Preaching The Cross: An Interview With John Phillips

Through his preaching and writing, John Phillips has become a beloved resource for thousands of preachers. A gifted expositor of scripture, Phillips is becoming known to a new generation of preachers through Kregel's publication of his "Exploring the Word" series of expositiona

God Is The Hero Of The Story

I am grateful for the observation of New York City Pastor Tim Keller that when we preach the message of redemption from all the scriptures, we speak with particular power for a post-modern generation because of its appetite for story. That appetite is not always whetted by Biblical perspectives,

If You Could Tell Your Preacher…

Eight Themes From People Who Listen To Sermons If you had one or two things you could tell your preacher that would help energize you when you are listening to a sermon, what would they be? That question was the last one put to 263 people interviewed for a study sponsored by the Lilly Endowme

The Preacher As God’s Steward

Scripture is under attack in our time as provincial, partial, and nonapplicable - even in some conventional churches. Tradition is viewed by many as too binding, and there is a growing revolt to be independent from the past, to break with what has been valued, thought, said, and done by sainted

Preaching And Story: An Interview With Max Lucado

Through nearly 50 books which have sold more than 28 million copies, Max Lucado has become one of the best-known preachers in America. Since 1987 he has been Pulpit Minster at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. A former missionary to Brazil, Max has been featured in national television prog

Mug Shots

As best I can determine, I was the last American to enter a Starbucks. For years I watched them appear on every corner of every block of every city, secure in the knowledge that - as a non-coffee drinker I would never need to enter. Then people started asking me to have meetings with them in Sta

Francis Of Assisi

Birdfeeders, lush gardens, and ancient cathedrals are the contexts that most of us associate with Francis of Assisi. If anything more of substance occurs to us regarding Francis is might be his association with animals, though he was not a veterinary, or his popularity as a spiritual all star in

Three Questions To Simplify Sermon Preparation

Preparing a sermon is hard work. Ironically, the more one reads about how to prepare a sermon often complicates the work, making a tough job even tougher. Before putting pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard), the well-read preacher with a biblical text in front of him must first decide how t

How NOT To Guilt Our Listeners To Death

Will The Real Convert Please Stand Up? You are heading to your office after finishing a sermon on "The White-Hot Holiness Of God." The theme was somber, to say the least, and the congregation seemed quietly contemplative - too hard to gauge whether or not the message hit home. You