Tag: christianity

Illustrations and their Necessity

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Preaching1 Comment

For most preachers (including myself), providing more than one illustration in a sermon is difficult, if it is done at all. But no matter how difficult it is, it must be done because it helps the listener process the principles, providing more clarity to the meaning of the text.

The Difficulty

Illustrations are difficult because they require preachers to shift gears from excavating the text and laying it out systematically to discovering how the texts principles relate to life situations, whether it be theirs or someone else’s. This “shifting of gears” is often difficult for those who think in logical patterns and systems, which are taught and re-enforced through their reading patterns. By spending more time reading theological treatises, which present material systematically and logically, rather than works of literature, which reveal its truths through stories, preachers are training their minds to follow logical patterns and lay out systematic grids, which is not a bad thing, as long as you recognize the intellectual development that is occurring. As a result, preachers (myself included)  find it difficult to make the shift to thinking in terms of narratives and stories. This difficulty of shifting from one job to the next is often why preachers neglect the task of illustrating.

Going further, illustrations are also neglected because they require the preacher to “delve to that level of being where mind, soul, body, world, and psyche are real. Until he has done so – until he has plumbed the depths of his emotions, relationships, and experience and integrated what he discovers in those oceans with what he knows intellectually – his own understanding is not complete.” [1] To delve to this level takes work. It takes hours of thinking, working, and re-working an illustration until it is just right. It requires one to go the extra-mile intellectually. Neglecting this extra work may prove one to be intellectually lazy.

The Purpose of  Illustrations

The purpose of illustrations is to make the abstract, real, or to make the foreign, familiar. Truth is best understood when it is observed in the context of a human situation. This does not mean truth is only understood through experience, like many post-moderns would claim, but it does mean we best understand a truth when we are able to work with it, see ourselves in the situation, or relate it to an experience we have had. Illustrations allow us to do just that, they “provide the mechanism for this life-specific understanding and are thus indispensable to effective preaching.” [2]

As preachers, we must understand people do not make decisions simple because they have the intellectual knowledge. Rather people make decisions when they can see themselves in the situation.

If you have ever been hesitant to move to another town for a job, even though you knew it was a better position for your career and the town was better for your family, you know what I am talking about. You may have had all the facts in front of you, but until you actually met your colleagues, toured the facility, and walked the streets of your new neighborhood, you were not really convinced the new job and town were better. Why?

“Because we best learn and make decisions when the abstract is made concrete.”

Bringing what is abstract into the concrete is the purpose of illustrations. As preachers, we want our people to be able to see themselves in the situation, to experience the principle of the text at work, so they will understand how their lives need to change, or how the principle relates to their world. Bryan Chapell says, “Because life-situation illustrations provide this experiential data, allowing individuals to “live through” the implications of their spiritual choices, they well serve life-changing preaching.” [3]

Conclusion

Illustrations are difficult to incorporate into a sermon, but they are necessary. Without illustrations, our people in the pew will not fully comprehend the meaning of the text, nor will they understand how the text applies to their lives.

In other words, without illustrations we are not providing full-fledged communication. By linking the text to experience, illustrations “make the Gospel real, fleshly, and interpretable.” [4]. This means illustrations are not a side-show used to make the text simple for simple-minded folks; rather, illustrations are a necessity for communicating the whole idea of the text. They are what add depth to our ideas and motivate our people to change.

So the next time you think about skipping out on an illustration because it would require too much effort, think again. Your extra effort may just be what you and your people need to fully understand the text and be motivated to change.

Resources

[1] Bryan Chapell, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power, 59.
[2] Ibid., 49.
[3] Ibid., 62.
[4] Ibid., 59.

