Certainty and openness

Mark Driscoll calls this "open-hand/closed-hand". Ray Ortlund comments really helpfully here, including this:

The Bible is our authority as we sort out what deserves certainty and what deserves openness. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 defines the gospel of Christ crucified for our sins, Christ buried and Christ risen again on the third day, according to the Scriptures, as "of first importance." Here is the center of our certainty.

From that "of first importance" theological address, we move out toward the whole range of theological and practical questions asking for our attention. The more clearly our logic connects with that center, the more certain and the less open we should be. The further our thinking extrapolates from that center, the less certain and the more open we should be.

When a question cannot be addressed by a clear appeal to the Bible, our conclusions should be all the more modest.

Preaching the gospel

Link to Tim Keller talking about preaching the gospel.

Sermon prep and delivery

Interview with Mark Dever on the preparation and delivery of sermons.

12 reasons story is the best way to think of the life of faith

By Dan Taylor: "The single best way of conceiving of faith and the life of faith is by seeing it as a story in which you are a character."

1. Stories are God's idea.
2. Stories fit how we have been made and how we live.
3. Like faith, stories engage us as whole persons, not as parts.
4. Stories are about choices and their consequences.
5. Stories have the power to change us.
6. Stories are directive.
7. Stories are strong and complex enough to contain pain, suffering, failure and mystery.
8. Stories call us to action.
9. Each of us needs a master story.
10. Stories create communities.
11. Stories makes connections between seemingly unconnected things.
12. Stories are the foundation for meaning and significance.

Audio link at bottom of page.