Dennis Johnson on the (Corporate) Purpose of Christian Preaching

In his monumental book on homiletics (and hermeneutics), Dennis E. Johnson devotes an entire chapter to Col 1.24-2.7, a passage he describes as “encapsulat[ing] in brief compass much of the Bible’s teaching on the purpose of preaching” (pg. 63).  From this passage, he extracts/unpacks the following seven themes “that conveniently summarize the apostle’s theology of…

The Role of the OT Tabernacle and Temple in NT Worship

A comment Richard made sent me down a thought-tangent which ended by reminding me of a conversation I had a few years back with a friend about art in worship. My friend was reminding me of how excellent and beautiful was the craftsmanship that went into the materials of the tabernacle and temple.  In light…

Short but Sweet: Stellman on Liturgy

How many times have we heard evangelicals (especially of the Jesus-people variety) claim that they don't get caught up in the "religiosity" of "churchianity" as expressed in things like "liturgy"?  While the simplistic notion that a church doesn't have a liturgy is easy enough to refute, Jason J. Stellman puts it succinctly: All churches have…

Willimon on the Busy Church

While I'm studying/reading about the church and culture, let me share this jewel by William Willimon & Robert Wilson.  It is found in their Preaching and Worship in the Small Church (Nashville: Abingdon, 1980), 39-40.  To set the context, Willimon and Wilson lament the way so many churches have taken the spotlight off Sunday, the day…

#1 Selling Beer, Rock Concerts, and Your Neighborhood McMegachurch

Now that I'm done with this book, I'm convinced that all Reformed pastors should at least skim through it - especially church planters in suburbia! As I mentioned in the earlier two posts on this book, Twitchell, who does not claim to be a Christian (he's an "apatheist" in his own words) went to loads…