One way to look at this is to, first, consider what it would be like without God in the midst of pain and suffering. This situation rings with hopelessness, thus intensifying, the emotional distress that comes with suffering. On the other hand, experiencing pain and suffering with the knowledge of God keeps us from giving up. This is because…

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Many philosophical reasons have been proposed to address the problem of human suffering. C.S. Lewis believes “God shouts at us in our pain.” Others believe pain brings us closer to God. Still, others believe that suffering refines our character. All of these arguments assumes a certain response from the sufferer. God can shout to us in our…

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I think about and anticipate heaven a great deal, whether life is good or bad. I have never had live so good that I stop anticipating heaven. In fact, in my best moments I often consider that heaven is far greater than anything I can experiencing on earth.

I do not think it is unrealistic or unfair. Nevertheless, I do not believe that God is offended by any question from his children, as long as the the question is an heartfelt desire to know and understand the ways of God. I believe God wants his people to ask him questions when they do not understand phenomena. I can think of many questions in… Read more

The September 11 attacks in New York is a prime example. Although I was not there in person, I watch through the media, the tremendous outpouring of people pulling together to help and bring comfort to those who were affected. This include but not limited to the emergency services such as police, fire, EMTs, etc. Many people volunteered their… Read more

The word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Ps 119:105). This makes it the perfect defense against danger, alerting us to dangers that are lurking ahead. In fact, this warning system can keep us from much of the pain we encounter in our lives. Of course we must walk in obedience in order to reap the benefits of God's word… Read more

Many people have found the need to come to God’s defense in the presence of pain and suffering. They know that God is good but find it difficult to reconcile this goodness with the reality of evil. But since God did not see it necessary to explain himself to Job, he might not see it necessary to explain himself to us either. We can trust God… Read more

Suffering can awaken us to this reality by causing us to reflect on our own mortality. We seldom contemplate death when things are going well. This is because we are consumed with earthly matters such as jobs, family, vacations, etc. Of course, these things are not bad by themselves. In fact, these are all necessary aspects of earthly… Read more

Pressure can cause us to become either biter or better. It all depends on what is in our hearts. But if we are children of God, we have the Spirit of God and therefore have the potential to shine brighter than any diamond eater the refining process is complete. Suffering has proven to be an effective tool for refining human character. It… Read more

The freedom to choose carries with it the idea of more than one alternatives. At times these alternatives oppose each other such as doing good or withholding good. A caregiver can choose to give or withhold medicine from a patient who is in need of such medicine. The decision to withhold such care could be motivated by hate or other… Read more

The first criteria is Consistency. This criteria seeks to identify which of the available documents cohere with previous Scripture. In this way, no scripture can be said to contradict other scripture. Second, there is catholicity. This menas that documents must be univesally acepted by the Church in order to be worthy of canonisation.… Read more

The body of Christ is made up of many members who are dependent on each other for the full functioning of the body. When one member hurt the whole body hurts and when one member is blessed the whole body is blessed. As we live out the fruit of the Spirit in community, the whole body ripens when one member becomes mature in a particular area.

It is true that Christ has set us free from sin. It is also true that we are no longer under the law. This means that we are free to obey Christ and no longer have to fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh. Nevertheless, we are still living in a world that is cursed and characterized by sin and its desires. As such, we are still tempted… Read more

The word walk denotes a slow gradual step-by-step progression toward Christlikeness. This indicates that the path to holiness is not necessarily a sprint or a flight, but a deliberate putting of one foot in front of another.

Before Christ came and set us free, we were in bondage to sin. Such bondage produced sinful desires that we fulfill by doing sinful things. Since God is holy, we were unable to please Him in such a state. After Christ set us free, we were, for the first time, free to please God. This was made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection.

God’s call for Hosea to marry a wife of whoredom was to portray Israel’s unfaithfulness to its covenant with God.

They began as a single kingdom but became two after the death of Solomon. Nevertheless, God regarded both as His people and demanded the same loyalty to the same covenant.

