Expository Mutterings
This past Sunday I preached on the part of the Gospel According to Matthew where Jesus rebukes the Pharisees over the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit—a.k.a. the unforgivable sin.
I thought it’d be good to also provide some additional resources on this passage. So, here’s a video from Dr. Tom Schreiner, a New Testament scholar, from Southern Seminary, and Dr. Jonathan Pennington, a Gospels scholar, also from Southern Seminary, and an article from David Mathis at Desiring God.
“Let love be without hypocrisy” (Romans 12:9).
Is it possible to love with hypocrisy? Must be. Or, at least it’s possible to look like you are loving others, but that’s all it is—looks. The love isn’t alive. It’s a house plant of love. Phony.
Every culture has their dish. Whether it’s a small tribal town in Northern Thailand (blood jelly hammered into pork) or up north in Chicago (deep-dish pizza), culture and food go hand-and-hand. Hand-to-mouth, I guess.
What is the dish of a gospel culture? What delicacy marks the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth? It’s not a casserole. No crockpots. But it is a carb and a cup.
At the recent TGC conference, Jen Wilkin gave a brilliant breakout on adult education in the local church. We need more classes, more active learning environments, more bars raised, more disciples learning the drama of redemption and their place in making disciples and making much of Jesus till the trumpet blares.
With all of the access we have to the Bible—and the resources we have to help us learn the Bible—it’s time we take Bible literacy seriously again.
Lament isn’t a topic or genre where writers tread. But we need it. Mark Vroegop wrote a powerful book on lamenting, how to do it, why we need it, and more. Listen as Mark and I talk about the journey of writing this needed book.
Mark’s Book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1433561484/jeffmedd-20
Mark’s Site: http://markvroegop.com/
Mark’s Books: http://markvroegop.com/books/
My sermons on lament: http://www.makingmuchofjesus.org/sermons/series/learning-to-lament
Resources for lament and suffering: https://jamedders.com/resources-during-suffering-and-lament/
My article at Desiring God on Lament: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-cannot-handle-your-pain
Book, Deep Work: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1455586692/jeffmedd-20
My blog: https://jamedders.com/
My books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00PQTDMLO
Have you wondered why my podcast on writing is called “Home Row“? Well, wonder no more.
It hit me a few weeks ago that many listeners had no idea.So, here we go.
You’ve seen the row of potted plants in the garden section of your local home improvement store. Row after row of flowers, succulents, bushes, evergreens. They are nestled together for hours. Rubbing shoulders for days.
But are they together? Are they connected? Not at all. Sure, they are next to each other, but they aren’t connected in the soil, they aren’t sharing the spray from the hose. Their roots are restricted. They don’t pull and tug when one is moved.
After writing Humble Calvinism, I should have seen this coming. But, I didn’t. My bad. I frequently get asked questions about Calvin, the person, and Calvin’s various views on things.
Let’s clear some things up real quick:
I’m no historian. Nor am I a church history buff. Sure, I like it, but I don’t know a ton about it. Just because I wrote a book on the five points of Calvinism, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert on John Calvin’s life, theology, and writing.
It’s that time of year when you hear preachers say, “The Devil thought he won on Friday, but he didn’t know about Sunday!”
It preaches well. But I don’t think it’s true.