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To Live is Christ and To Die is Gain

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals5 Comments

In Philippians 1:18-21, we learn Paul was able to face persecution and possible death joyfully because of the prayer of the Philippians and the supply of the Spirit. In addition, he was able to face these circumstances joyfully because he knew he would be vindicated and would gain ultimate salvation. Furthermore, his ultimate joy came from knowing that Christ would be proclaimed and the Gospel advanced even if it meant he had to die. This attitude and certain belief causes him to say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

To Live is Christ

With Paul’s statement, “To live is Christ”, we encounter a man who had a singular focus in life, which was to glorify Christ. He lived in such a way that he saw everything he did and every circumstance he faced as a means of pointing other to Christ. He did not care if he was ridiculed, beaten, jailed, shipwrecked, or even killed because he had a singular focus, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews first and then the Gentiles.

Paul lived a life radically different than most Christians today, not because he thought it would earn him salvation, but because he desired to see Christ glorified and understood the promises of God, which is revealed in his next statement, “to die is gain.”

To Die is Gain

Paul believed death was gain because he knew he would be with his Lord and Savior, the one he proclaimed to all people. He also knew the advantage the next world held over this one. A life free from persecution, sickness, disease, and injustice awaited him. For Paul, death was gain, which allowed him to “live for Christ.”

Application

Paul believed death was gain,which was the reason he could live for Christ. He shared his attitude with the Philippians because he wanted them to see death as gain, so they too could live for Christ. He wanted them to take up his purpose for life, which was to glorify Christ in every decision and circumstance, living as if death is victory, not caring if men could destroy their body, but ever seeking to glorify Christ in life or death.

This means Paul’s letter to the Philippians was not written just to tell them what he thought about life, it was to challenge and encourage them to think and live the same way. Likewise, the reason this text has been preserved for 2,000 years was not just so Paul could tell us what he thought about life, it was preserved because God desires we live like Paul. God desires we say with Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Image: bela_kiefer / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Story of the Bible

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Practical, Preaching8 Comments

In his book According to Plan, Graeme Goldsworthy provides an Outline of Biblical History at the beginning of each chapter in part three. I want to share his synopsis with you in hopes it will help you tie the entire biblical story together.

Genesis 1-2

In the beginning God created everything that exists. He made Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden of Eden. God spoke to them and gave them certain tasks in the world. For food he allowed them the fruit of all the trees in the garden except one. He warned them that they would die if they ate the fruit of that one tree.

Genesis 3

The snake persuaded Eve to disobey God and to eat the forbidden fruit. She gave some to Adam and he ate also. Then God spoke to them in judgment, and sent them out of the garden into a world that came under the same judgment.

Genesis 4-11

Outside Eden, Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve. Cain murdered Abel and Eve bore another son, Seth. Eventually the human race became so wicked that God determined to destroy every living thing with a flood. Noah and his family were saved by building a great boat at God’s command. The human race began again with Noah and his three sons with their families. Sometime after the flood a still unified human race attempted a godless act to assert its power in the building of a high tower. God thwarted these plans by scattering the people and confusing their language.

Genesis 12-50

Sometime in the early second millennium B.C. God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia to Canaan. He promised to give this land to Abraham’s descendants and to bless them as his people. Abraham went, and many years later he had a son, Isaac. Isaac in turn had two son, Esau and Jacob. The promises of God were established with Jacob and his descendants. He had twelve sons, and in time they all went to live in Egypt because of famine in Canaan.

Exodus 1-15

In time the descendants of Jacob living in Egypt multiplied to become a very large number of people. The Egyptians no longer regarded them with friendliness and made them slaves. God appointed Moses to be the one who would lead Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. When the moment came for Moses to demand the freedom of his people the Pharaoh refused to let them go. Through Moses God worked ten miracle-plagues which brought hardship, destruction and death to the Egyptians. Finally Pharaoh let Israel go, but then pursued them and trapped them at the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds). Then God opened the way in the sea for Israel to cross on dry land, but closed the water over the Egyptian army, destroying it.

Exodus 16-40, Leviticus

After their release from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to Mount Sinai. God then gave them his law which they were commanded to keep. At one point Moses held a covenant renewal ceremony in which the covenant arrangement was sealed in blood. However, while Moses was away on the mountain, the people persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden calf. Thus they showed their inclination to forsake the covenant and to engage in idolatry. God also commanded the building of the tabernacle and gave all the rules of sacrificial worship by which Israel might approach him.

