Engaging the Society

Ben Bacon asks an interesting question in the comment section of the post “What’s Missing from Your Preaching.” He writes:

Great observations, Sherman. Our social structures and customs are not the same as when the biblical writers first penned the Bible. In a way, all preaching engages the culture because of the unique nature of the scriptures themselves. What principles would you encourage for engaging/critiquing your own culture in a sermon? What place does it hold in the sermon itself?

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Celebrating Today and Tomorrow

It was not really that long ago when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr dreamed of a better world and then had the audacity to go out and attempt to bring that world into reality. A reality that included a world without racism. A reality that included marching for poor people and workers who were taken advantage of. A reality that included not being invovled in unjust wars.

Today We Celebrate the Movement

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Do You Have Power in Your Sermons?

The Apostle Paul wrote that the Gospel was the Power of God unto Salvation. (Romans 1:16) As I contemplate this scripture, I come to the question, is there power in my sermons? If I am preaching the Gospel, then there must be power in them. Power to break strongholds, the power to change lives, the power to bring salvation to the weak, the power to break addictions, the power to bring good out of evil. The power to change structures of evil.

Telling us What’s Wrong

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I am a Planter – Part 3 Planing Seeds

I am a planter. This means that I not only extract and re-arrange, but I deposit. We do not leave the soil empty, disturbed, and void. Far from it, we leave the ground altered by adding to it. We plant seeds! We plant seeds of hope, that hope that is in Christ and His gospel. That hope that shows the more excellent way of being and doing. We plant seeds! The seeds of self reliance and mutuality. We plant seeds! The seeds of community, and communal interdependence. We plant seeds!

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I am a Planter – Part 1 Digging Weeds

While reflection on my brief tenure in the pastorate I can say in all honesty that there is no greater joy than to work in the area of one’s passion. For about two months I have been living in a region of the country completely foreign to me, involved in an immense act of service towards individuals who constantly perplex, surprise, and at times even serve as a source of agony. Nonetheless, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing!

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