• Wanderlog

    Something True

    A few months ago I was listening to an interview with Seth Godin on The Moment with Brian Koppelman. (I discovered The Moment through Russell Moore’s podcast.) Godin is a well-regarded author and speaker on the subject of marketing in the 21st century. I got a lot out of the interviews I’ve heard with him, but there was one thing in particular that really struck me. In fact, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. He said, “I need to tell myself something true in public every day.” I’m not entirely sure why this resonated with me the way it has. But I do know that…

  • Wanderlog

    Preaching Method

    I’m not a preacher; I’m a theologian. But now that I’ve graduated seminary I sometimes have the honor of preaching. And as someone who just barely passed the two required preaching courses while he was focused on other things, I’ve had to go back and really develop a theology and strategy of preaching. It should go without saying that it’s a work in progress, but I’m at a place now where I’m comfortable with my system—which means the next step is to share it. Maybe someone out there can benefit from what I’ve learned, but either way there’s always room for improvement and maybe you can help me see where.…

  • Wanderlog

    Annual Meeting in Review: ETS 2015

    Last week I made my usual pilgrimage to the place where all the evangelical seminary geeks converge: the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. This year was the second time Atlanta has hosted since I began attending, and it was fun reliving early autumn just before the snow arrived back home. Over the years I developed a strategy: make plans to attend nonstop papers, then throw out those plans when relational opportunities arise. This year the program was a bit light, but thankfully the people made up for what was lacking. When reflecting on the meeting I was reminded of just how good last year’s meeting had been. This…

  • Bible Study

    Sanctify Us with the Truth

    Introduction I’ve been a big fan of the Bible all my life. As a child I was amazed by the miracles God did. As I got older it was His character that captivated me. These days I’m intrigued by His wisdom. I want to know how He thinks, what He’s planning, how to make sense of His creation. The Bible is at the center of my relationship with God, and it always has been. But the Bible isn’t God, and the Bible isn’t the whole of my relationship with God. So why is it that I always come back here? I believe that God reveals Himself in Creation and in…

  • Bible Study

    The Story of Death (2/15/15)

    Outline Intro: The Matter of Life and Death Death as Punishment Death and God Chinks in Death’s Armor The Death of Death For Now We Wait Closing Thoughts: Ash Wednesday Introduction: The Matter of Life and Death A friend once told me that Christianity is a “culture of death.” This was of course a reversal of Pope John Paul II’s 1995 condemnation of the modern culture of death, which sees the weak as useless at best—a burden to be eliminated. He pointed to the crucifixion, the Old Testament sacrificial system, and the way we seem to look forward to death so that we can go to heaven. In a strange…