Numbers, Deuteronomy

After giving the law to the Israelites at Sinai, God directed them to go in and take possession of the Promised land. Fearing the inhabitants of Canaan, they refused to do so, thus showing their lack of confidence in the promises of God. The whole adult generation that had come out of Egypt, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, was condemned to wander and die in the desert. Israel was forbidden to dispossess its kinsfolk, the nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon, but was given victory over other nations that opposed it. Finally, forty years after leaving Egypt, Israel arrived in the Moabite territory on the east side of the Jordan. Here Moses prepared the people for their possession of Canaan, and commissioned Joshua as their new leader.

Joshua, Judges, Ruth

Under Joshua’s leadership the Israelites crossed the Jordan and began the task of driving out the inhabitants of Canaan. After the conquest the land was divided between the tribes, each being allotted its own region. Only the tribe of Levi was without an inheritance of land because of its special priestly relationship to God. There remained pockets of Canaanites in the land and, from time to time, these threatened Israel’s hold on their new possession. From the one-man leaderships of Moses and Joshua the nation moved into a period of relative instability during which judges exercised some measure of control over the affairs of the people.

1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-10, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 2-9

Samuel became judge and prophet in all Israel at a time when the Philistines threatened the freedom of the nation. An earlier movement for kingship was revived and the demand put to a reluctant Samuel. The first king, Saul, had a promising start to his reign but eventually showed himself unsuitable as the ruler of the covenant people. While Saul still reigned, David was anointed to succeed him. Because of Saul’s jealousy, David became an outcast. However, when Saul died in battle, David returned and became king (about 1000 B.C.). Due to his successes Israel became a powerful and stable nation. He established a central sanctuary at Jerusalem and created a professional bureaucracy and a permanent army. David’s son, Solomon, succeeded him (about 961 B.C.) and the prosperity of Israel continued. The building of the temple at Jerusalem was one of Solomon’s more notable achievements.

1 Kings 11-22, 2 Kings

Solomon allowed political considerations and personal ambitions to sour his relationship with God, and this in turn had a bad effect on the life of Israel. Solomon’s son began an oppressive rule that led to the rebellion of the northern tribes and the division of the kingdom. Although there were some political and religious high points, both kingdoms went into decline. A new breed of prophets warned against the direction of national life, but matters went from bad to worse. In 722 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah was devastated by the Babylonians. Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed, and a large part of the population was deported to Babylon.

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X-Ray Questions: What or Whom do you trust?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, X-Ray Questions1 Comment

This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at the question: What or whom do you trust? You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(11) What or whom do you trust?

Trust is one of the major verbs relating you to God – or to false gods and lies. Crucial psalms breathe trust in our Father and Shepherd. Where instead do you place life-directing, life anchoring trust? In other people? In your abilities or achievements? In your church or theological tradition? In possessions? In diet, exercise, and medical care?

Understand

The person or object that we trust is the one we believe will provide us with happiness, joy, protection, deliverance, comfort, etc. Our trust should be in God and God alone because finite persons, inanimate objects, your abilities and achievements, or thoughts (I have in mind here theological traditions, or health ideas) will always fail you.

Repent

We must repent by realizing that God should be the one we must place our trust in, not in our own abilities or achievements, our traditions, other people, or objects. For when we decide to place our trust in anything other than God, we are trusting in something that will ultimately fail us and we are leaning on our own understanding. Solomon writes in Proverbs 3:5:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding

Solomon also tells us that the one who leans on his own understanding is a fool (Prov. 12:15)

In Psalm 103, David tells his readers of the benefits of the Lord: He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, crowns you with both lovingkindness and compassion, and He takes care of the oppressed by performing righteous deeds and judgments for them. Not only does God do all those things, David also says He “satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

The Lord’s benefits are greater than we could ever imagine and ever hope. Since He is the Holy, Unchangeable, and Sovereign Lord, what David wrote will never change. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As a result, we can place our trust in Him knowing He will bring us joy, comfort, peace, deliverance, protection, etc. In short, He alone will fill the longings of our heart.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider the question: What or whom do you trust?: Prov. 3:5, 11, 18; 12:15; Pss 23, 103, 131.

