preaching

Preaching or Performing?

By Joel Hess –

“A desire to preach without the burden to study is a desire to perform!” HB Charles Jr.

The above declaration absolutely pummeled me this past week. Thank God. It is so easy for a pastor to cut study from his work week. So many emergencies interrupt and there are so many little things to do. Writing a sermon becomes just another task to mark of the to-do list.

It’s especially dangerous as the preacher reaches his twelfth year. He has preached every text and prepared for every book of the bible. At the drop of a dime, a competent pastor should be able to preach a decent law and gospel sermon on any given text without it being bad.

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Encountering Lutheranism

By Scott Keith –

Two weeks ago I wrote about meeting with my cousin for the first time in twenty years while at the Christ Hold Fast conference. Again, it was an incredible time for me. What I did not say in that blog is that my cousin has a husband and two daughters whom I have never met. I can not tell you how much this distresses me. I want to meet them. I want to know them. I want to see how much her daughters look like she did when she was young.

Out of the blue, a couple of weeks ago, I got a Facebook instant message from my cousin. What I write in this blog is a response to that message.

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The Pastor’s Pastor

By Ross Engel –

Another successful “Bell Ringer” fund collection has come to a close. It was with great joy that I was able to send off $350 to 4th Year Seminarian, Michael Daniels. If he sends us any pictures of he and his classmates enjoying a round on your generosity, we’ll be sure to post them in a future post or on our Facebook page. What a great group of readers we have who are willing to support such a worthy cause! Thanks!

I truly love the opportunity that the Bell Ringer fund affords me to get to know the variety of guys who are busy studying and preparing for the ministry. Their excitement to serve the Lord and their starry-eyed hopes are often a refreshing change from the stressed out, over-worked, cynicism that so often accompanies the gray-haired pastors I often find myself in conversation with.

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Pulpitless Preachers and Other Useless Crap

By Paul Koch –

I’ve often wondered about my own kneejerk reaction to all things bureaucratic in nature. It seems to have always been a part of my character, but it hasn’t always been beneficial. It has got me in trouble more than once throughout my life and since being ordained as a pastor, it seems to have gotten worse. Because of this tendency, I am usually outside looking in wondering why no one will take my contributions seriously. Or, on the other hand, I’m on the inside constantly being the asshole in the room (this happens more often than I would like to admit). Sometimes I simply chock it up to being a Gen-Xer and living up to my generational stereotype or maybe it’s just an unfortunate personality flaw.

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God is Faithful

By Paul Koch –

I first met Raymond Whitt when he entered into my study in Kingsland, Georgia and shook my hand. Though he looked quite old he still had that firm grip of a man who worked hard throughout his life. Raymond had recently lost his wife, and when he began to talk about it his strong and conservative appearance dissolved into tears of immense grief.

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We Don’t Need Sports

By Bob Hiller –

I recently had a great conversation with some old friends about why I like sports. Not being fans, they could only see the negative impact of sports on culture, higher education, and the church. Though I vehemently tried to defend the benefit of sports, much of what they said resonated with me. What is wrong with sports? Or, perhaps a better question is, what is wrong with our attitude towards them?  Is there something wrong with playing and watching sports?

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Gathering the Captives

By Paul Koch –

Though we may not always know it at the time, when we look back over our lives, when we examine our wandering path to the point in life we find ourselves now, we can often identify moments that were crucial in determining our current destination. They may have been certain decisions that helped to reinforce our character, like choosing to help someone in need or pretending we didn’t see them. It could be the way we’ve responded to stress in our lives or our resolve when tragedy strikes. For there are moments in all of our lives where the way we understand who we are, our values and desires, our self-understanding of our purpose will be tried.

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The Exodus

By Paul Koch –

The season of Epiphany is drawing to a close. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and with it comes that somber and reflective time of year called Lent. Compared to Lent, Epiphany is an exciting time of the church year. After all, an epiphany is a manifestation of something divine, a moment of sudden insight or revelation. And so Epiphany begins with appearance of a star that leads Magi from the east to worship our Lord. Then we focused on the

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The Preacher’s Library

By Paul Koch –

I will never forget the time I had right before I left the seminary for the parish; I was happy that I was able to spend a few days with Dr. Feuerhahn before hitting the road. I remember being in his study and he was generously unloading some of his excess library on me. We were there because I had mentioned to him that one of the great fears I had about leaving the seminary, was leaving behind its incredible library. To walk away from the library was to walk away from the promise of answers held within its stacks.

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To The Brim

By Paul Koch –

The story of the wedding feast in Cana is truly one of the most joyful and pleasant stories in the Gospels. There is no animosity, no direct opposition to our Lord, no condemnation of any kind. Jesus, along with some of his first disciples, join his mother at a wedding. The setting is one of laughter and joy. It’s a scene of wine drinking and friendship.

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Lazy Theology

By Graham Glover –

I’m a stubborn person. According to my wife, I have a tendency to be too stubborn. “You need to lighten up” she says from time to time.

I admit that I could “chill out” of some things. I’m no care-free, fly by the seat of my pants type guy, but I know that life doesn’t always need to be so serious and intense.

However, on one issue I will not budge

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