: A Vision for Preaching: Impact
February 5: A Vision for Preaching: Implications 1
February 6: A Vision for Preaching: Implications 2
More about the lectures here and here.
Let me know what you think ….
(And a heartfelt thanks for all y’all’s
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.