Horizon 7.24.2025

     There are times that the preacher must prepare for the long haul. Not just the planning part, but the actual composition and even completion of a message, article, or lesson. There are times that we have to follow our plan and trust God that the message from His word will be timely and effective at a date, which for us is now over the horizon.

    Someone whose common practice is to fly by the seat of their pants will likely feel quite uncomfortable in this kind of scenario. Being accustomed to a “Just in time” approach to preaching and having little research invested in or work completed for future projects, or even just bringing future work forward feels rushed to the preacher and will, unfortunately, look and sound rushed to everyone else. 

    I must assume, if you are reading this, that you have not gotten tired or bored with my constant and unrelenting campaign to convince and teach you to systemize, plan, and project your work forward. Think of it this way. If you are always pulling work from the future to do it as soon as you can, you won’t be panicked when you have to do it because you have other things that call for your attention. For example. I’m leaving for camp this coming Sunday afternoon. My sermon for this Sunday (That of departure) is finished. Long before I go to camp the sermon for the following Sunday will be complete. Today. It was finished today, 11 days before it will be preached.  In fact, most of my work for the next 5 weeks is finished. Why? You may ask? Why go to that trouble? 

    Well, when I was making my plan and composing my sermon calendar I was able to look over the horizon and anticipate what was coming. Because I knew that the summer would be crowded with camp and other activities that would cut into my preparation time I worked as much of the plan as I could months and weeks in advance. After all, there are only so many options. 1) The world ends. 2) Individual death. 3) The future gets here. Being surprised by tomorrow is foolish and shortsighted. The inability to look over the horizon to what is next is not only lethal for preaching—it does not work well for any endeavor.  

    As I look over the horizon, I know I will be preaching from 1 Timothy. I have been doing background work for about 6 or 7 weeks. I wrote most of the content for my current series many weeks ago. That sermon I “finished” today for August 3? It was basically already complete. I just needed to edit it, point it up a bit, refine a little of the language and produce the final deliverables. Of the 12-15 hours invested in that message only about two and a half of those hours were needed to complete it this week. That prior preparation allows me to look over the horizon without fear and into the past without regret. I have done the best I could, not only to write a compelling message but also to redeem the time available to me to do the work God has called me to do. 

    To that end my camp lessons are done, and I am working on this blog essay right now so that I can post it early and move on to the post for July 31. Please understand. This is not bragging and I’m not superman. You can work this way too! This is not “natural”. This is virtually all learned behavior. And like many behaviors of people my age, the lessons were learned the hard way, often late at night. How ever much experience you have and regardless of your age your preaching will benefit from pulling forward as much work as you can from over the horizon. Plan well and anticipate where you will be. Break the work up into manageable chunks so that you can work horizontally (All the sermons or lessons in a series), vertically (one after another), as well as chronologically (Sunday to Sunday). 

    Once again let me remind you that this call to preach encompasses and defines your entire life. Your work needs to proceed upon a growth path, and it needs to be sustainable. When I consider the Church and look at our bench right now, things are not good. Many preachers become discouraged and quit. Others become disinterested. Even more are dismissed. Often by people with an axe to grin who should not be in the position to make such determinations. Many of those pulpits, regardless of the reason for vacancy will go un-filled in the near term. Many will remain vacant for a very long time. 

    We need more preachers, and we need the preachers we already have, to grow, mature, and adapt to the times in which we live. The source of our message is always the same. How we work and the process of doing ministry may change. It has changed in my 40ish years of ministry, and I anticipate more change over the horizon. Whatever is coming you and I are called to teach the Church the content of Scripture so that we might extend our Kingdom reach even further. We make disciples and instruct disciples to face whatever the future holds for the Church. Preacher, you need to be the first to gaze over that horizon to ensure that God’s word resonates in the present.

Utility, Practice, Presence 7.17.2025

    Because Sunday is never more than 6 days away the preacher must be ever mindful of when work on a sermon ends and piddling begins. You might wonder what the difference is. And you might be curious about why someone like me, who sees to prattle on endlessly about preparation and preaching, would make such a distinction. “Isn’t all you think about nothing more than piddling around with your preparation, writing, and preaching process?” No, I don’t think so. Allow me to explain. 

    The reason I spend so much time thinking and writing about these important topics is because I’m not certain that they get enough attention in the Post-Modern Church. Many of the things that are written, far too much of the advice is in and of itself piddling and fiddling around the edges.  It doesn’t help the preacher to consider the text, to mine the theological and spiritual resources to be discovered, nor to communicate those truths with greater clarity. Too much of this incessant, piddling clatter is all about utility. And when utility is the solitary goal, you eventually stop looking at what is essential and Biblical, cutting out the very heart of preaching. 

