The Whole Counsel of God: A Strategy For Preaching All Scripture
by Daniel Mann I did not have a good plan for preaching when I first became a pastor.[1] My first pastorate began on the first Sunday meeting of a church plant. I preached a few topical series that were foundational and useful for our church, but I had not thought carefully enough about how my approach to preaching would shape our church. From the pulpit, I would often state that our church believes that all Scripture, from Genesis to...
Faith in A Dry and Dusty Land
Need is an incredible motivator. Impending danger to a loved one can propel even the meekest person to face down fears and threats that would usually paralyze him or her. The presence of need focuses our attention precisely on a specific problem. Our vision irises down to a single point and everything else is set aside for the moment. However, when we give our full attention to the dangers we perceive in our lives, we sometimes even...
HSF Conversations: “Tell Me About Your Sermon Prep” with Corey Minter
In this episode of HSF Conversations, we discuss sermon preparation with Corey Minter, pastor of the New Hope Free Will Baptist Church in Joelton, TN. Corey gives us some insight into his sermon prep throughout the week, some resources he has benefited from, how he helps children focus on the sermon, and how he prepares himself spiritually to...
Frittering: A Christian Crafting Life
One of my favorite picture books is Ox Cart Man by Don Hall (illustrated by Barbara Cooney). It depicts the seasonal, artisan productivity of a New England settler family as they work throughout the year to grow, harvest, and create the items they will then drive to town and sell in order to do an even better job at growing, harvesting and creating the following year. The father works all winter splitting shingles and carving a new...
Evangelism in Prayer and in Practice
A recent study by Lifeway Research confirmed what pastors and church leaders know to be true from experience: “Most Christians say they’re ready, willing and praying to have conversations about their faith with others, but many admit they haven’t gotten around to actually having those conversations recently.”[1] More specifically the survey revealed that while over 80% of believers expressed an openness to discussing their faith with...
Reflections on the Purposes of Marriage
I was privileged this past May to officiate a wedding, my third such occasion. I am so grateful to the happy couple who asked me, who I consider dear friends. After introducing the service and singing some great hymns of the faith, I preached a homily that was meant to instruct, encourage, and inspire, before leading them in the exchanging of vows and rings. In this post, I share an adaptation of my homily, which reflected on four...
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