A gift for preaching

Mastering Contemporary Preaching
Bill Hybels, Stewart Briscoe & Haddon Robinson.
IVP, 1989.

Rediscovering Expository Preaching: Balancing the Science and Art of Biblical Exposition
John MacArthur Jr.& The Master’s Seminary Faculty
Word Publishing, 1992.

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The servant’s paradox: Part III

Life

The last of Al Stewart’s columns exploring the tensions in Christian life and ministry.

Here’s one more paradox for those living to serve Christ and to grow his kingdom. It’s one which has been taxing my mind, because it goes to the heart of what Christians believe. We live in the time that gets called ‘the now and not yet’—the period of history after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, but before the revelation of his lordship to the entire universe. It’s an in-between time, so we have the blessings and securities of the eternal age, and yet we don’t see them all, experience them all, know them entirely or enjoy them fully.

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The servant’s paradox: Part I

Life

A paradox is where two things seem to be opposite, but you know they are both true. It’s a tension, a contradiction, an antimony (according to my thesaurus), a mystery. It’s the fact that too many cooks spoil the broth, but at the same time, many hands make light work. It’s the truth that he who hesitates is lost, but only a fool wouldn’t look before he leaps.

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When should I shut up?

Everyday Ministry

How to run a dialogue meeting

What’s a ‘dialogue meeting’? It’s one of those old jargon terms for a meeting arranged so that a single Christian speaker can discuss (dialogue) the claims of Christ with a group of non-Christians without too many Christians butting in. Perhaps these days we would call it a forum or consultation. In fact, it’s more like a press conference where one person gets to say his or her bit before being fried by the assembled listeners.

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