This type of reading of Scripture easily assigned multiple meanings to any particular text, many of which can contradict each other. It should be evident that contradicting claims cannot both be true. The surest way to avoid such subjective and contradicting claims is to recognize that the author had a single meaning in mind when he penned the text.

Believers should relate to each other in a spirit of love even if they interpret a passage differently. Believers are defined by their love for each other not by their ability to interpret scripture the same way.

Dr. Robinson taught that preachers find themselves simultaneously in several worlds. First, there is the Ancient world of the Bible. In order to understand that world we must know something about its history, language, and its culture. Next, there is the modern world in which we live. Then there is the particular world, the place where… Read more

Preaching is a divine commission and I believe it honors God when we do everything we can to do it well. The fact that it is commissioned by God is great motivation since we are assured that God’s stamp of approval is upon it. Another motivating factor is that preaching is the means by which God save sinners and adds them to his kingdom.

I would suggest listening, observing, and asking questions of those who do it well. Having listened and observed, and asked, put into practice what you have learned. Ask someone you trust to give you honest feedback. As them to be as honest as possible.

From listening to the lecture and reading the text book, I have to say that hat deductive comes more naturally for me. Usually, I state the idea as part of my introduction so that the congregation is clear about what I’m talking about. After the introduction, I use the rest of the sermon to explain, prove, or apply it.

Although exegesis is indispensable to the preparation of a sermon, a sermon is not simply a biblical passage carefully exegeted. After the process of exegesis, the preacher must take the fruits of his exegesis and relate it to his contemporary audience. This is where the homiletic idea comes in. Since the goal of sermons is to secure some… Read more

Knowing what the audience is hostile about or why they would be unreceptive would be good information to start with. I cannot imagine a church congregation being hostile toward their pastor or even a visiting preacher as he approaches the pulpit. This is not to say they are sitting expectantly on the edge of the pews waiting for you to mount… Read more

Adoption is the privilege, of becoming children of God by being admitted into His family. It is made possible by our union with Christ because of His finished work on the cross. This means that although we were enemies of God by virtue of our sins, we are now children of God by virtue of adoption.
The story has been told of a family in the… Read more

Actually, it's very difficult to imagine a sermon without a defined goal. The goal of the sermon determines where the sermon is going. If there is no goal then the sermon may end up nowhere. If there is no goal the preacher would not know when he has arrived since there was no place he wanted to arrive at. If the preacher does not know where he… Read more

Since prayer and dependent on the Spirit is a given for anyone who is preaching the Word, I suspect that that is not what the question is asking. This is not to say the Spirit is not involved every step of the way. We just cannot see or even feel him in any specific way. Whether two weeks or two months, I would choose a topic that is the main… Read more

Another way to develop a sermon idea is to compare it. A question to ask in this regard would be, “Is it consistent with the rest of Scripture?” Every sermon idea must be consistent with the teaching of scripture as a whole. It cannot contradict other principles taught in Word. Comparing it is a system of checks and balances to ensure that what… Read more

Another way to develop a sermon idea is to “compare it.” A question to ask in this regard would be, “Is it consistent with the rest of Scripture? Every sermon idea must be consistent with the teaching of scripture as a whole. It cannot contradict other principles taught in Word. “Comparing it” is a system of checks and balances to ensure that… Read more

I cannot answer this question with any certainty. In fact, my honest answer is that I don’t. Nevertheless, I do believe that preaching is essential to the body of Christ and that men are called to do it. I am trying to study and learn and practice and make myself available to preach.

