Bedhead Theology

       I have been reflecting on the clear distinction that exists between a healthy biblical church and an unhealthy one. Large crowds do not necessitate that a church is devoid of Spiritual vitality, just as a small church does not guarantee spiritual depth. Numbers do not mean compromise, and poverty does not mean piety. At the heart of every biblical church should be the centrality of the gospel. But what does that truly mean? Moreover,   what does that even look like? I believe it begins in the pulpit and, more specifically, the man filling the pulpit. My friend Adam Hughes (pastor, theologian, and professor) is fond of saying, “If there’s a mist in the pulpit, then there will be a fog in the pew.” If the man of God shepherding the congregation hasn’t a clue, then that cluelessness is amplified. Essentially, the spiritual health and depth of the congregation as a whole will never exceed that of its leadership. Puritan Richard Baxter charged pastors when h...

  Life can, at times, seem to be more than we can bear. No one is immune to hard times, disappointments, and even tragedies. In this life, heartache abounds. Nevertheless, Christ compels us, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt 11:28–30). The hope in Christ provides joy through contentment. Puritan Jeremiah Burrows wrote, “When a Christian is content in the right way, the peace comes from the temper and disposition of their own heart than from any external argument or possession in the world.” [1] Looking to Christ provides that internal contentment. We can look at the following: Contentment is Pursued Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 11 that the call is to action: to come, to take, and to learn. Christ’s call to come to Him shows us that we must set the trajectory of our heart tow...

  If you are anything like I was, you are asking yourself, “What the heck is the apostolic kerygma ?” The kerygma has historically and theologically been understood as “the essential elements of the Christian gospel message.” [1] The apostolic kerygma stands as a clear understanding of what the apostles would have preached.  This understanding provides clarity in defining what constitutes the “gospel” in the church. But why is this important? Actually, it is vitally important for several reasons. First, there are three primary theological views of the apostolic kerygma: the British School, the German School, and the Anglican School. The British school basically teaches a formulaic approach to the apostles' preaching of the gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection). The German School was focused on the experiential aspects of the gospel. In other words, it wasn’t about what was preached but the experience between the preacher and the hearer that mattered. Finally, the A...

Thunderclouds roll into the central New Mexico afternoon skies. What strikes me as odd in this observation is knowing that the likelihood of rain of any substance is minimal. It is the dessert, after all. The skies broil with swirling dark clouds, and yet, it is unlikely that any real rain will come. A running joke in New Mexico is that we must sprint between raindrops to get wet. Having grown up in Colorado, where rain clouds in the afternoon sky meant rain was coming. What a culture shock to see artificial rainclouds. As I reflect on this, I draw to my mind the words of Jonathan Edwards when he states, “True religion, in great part, consists of holy affections.”  There lies a great danger in the pulpit and pew today of the artificiality of religious belief. What I propose is, not unlike Edwards, to draw to light principles to serve as guardrails for pursuing a life of religious affection while avoiding religious affectation. In Edwardian fashion, we must ensure that we do not neg...

  Text-driven expositional preaching transcends style but serves as a lightning rod for the conviction that the Holy Spirit speaks through the text. Moreover, the text of Scripture informs the sermon’s meaning through the substance, structure, spirit, and summons. Therefore, a faithful, expository preacher must represent the text—employing explanation, illustration, and application—in the same manner of persuasion as the original author and allow the text’s nature to drive the sermon’s meaning. [1] I. A. Richards wrote, “Persuasion is only one among the aims of discourse. [Exposition] is concerned to state a view, not to persuade people to agree or to do anything more than examine it.” [2] The text-driven model demonstrates that exposition alone cannot move the congregation toward further godliness. Instead, complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit through recreating the original declaration of the text lies at the heart of text-driven preaching’s conviction that God has spoken. ...

Considering the summons, the single greatest need of the non-believer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Coincidentally, the single greatest need of the believer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both applications rest firmly within the summons of each passage of Scripture. The most significant issue then lies in the call of the text to respond. The summons—reproof, rebuke, and exhortation—is a call to the emotions and will, not just to inform the mind.  The summons is pleading, persuading, and urging the hearer to respond in obedience to the Word of God by anchoring to the effect of Scripture upon the whole person. The summons precedes the suggestions of a personal application with the definitive call of the text. Richard Baxter charged, “Next this, conclude the whole [preaching] with a practical exhortation, which must contain two parts: (1) The duty of the heart in order to a closure with Christ, and that which is contained in that closure [salvation]. (2) The use of external means for...

The text-driven preaching model provides an exceptional foundation for preaching the text as re-presenting the author’s intent. The theological foundation of the text-driven preaching model is that God has spoken; the substance elucidates the critical role of exegesis; the structure expounds the linguistic meaning; and the spirit explicates the meaning associated with the feel of the text through genre sensitivity. Nevertheless, the reproof, rebuke, and exhortation (hereafter referred to as the summons) remain neglected from his preaching model.  The lack of emphasis on the summons has left preachers conflating the ideas of application and summons. J. Josh Smith addressed the concept of exhortation in his book  Preaching for a Verdict : “The role of exhortation appears to have been overlooked in the past twenty-five years; however, this has not always been the case in the history of the pedagogy of homiletics.” [1]  The difficulty in defining the distinction between the...