There are occasions where you need to know a lot, and maybe be exhaustive. But that habit can hurt us badly when it comes to other, more practical, areas.
Category: study
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Many of us were deeply influenced for Christ by the churches we went to while we were at university. Those of us who are graduates probably have fond memories of packed churches, open bibles and full notebooks. And it tugs at our hearts strings when we think of the Sundays we normally face. Now, we
Christian ministers frequently report bad backs and shoulders. Mine became so bad that I ended up in surgery at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital a few years ago. I’ve no idea if we deviate from the norm on this, but I’ve a hunch (I know, I know) that hours spent sitting reading as well as using
Each Sunday I’m giving out handouts for the sermon, rather than just leaving an empty box (‘For your sermon notes’) on the church notice sheet. Why go to all the extra cost and effort? Here are my ten reasons: As a preacher: 1. It forces me to a point of clarity all the way through
There’s a curious, clarifying moment that happens. It’s impossible to engineer, but without it preaching feels lifeless, by rote. And it’s not something that happens in the moment, during the preaching itself. It happens days earlier, in the study. I find it goes like this: I’ve dug deep into the text, and done all my
I have a desk. But my friend Peter has two. Why? Why two desks when he can only use one at a time? Because he’s a shrewd old Christian, and he knows the temptation of the mind, even a disciplined mind, to flit to the nagging task that is calling for our attention, away from
One of the ways I waste time on the computer, is by typing the same stuff over and over. The same email addresses. The same websites. The same information. Know the problem? It was the kind of thing that we were supposed to have left behind with typewriters. Enter the world of text expanders. These
The easy way to plan your sermon series is to open your Bible, mark up your main section divisions, and go with those. But that’s letting someone else plan your series for you. So here’s what you can do instead. First, get to know the book well enough that you get a feel for its
Two new Bibles have just thumped onto my desk. They are both handsome specimens of their kind, and I thought it would be worth reviewing them side by side. The Proclamation Bible (PB) is produced with the aim of equipping preachers. It is based on the 2011 NIV, and a magnificent range of practising preachers
I nearly drowned this week. Not physically, but mentally. I’d started work on a talk, and pulled four commentaries off the shelves. A couple of hours after I started using the first one I realised that I’d hardly begun. This commentary was B-I-G, with well over a hundred pages on my passage. Should I spend all
I think the shortest time I ever had to prepare a talk, was around five minutes. It was all down to a blissfully simple misunderstanding. A friend was arranging an evening on world mission, with a variety of speakers from around the country, key folk from local churches, and a number of mission agencies. Quite
I got it wrong again this week. In public, which was a touch embarrassing. .. I was speaking to a group of pastors in training, looking at the priorities of ministry from Acts 6. You know the story – the needy widows were being overlooked in the food pantry, so the apostles arrange for a
I’m not a big fan of multitasking. I’ve been persuaded, both by the research and my own experience, that working on two things at once makes me less efficient at both. Phone calls while emailing mean we do less well on both fronts, making more errors. So I’ve never really listened to people who have
This is what the Proclamation Trust have said, in their EMA review: “The latest BST book is a robust look at the Bible’s theology on being gathered together. This will be good for leadership teams and also thinking church members. A useful addition to your churches bookstore.” Highly commended Evangelical Ministry Assembly 2013 Details of
From the time you leave home on Sunday morning to the time you get back, approximately a gazillion thoughts have flitted through your head. Some are trivial (because I assume your mind, like mine, occasionally wanders during a song. Shocking, I know). Some are important, but they strike you at an odd moment. And now,
As I’ve thought about the books I’ve read over the past year, one stands out as being remarkable for its depth and relevance. It has a shrewd understanding of what it means to be a Christian and a church living increasingly on the edge of society. And its author understands the temptations we face, whether
Ever since I was an undergraduate I’ve had on my shelves Don Carson’s survey of New Testament commentaries. It’s his notes on every commentary and series that he’s read (a lot), with best buys marked up. It’s gone through various editions, been joined by Tremper Longman’s OT survey, and later this year will have its
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