The Importance of Reading Scripture Out Loud
It is a fascinating fact of intellectual history that, in antiquity, reading was not the silent, solitary endeavor we assume today, but rather an event of the spoken word—aural, communal, performative. Words in text, in other words, were not merely for the mind but for the ear. Consider the account in Acts 8:30. Philip, upon […]
Preaching: The Importance of Context and Clarity
Middle school students have a way of humbling you. I was speaking at our student ministry’s midweek gathering and closed with a reference to the apostle Paul. Running short on time, I chose to jump in without any thought given to context. I read Acts 28:30-31, “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his […]
Bible Sales are up 22%. What Does That Mean?
I recently saw some good news in a Wall Street Journal article explaining that, according to book tracker Circana Bookscan, Bible sales have increased 22% since last fall, and signs are that it will go higher. Man, that is good news! What is driving it? The author of the article suggested that “worries about the […]
How Can We Treat the Bible like Jesus Did?
In times of increasing skepticism about the Bible’s authority, we need to return to who Jesus is and how He viewed the Bible. (See articles 1 and 2 here.) How can we treat the Bible like Jesus did? We respond as Jesus did: We submit to Scripture by believing and acting on it. Believing It […]
Seven Lessons from ‘The Confessions of St. Augustine’
“For Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rest in Thee” (1.1). So begins the acclaimed memoir from St. Augustine of Hippo, the 4th Century Christian bishop and thinker. In his famous thesis statement, captured at the end of the first paragraph of his writing, Augustine succinctly applies its truth […]
How to Preach with Consistency? Q&A with Dr. Jason Poznich
*Editor’s Note: With the demands of ministry and Sunday morning around the corner, it can be tempting to cut important corners in sermon preparation. Sometimes, it’s easy to emphasize what “will preach” and not pay much attention to what the text actually teaches. I recently caught up with a preacher/professor of preaching who aims for […]
Why Is the Bible So Hard to Understand? 3 Reasons
Why is the Bible so hard to understand? Here are some key takeaways from this article: The Bible can be hard to understand because we don’t take time to see what it says. We need to learn the skills of “observation.” The Bible can be hard to understand because we don’t take time to figure […]
Do You Have Spiritual Heartburn?
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32, ESV) These are the words of the two disciples who walked with the resurrected Lord that fateful day on the road to Emmaus. They were kept […]