    The constant examination of the Biblical text for things that are immediately applicable practically guarantees that there are parts of the Bible that will be ignored. Because there are central truths of scripture which are designed to mold us spiritually or to form our character. These texts teach a process of becoming--not a program for doing. Much of Scripture, particularly in the New Testament is written to fashion each of us into a person who does not need to be told what to do. We are expected through practice to increase the utility of Scripture in our own lives. Preaching that does for the congregation that which they should be done individually and in concert with others is an active disincentive to being formed into the image of Christ. 

    A utilitarian view of scripture—reducing it to the lowest common denominator of practicality is to impose on scripture the limitation of what Neil Postman called Technopoly. At that point the Bible is nothing but a tool. When molded by a Technopolitan view of Scripture several things happen. First, a tool-based view of scripture is reductionistic. The Bible is certainly not reductionistic. Scripture is multi-textured and addresses multiple facets of the human person simultaneously. To put it bluntly it cannot be pigeonholed. Additionally, we find that we are not only molded by our tools—but more importantly we are molded by our conception of what those tools are and what they do. What does not express immediate utility or becomes inconvenient is easily discarded as either too complex or non-functional. Finally, the conception of the Bible as tool allows us (Preacher, teacher, congregation) to discard those bits that are not easily translatable to contemporary cultural standards. What is claimed to be greater clarity is generally nothing more than “Dumbing down.” 

    The internal, spiritual, mental, ethical, and existential conflicts recorded in Scripture are not there just so that we can avoid them. They are in Scripture so that we have guidance—both by example and instruction, of what we should do when we encounter them. 

    So yes, when we read the story of David in 2 Samuel 11 & 12 and the record of his repentance in Psalm 51, we are encouraged not to sin as he did, but we are also given advice, counsel, and example of how one repents. And how to deal lovingly and firmly with those who are repenting. Reflecting upon this interaction of narrative, story, and verse in this extended episode is in itself a valuable exercise in hermeneutics. Yes, David repented. But a baby died, and all hell broke loose in his kingdom. Far too many preachers will preach the parts that are easy and simply ignore the conflict, debris, and despair. David is not a great example for an age that longs for easy, painless repentance. A longing which from a Biblical standpoint is illusionary. 

    Our reading of scripture, our preparation to preach, and the sermons themselves can never be an exercise in mere utility. There is a better way that goes beyond piddling around with easy explained truth-bits that are easy to preach and easy to hear. 

Rather than utility our goal should be practice. And while jokes are often made about doctors or lawyers that “practice” rather than work, those professional examples are valid. By practice we mean a routine and regular approach that adds deeper insight and more effective execution. Not perfection. Doctors, lawyers, and yes, even preachers always have more to learn. Practice is the right conception for us because on our final day working on our final sermon, we will still have imperfect knowledge and limited understanding. 

This model also works for the individual disciple. Every day we act to become more like Jesus. We do not achieve perfection, but we keep on walking. We keep on listening. We keep on serving. We may switch the cross from one shoulder to the other, but called to carry it, we continue. The day we die we will know Jesus better, the Scripture more intimately, and love the Church more dearly—but never perfectly. 

    The goal is not what we do with Scripture but what it does to us. The utilitarian, technopolitan view of Scripture which discards the difficult, and waters down the wearying, robs us of the very presence of the Christ, who was named Emmanuel and promised to never leave or forsake us—even when the way is difficult and wearying and His words may seem ambiguous. 

The call of discipleship is a call to walk constantly with Jesus and to grow more completely into His image. In hearing His voice in Scripture there are some things we will hear that seem counterintuitive… “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39 ESV)” they sound counterintuitive because they are! The Kingdom follows different standards than those of the Empires of this age and the cultures that define us. 

“Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)

 If all you are ever looking for is something to please the congregation or that reduces the message of Christ to a few convenient bullet points you will at first be confused and then a little disappointed. Remember this, when Jesus was asked “who is my neighbor?” His response was not a soundbite or three easily digested points—He told a story. 

    Learning to focus on deepening Spiritual practices and accepting the complicated presence of Christ as it is expressed in full variety of scripture makes for heathy preaching and healthy Churches, but it is not easy, and it can be a little messy—let me rephrase—really messy. Not because yours or my view of scripture is not high enough but because the reality of Scripture is more complex that the “Three points and a poem” approach allows for. 

