Pentecost 19 B: Accepting a Cup of Water

Mark 9:38-41* Dear Partner in Preaching, From whom would you accept a cup of cold water? I ask that question because I think this week’s reading contains some of the more heart-breaking lines in Scripture: “And we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Just pause and think about that for a moment. The disciples come across someone who, as they report to Jesus, was “casting out demons in your name.” That is, they came across someone who was relieving intense misery, following Jesus’ example (keep in mind that Jesus’ first act of power to demonstrate God’s coming kingdom is to cast out a demon), and doing so...

501! – Presenting Tim Wengert Sep18

501! – Presenting Tim Wengert

If you happen to be in or near the Twin Cities September 30 or October 1, I want to invite you to Mount Olivet Lutheran Church (5025 Knox Ave., Mpls) for several events featuring Dr. Timothy J. Wengert, Emeritus Professor of Reformation History at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Beyond being a world-renowned Reformation scholar and the author or editor of more than 20 books, Tim is one of the finest teachers in the church today. He was my advisor and mentor while I was a student at LTSP and the most important and influential teacher in my career. If you’re in the neighborhood, I hope you’ll come by. And feel free to...

Christ for Us

On October 31, 1517, a monk teaching at the relatively new university of Wittenberg posted a set of theological arguments on the door of the castle church in order to invite an academic debate. This was not terribly out of the ordinary and nine times out of ten – actually, make that 9999...

What Do We Want from the Sermon Jan27

What Do We Want from the Sermon

I’ll start with a confession: for the better part of the last five years I’ve been losing confidence in preaching. This isn’t a commentary on the preaching I’ve been hearing, I should be clear, as I’ve been quite fortunate to worship in several congregations with engaging preachers. Rather, it’s preaching in general in which I’ve lost confidence, my own preaching included. Why? Two main reasons. First, as I look around at the culture, the form and shape of our preaching seems increasingly out of touch. In a culture that is increasingly participatory, our preaching is still primarily a monologue. In a culture passionate about...

What Do You Want From a Sermon? Jan13

What Do You Want From a Sermon?

I am working with some pastors in NW Iowa on preaching. They are largely from the Reformed tradition — Christian Reformed Church, The Reformed Church in America, and their various Reformed cousins — and have been meeting together for a couple of years with the help of a Lilly Endowment grant to support preachers administered by Calving Seminary‘s Center for Excellence in Preaching. Apparently they stumbled upon my book, Preaching at the Crossroads: How the World-and Our Preaching-Is Changing (cool)…and liked it (very cool)…enough to invite me to conversation (beyond cool! 🙂 ). We haven’t just talked...