We get the word "narcissism" from Greek mythology. Narcissus was an extremely handsome young man. Echo fell desperately in love with him. He ignored her and broke her heart, yet she continued to love him.Their ... Continue Reading...

Three small boys in a poverty section of town are standing in front of a grocery store talking vigorously, gesticulating with their arms. Then all three enter the grocery.One goes to one side of the store and t... Continue Reading...

Some liturgical persons are so scrupulous that they go to confession six, eight, or ten times a day confessing more and more minute sins. Martin Luther suffered this kind of bondage and pestered his confessor, ... Continue Reading...

In this second article on the significance of personality disorders for your and my work as preachers, let us concentrate on what Erich Fromm describes as "the packaged personality."He speaks of this particular... Continue Reading...

The articles in this series focus attention upon some of the tacit, non-verbal messages that go back and forth between the preacher and the audience in the interplay of personalities between the preacher and th... Continue Reading...

I was startled when I read the February, 1987 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. The lead article is entitled "Self-Portrayal by a Depressed Poet: A Contribution to the Clinical Biography of William C... Continue Reading...

A remarkable discovery occurs in the preaching event when you and I probe some very ordinary life situations to their biblical depths. We find the Eternal God appearing as Stranger in the stress and strain of t... Continue Reading...

When the Old and New Testaments speak of the Presence of God two recurrent metaphors are used.The first metaphor is found in the words for "face": panim in the Old Testament and prosopon in the New Testament. I... Continue Reading...

This series on "The Presence of God in Preaching" is a sequel to a book of mine now being published by Word Books, Inc. as The Presence of God in Pastoral Counseling.I purpose to examine the work of preaching f... Continue Reading...

The word "crisis" in English means a time when a particular situation must either go on, be reversed, or be changed in a new direction. It is a "decisive moment" or a "turning point" in the course of human exis... Continue Reading...