    Your preaching must be more than timely advice, lifehacking, or helpfully therapeutic. The fact is that the Biblical story of God’s pursuit of humanity (a pursuit, I might add that takes place while we are in full flight from Him) is far more complex that we sometimes allow. There are times when the questions peculate to the surface (Why did Jesus choose Judas?) Rather than scrabbling about looking to rephrase the question or piddling about on another simplistic sermon diagnosing a problem your church doesn’t have so you can offer a solution that won’t help—why not simply preach the rich, wild, untamed diversity of the Word. You may not be able to offer 3 or 4 performative acts that make people feel better. And that’s fine. Perhaps the text for this Sunday will focus more on what God does? Or maybe rather than encouraging an action or deed it will describe a state of our heart, a condition of our morality, or a principle to embrace. Those lessons are not wasted. Sometimes they are the point.  

Challenges that Lead to Change 7.10.2025

Johnson, Luke Timothy. Constructing Paul. The Canonical Paul volume 1. Grand Rapids (Mich.): William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.

    This will not be so much a book report or a review but a reminder of the peril we face when we come to our studies with an open mind, a desire to learn, and a mandate to read the scripture responsibly. The peril of which I speak, far from being negative is overwhelmingly positive. There are too many changes we overlook because our conventional approach does not include the opportunity for discovery. It is far too easy to move forward without allowing the time for us to be truly challenged. Lacking such challenge, it can be difficult to change. 

    I am immersed in the long preliminary research for a series from 1 Timothy which will begin in September. I have lots of books about Paul, his outlook, his letters, his theology, and how to interpret all the data. One of the tasks that is ending is accumulation and sequencing of Bibliography. What books, monographs, studies, and articles do I have, and in what order shall I read them?  I open electronic resources in Logos and Accordance. I open PDF documents in Acrobat Reader. I peruse my analog archives (shelves) for both books well used and loved, and those I may have ignored. 

    Seldom is the process radically blown up. It was this time. Luke Timothy Johnson’s (Hereafter abbreviated as LTJ/LTJ’s) Constructing Paul vol. 1 is that kind of work—challenging some assumptions, confirming others, and questioning everything. His conceptual approach to the Pauline letters, the whole canonical testimony to the work of Paul was refreshing, candid, and ruthless. He took the academy out behind the woodshed and exposed many of the “accepted results” of Pauline studies for the shibboleths and prejudices that they are. He demonstrated not only command of the vast secondary literature but also of the Greek Text of Scripture, the LXX of the OT, and the vast corpus of 1st Century Greco-Roman literature. 

    He didn’t so much as defend Pauline authorship of those epistles attributed to him but eviscerated the banal, traditional, and unquestioned tribal commitments that impugn and defame the Canonical Paul. This is not a defense of anything or anyone. It is an offensive campaign against bad scholarship passed off as the commendable and acceptable. 

    He does comparative analysis. He does exegesis. He looks at Pauline habits and scholarly short-cuts and makes it abundantly evident that many scholars fail at the most elementary tasks. This process of responsible, analytic work is essential not only for those who teach in the academy but for those of us who preach and teach every week. 

    I began the process of examining the Pastorals in general and 1 Timothy in particular, with a rather large reading list. That list has been substantially reduced. I find myself underlining and annotating subsequent reading by drawing my attention back to those fundamental procedural moves of LTJ. He dispensed with notions of “The primary letters of Paul” and “Paul’s central theological concern” by exposing them to be false academic idols. He did not do this by posturing or name-calling. He did the work. He compared, contrasted, questioned, and exegeted. Again, he did what we should do for every sermon series. And my understanding not only of Paul has been changed but also my approach to 1 Timothy. I have greatly reduced the amount of time I will spend attending to the scholarly grinding of axes and increased the amount of time I will have to actually consider what Paul wrote. 

    Challenges should lead to change. If you are the same preacher and scholar, you were 25, 10, 5, even 2 years ago you’re doing something wrong. We don’t accept challenges and attempt new things to show off we do so to get better at what we are called to do. It can be refreshing and invigorating to throw off constricting viewpoints that do not contribute to the ultimate end of understanding and explaining the text. I’m not doing anything different, but I am approaching everything with a new understanding. 

    What of those other books? Some will get read but I will not feel guilty about those I miss. I was already through most of my NT Introductory materials when I came to Johnson, but I still have a large number of commentary introductions I need to look at. 

    Change can be scary. Thankfully it has been a rather long time since I have preached from 1 Timothy, so I don’t have to dive into my own recent sermons to see if I misrepresented or misunderstood anything.  I can move forward knowing that the groundwork is being laid for a productive exegetical experience. Then of course, I hope to write sensible, practicable sermons. One thing I won’t have to do is worry about ol’ Paul. He’s right where he’s always been at the very heart of the NT canon.

