Monthly Archives: June 2011

From Commentary on Mark 6:12-13

Uncomprehending and ill-prepared disciples nevertheless typify believes in every age and place who are sent out by the Lord of the harvest. No matter how much exegesis, theology, and counseling one has studied, one is never “prepared for ministry.” A genuine call to ministry always calls us to that for which we are not adequately prepared. It is only in awareness of such that the Christian experience the presence and promise of Jesus Christ, and learns to depend not on human capabilities but on the one who calls and in the power of the proclamation to authenticate itself. . . . Everything, even the poverty and simplicity of the messenger, indeed even the courage to be rejected, must conform to the Word that affirms that God is infinitely more `

Expository Preaching in the OT

So I have a bunch of pastors that I know and respect as the best expository preachers. I have looked through their sermon libraries and found that they rarely, if ever, preach through an entire OT book. People will preach through Jonah, Ruth, Job, Zechariah or some minor prophets. They preach the life of the patriarchs and creation. They preach from Psalms & Proverbs.

I understand that we are NT Christians, that the OT foreshadows the NT, that our main diet of preaching should be NT. But I also believe we are to preach the whole council of God. Why don’t preachers preach OT books expositionally, verse by verse, chapter by chapter? Isn’t this what Christ did? I’m not suggesting the application of the Chistological hermeneutic, but I am suggesting that we do too little with the OT text. If these men haven’t been able to do it with their mature congregations what hope have I. It seems that we give the OT too little attention and cast it off as a least favored child. This just doesn’t seem right.

Thoughts?

C.H. Spurgeon on Prayer

I am listening to a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon from sermonaudio titled “True Prayer-True Power” and Mr. Spurgeon makes the statement:

I believe there is as much reality in a Christians prayer as in a lighting flash and the utility and excellency of the prayer of a Christian may be as sensibly known as the power of the lightening flash when it rends the tree, breaks off its branches and splits it to the very root.

Time to Catch up

So I have still been listening to various messages but I have fallen off the wagon as far as posting on them. So without much commentary here are some messages that I have listened to recently:

A Small Business Man by Sinclair Furguson

Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns, interview by Kevin Swanson of T. David Gordon

Evidences of Genuine Faith by Mark Minnick

I also watched most of the two video series on sermon preparation found here by Dr. David Murray from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.

I found each of these presentations beneficial in different ways. I continue to find Minnick the best preacher, I concur with the vital need to consider singing and the affections, I found many of the sermon preparation helps to be very good. I would recommend each.

Priorities of a Good Church

John MacArthur preaches a message on what defines a “good church” in this three part sermon titled Priorities of a Good Church (I have listened to the first message and part of the second). During his Grace to you intro he indicates that the primary motivation for this series was questions from students at Master’s College. This was a chapel message rebroadcast over the GTY program. I would not classify this as an expositional message as he does not preach from a single passage, nor does has he exegeted any passage in its totality. Rather, he supports his points from a variety of scriptures.

He begins by stating that the choice of a church should be done based on substance not on style–“Style is seductive.” His first point is that a good church has a “high view of God.” He contends that a high view of God produces Godly lives. This he supports both from Prov 9:10 and through a review of Lev 18 & 19, where the people are instructed to behave according to certain standards because “I am the Lord your God” and “be ye holy for I the Lord thy God am holy.” He states that “shallow worship is a byproduct of a shallow view of God” and “soft words produce hard hearts and hard preaching produce soft hearts”

I intend to complete the three part series tonight and will update this post with my impressions from the remainder tonight.

Evidences of Genuine Faith

Mark Minnick preached a message on apostasy titled Evidences of Genuine Faith. This message was taken from Hebrews 3:12-14. The warning that he issues to the audience was obviously rooted in his pastoral experience and years as a professor at Bob Jones University. How heartbreaking it is to encounter a church member (or in his case a former student) that no longer darkens the door of a church, or who even denies the basic tenets of the faith. In his audience of 5000 he notes that if 90% remain true to the Gospel that this leaves 500 people that will depart the faith. In a church congregation of 100 it leaves ten wanting.

First Minnick identifies as those that were among the church but were not part of them them. That is they had never placed saving faith in Jesus Christ though they may have placed mental assent in the facts of the Gospel. Secondly, he suggests that the true mark of a Christian is love of Christ. He mentions that though there are times when every Christian experiences times of coldness they are cognizant of that fact and will move to address this position.

I thought that the message was faithful to the Scriptures and appropriate to our time. How many people do we know who sit home every Sunday or who give no thought to Jesus Christ from week to week? How can anyone know such a glorious God and spurn Him in that way? I’m sure that Minnick’s message found receptive hearts in chapel as it did with me. How we need to be ardent with the Gospel!