Preach the Word – May/June 2020
Volume 23, Number 5 Go Deep As you know by now, I’m a fan of simple preaching. I love Luther’s assessment of a good preacher: “He’s the best preacher who can teach in a plain, ...
“Do Not Be Afraid!” The Urgent Message of Easter Messengers
What fears do you, like the two Marys in Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 28:1-10), bring with you to the tomb this Easter week? Perhaps never in our lifetimes has it been as easy to identify a ...
Preach the Word – March/April 2020
Volume 23, Number 4 What's the Point? I have a confession to make. I once attended Joel Osteen’s church. Okay, twice. I went twice. My wife and I lived in Houston, TX for a year, ...
D̶o̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶H̶a̶v̶e̶ Where Are Your Blind Spots?
Isn’t it quite stunning in Sunday’s gospel (John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39) that the only one besides Jesus who seems to see things clearly is a blind-from-birth beggar? The disciples see this blind beggar, but they ...
“God, I Thank You That…”
My sinful nature needs little nourishment to feed smug self-satisfaction, but an unbelieving world provides a smorgasbord. If it’s not another mass murderer semi-automatically butchering people, then it’s the drug deal gone bad with bullets ...
Preach the Word – January/February 2020
Volume 23, Number 3 Preaching to the Choir Biblically Illiterate In March 2018, The Wall Street Journal had to issue a correction. The previous day, a journalist had quoted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ...
Jesus Is Still Partnering with Unworthy Instruments to Fulfill All Righteousness
In Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 3:13-17), it’s not hard to grasp why John would have sought to change Jesus’ mind about who would baptize whom. John had just finished confessing that he was not worthy to ...
Gaudete! Rejoice! Really!
Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 11:2-11) seems a strange choice for the Sunday historically known as Gaudete (Rejoice). As the curtain opens on Matthew 11, the scene before us is John languishing in Herod’s dungeon. Gaudete? Rejoice? ...
Purify My Eternal Hope, Lord Jesus!
When it comes to our hope of eternal life, which is more dangerous: to say too little or to say too much? To say less than Scripture says or to say more? Or, to use ...
Preach the Word – November/December 2019
Volume 23, Number 2 The Blessing of Knowledge I have a sister and a sister-in-law who are both nurses. I love them both dearly, except when they start to talk together about nursing. Then the ...