I do not preach very often but on one occasion I was given the passage and told to preach on it. On another occasion, I was told, ‘Speak as the Spirit leads you.” I have often heard preachers say that the Holy Spirit told them what passage to preach from as well as what to say. I prayed and waited but I can’t say that I had that experience.… Read more

By asking the question, “What is the writer talking about?,” you are trying to discover what the text is all about. However, this is not enough as you also need to understand what the writer is saying about what he’s talking about. The answer to the question tells us what he’s saying out what he’s talking about. The subject, therefore, would… Read more

Ideas involve abstract concepts. Images/stories are more practical. They involve people and specific circumstances that we can personally identify with. Jesus’s parables were effective because they involve people and circumstances that everyone could identify with. Having recognised ourselves in the stories, we are better positioned to apply… Read more

I don’t do a lot of preaching, although I hope to one day. I don’t know if I have ever experienced the working of the Holy Spirit in a way that I can positively identify. I could take some guesses as to what I believe was the working of the Spirit but I can’t say for sure.

A Sunday school teacher sitting with a group of three-year-olds with a picture storybook, telling the stories of the bible is a valid means of communicating biblical truth. A professor in a Bible college or Seminary delivering a lecture to students is also a valid means of communicating biblical truth. A street preacher calling to passersby… Read more

Actually, I have never considered this question before. Listening to the lecture from Dr. Robinson, I can see how the personality of the reader can affect how they read. Still, without giving my specific situation more serious thought I’m able to provide a fair answer to this question at this time. I have been reading the Bible for a long time… Read more

We had a visiting pastor from another country at our church. Actually, he was not only visiting, he had recently accepted a contract to be the full-time pastor. In one of his early sermons, he used an illustration from the culture regarding the habit of adult children who refused to leave their parent’s homes. Actually, he was dead wrong… Read more

Many years ago I heard a sermon on a radio program that had a profound impact on me. The text for the sermon was Matthew 7:21-23 and the theme surrounded the idea of false conversion. I have been a Christian for about three years at that time and I have never considered the idea of a false conversion. It was powerful to me because it was… Read more

We live in a highly scientific age today. This has convinced many to conclude that science is the only lens through which to view reality. This has led many to accept a naturalistic view of reality; totally ruling out the supernatural. This has caused many to view the Bible as urban myths rather than the words of a supernatural… Read more

The most significant thought for me during this series of lectures is the idea of the preacher as Middleman. All the metaphors used in this regard were very significant because they identify the preacher as one who is working for God. In one metaphor, he is God’s steward, entrusted with God’s word. In another metaphor, he is an ambassador,… Read more

This was a good experience for me. It took many days because I chose the book of Revelation and wanted to read it a couple of times and do some additional research. I wanted to identify the book’s central theme so that I could base my outline on the theme. It turns out that this was very tedious as I could not nail down one particular theme.… Read more

I’ve always maintained that Revelation is much more than satisfying our curiosity about end times. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever believed that. Thanks to the points of applications outlined in this lesson, I believe I have a better appreciation of the purpose of the book and how to apply it to my own life.

It would be difficult for anyone who reads Revelation through to the end to come away with the idea that it is a depressing book. In fact, every good drama, the kind that we all love, involves conflict. And every writer knows that the conflict must reach a climax and then be resolved. Revelation is no different. However, the conflict is… Read more

Everything from chapter 4 through to chapter 22 is difficult for me. The lecture provides encouragement in the sense that it was meant to be understood by the audience to which it was written. Also, it was meant to reveal and not conceal. Whilst I believe this information, I’m not sure that it translates into, “o.k., great so I… Read more

Yes, it has.

Since the book was written in the first century to a first-century audience, it is reasonable to believe that it would have been understood by its original audience. Since the type of literature would be familiar to a first-century audience, then they would have understood it better than we would today. Also, the historical setting would… Read more

According to Dr. Blomberg, the New Jerusalem is significant in that it represents the reality that Christians of all ethnicity will share in the blessings originally made to Israel.

Anyone who wants to read Revelation should first gain a general understanding of all of Scripture. This would include some familiarity with other prophetic and apocalyptic writings in scripture.

The beatitude I have chosen is Matthew 5:11-12. In this passage, Jesus talks about being persecuted for the sake of Christ. Having read and reread the passage I concluded that the main theme is persecution and how Christians should respond to persecution. First I considered the passage from the context in which it was set, that is,… Read more