preaching

Book Review: Between Two Worlds by John Stott

by Ben Zornes · Dec 29, 2015

Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today by John R.W. Stott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a wonderful book. Very practical and helpful. Stott is thorough, deliberate, witty and humble enough to glean and aggregate many wonderful quotes from a wide, wide variety of pastors, preachers, and theologians throughout church history.

The sum of the message of the book is that the preacher is bridging two worlds…the Bible and our current generation. The Bible doesn’t bend to the culture, but we must ensure that in communicating the Gospel truths of scripture, we apply them to our present culture with great thoughtfulness and dexterity. We must labor to bring these two worlds together, with humility, courage, and faithfulness to God’s Word.

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The Symptoms and the Disease

by Ben Zornes · Feb 28, 2015

There was recently a soft-porn movie that got way too much hype and publicity both from the giddy, fan-girlish pop culture and from the scolding, furrowed brow evangelical world. I refrained from commenting, or blogging about it, because it seemed that the internet was already too congested with content about this movie; and I, personally, was tired of seeing the pictures and silly spin-off titles for articles. If youâ€™re wondering which movie it is, it has something to do with the number 50 and the gradients between white and black.

The one comment I made on Facebook was this: I’ve resisted commenting until now: #50shades is a symptom, sin is the disease. Let’s start talking about the disease, not just the symptom. [Read more…] about The Symptoms and the Disease

Preaching by Proxy

by Ben Zornes · Sep 10, 2013

Around two millennia ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and reminded them of something that we, as believers, are all too often ready to forget: â€œFor the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (1 Cor. 4:20).â€ The first century was marked with the mightiest works of God this world has ever seen: the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and outpouringof the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the old had gone, the new has come. Yet, 19 centuries later, we find ourselves in an age of spiritual malaise, where it appears secularism has Christianity on the ropes.

[Read more…] about Preaching by Proxy

Hand Motions: Courtesy of CH Spurgeon

by Ben Zornes · May 19, 2011

So, I picked up a profoundly helpful book by Charles Spurgeon. It is entitled: Lectures to my students. Spurgeon started a Pastor’s College, and it was an incredibly God-honoring establishment. As I was reading I came across a few pages full of illustrations. These illustrations are intended to help preachers be effective in their preaching. I am going to start implementing some of these hand motions to make my own preaching more powerful. Perhaps this is where Piper learned his hand motions from!

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