Slip Sliding Away 7.3.2025

     Tomorrow is the fourth of July. It is the birthday of our nation. For some it is the “big leagues” of picnicking. Many towns across the USA will have an evening gathering to shoot off fireworks to enhance the celebration. In my little town along the banks of the mighty Wabash we shoot our fireworks off over Labor Day weekend. I will, however, be able to stand or sit on my back porch and take in the displays from several surrounding communities. All joy with no noise nor traffic! 

     The first thing that comes to my mind, believe it or don’t, is that Independence Day serves as the unofficial mid-point of summer. Unofficial of course because 1) The actual beginning of summer was 11 days ago. 2) The continued evolution of the school year means that the vacation part of the summer now ends closer to the beginning of August than the end. For traditionalists and those who mark the passing of time by milestones the Summer season divides in thirds. Memorial Day to Independence Day, Independence Day to Labor Day. According to that metric we are passing the two-thirds mark. In the words of the contemporary prophet Paul Simon, Summer is “Slip Sliding Away. There is nothing we can do about the passing of time. We can’t slow it down or even control it. What we can do is invest that time, evaluate what we have done, and steward this—our shared unrenewable resource. 

    I know that you are busy about the business of picnic preparation or thinking about relaxation and holiday plans. Allow me a moment to remind you of what you can do to remain focused on remaining time we have in 2025 so at the end you won’t lament as Paul Simon did

           And God only knows, God makes His plan
           The information's unavailable to the mortal man
          We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
         Believe we're gliding down the highway when in fact we're slip slidin' away

Written by: Paul Simon Album: The Essential Paul Simon Released: 200 Lyrics provided by Musixmatch

    While it is true that we do not have the same information the Father does about the big picture of the passing of time, we do have, if not control, at least visibility into the days, weeks, months, seasons, and years of our own lives. What can we do to maintain a bit of perspective on the passing of time? To begin with let’s frame this discussion with a couple of scriptural ideas that will help us to maintain perspective. Simon is correct, our access to time and space is not the same as God’s. But that does not mean that we are helpless before the passing of time. Moses reminds us in Psalm 90 of both our fragility and our chrono-limitation

“10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10-12 ESV)

Solomon calls us to remember that we alone, among all of God’s creatures have a consciousness of the passing of time and that our conception of existence is pervaded by an eternal perspective

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV)

And the Apostle Paul reminds us that though time is a fleeting commodity we may still take responsibility for how we use the time that God allots us to live, love, and serve Him. In that time, we may seek Him for salvation “For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV) And we can use wisely and well the time Gives us: “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16 ESV)

     We cannot keep time from passing nor can we ever get any more of it. We can however make the best use of the time God gives us living with an eternal perspective combining gratitude and integrity. To that end I have four simple steps we can take, here at the midpoint and other times during the year to ensure that we are not constantly flogged by guilt for wasting our time. 

Review

    Record what you do. Go back over your records and remind yourself of the plans you have implemented and what you have accomplished. Remember the people whose lives you have touched in some way and consider how God has used your preaching, your pastoral work, your planning and leading His Church, the various programs you have participated in and the steps you have taken to improve your professional performance. The heart of what we used to describe as “redeeming the time” is knowing where it went. 

Evaluate

    It is not an effective review if you don’t give yourself a grade or score of some kind. You must evaluate not only where the time was spent but how well it was used. Did you achieve what you intended? Were there opportunities to maximize what you were trying to accomplish? You need to be realistic. Most of us tend to either grade ourselves too highly or too harshly. Strike a balance. If you cannot be objective about your own performance enlist some help—a friend or colleague to help you evaluate your performance. 

Inventory

    You know that half-the year is past! You still have half to go. Fifty percent of your time is waiting to be invested in preaching, teaching, caring, and preparing for your kingdom work. Do you have the rest of the tools you need? God gave you the time, you need to make sure that the other resources you will need to do your appointed task are ready to go, honed and sharpened for the job ahead. If you lack anything, this is the time to make up for the shortfall. 

Plan

    What’s next? You should be following a well-considered yearly plan. Now is the time to sit down with it and mark it up a bit. Have things the last 6 months gone according to plan? Does the plan need further calibration? Have I overlooked something? What do I need to do to execute this plan to the best of my ability in each of the next relevant reporting periods? 

    Moving into the last third of the summer means preparing for July and August. After that, Labor Day means return to school and Fall planning. From now until the end of the year we go no more than 6 weeks between major holiday observances. Before you know it, we will be in the Thanksgiving—Christmas Matrix…at which point you are finished with 2025. 

    God only knows. God makes His plan. While Rhymin’ Simon’s observation is true of the divine economy, God gives you the latitude and responsibility to take control of the time He has given you. You never know exactly how much of this precious commodity has been allotted but we can each take measure of our days and live them faithfully and responsibly.