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.

The Purpose of the Good Book

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment


The Good Book, as some often call it, is written in such a way as to present the truth God has purposed to reveal to mankind. Since the Good Book, or the Bible, presents the truths God has purposed mankind to know, we should not expect the Bible to give us answers it was not designed to give us.

How We Often Think of The Bible

The Bible, like any other book, was written with a purpose, which we will get to in a minute. First, let me explain how people generally think of the Bible. I will start with a comparison. Take a math book for example, you would not open it and expect to learn about history, nor would you open a literature book and expect to learn about the inner workings of the human body. Rather, you would expect to learn about the subject the book was written about. Math books teach you math, and literature books teach you literature. If math and literature books are written with a purpose in mind, we should expect books covering other subjects to have a purpose as well. The Bible is no different.

However, we often treat the Bible as if it should be different, believing it should provide us with a detailed history of the surrounding countries, use language that is in accordance with the twenty first centuries scientific dictionaries, rather than language descriptive of an event, or provide us with answers it was not designed to provide, such as what existed before the beginning of the world, or who created God. In short, we believe the Bible should encompass all aspects of history, mathematics, science, literature, etc, while at the same time answering all our most pressing questions. If it does not, then we often believe we should be able to write it off as if it is a book wrought with error. However, this assessment of Scripture is not fair, because it is not taking into account the purpose for which the book was written.

The Purpose of Scripture

So what is the purpose of Scripture? The purpose of Scripture is to tell us about God, Us, His plan, and His Son.

The Bible tells us who God is – The Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign Lord of the Universe. It provides us with a glimpse of the Character of God, and how He expects His people to live and interact with Him and His creation.

It tells us who we are – We, and the world, are apart of God’s creation. Since He is our Creator, we should worship Him, but we often don’t. Here is where the Bible reveals the problem of why we don’t worship Him. Scripture tells us we are sinners and we inherited our sinfulness from Adam and Eve. As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, mankind and the entire creation fell into sin. The result of our sinfulness was a broken relationship with God. We could no longer enter into the presence of God because His holiness would not allow it. The great news is that God had a plan, which is revealed progressively in His Word, the Bible.

God’s plan involves the redemption of all creation through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Jesus, who is also God, came to earth, lived a perfect life, while being subjected to the same pain, suffering, and temptations we face, and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. If we believe in Him as our Savior, then we will experience a restored relationship with God along with eternal life, instead of eternal death. God’s plan also tells us that after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven, where He awaits a time when He will return to redeem and restore creation to a perfect state. All those who have believed in Him as their Savior, will enter into this new creation with Jesus as their king, and they will live for all eternity.

Conclusion

The purpose of the Bible is to reveal the overarching meta-narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. As you travel through the pages of Scripture, this narrative is revealed. Through reading the story of the Bible we learn how mankind and all of creation fit into that narrative, as well as who our God and Savior is, and how we can and should interact with Him and His creation. If this is the case, then Scripture, like all other books, was written with a purpose. As a result, Scripture should be read with that purpose in mind, meaning we should not expect the Bible to answer questions it was not designed to answer.

July 4th Reflection: Have we strayed from the founding principles of our nation?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

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As most families do on the fourth of July weekend, we had the opportunity to go out of town to visit family. This fourth of July weekend we found ourselves out on lake Tyler with my wife’s family. As I sat out on the dock each morning praying to God, I was assured that this world was not created by chance. I saw many different types of birds hovering over the water, while dragonflies zoomed, spiders crawled, fish jumped, and frogs croaked, all while we humans road behind boats wake surfing, wake boarding, water skiing, knee boarding, and tubing. Certainly, all this did not come about by chance.

As I thought about the creation of the world and the fourth of July holiday, I realized our country did not come about by chance either. 234 years ago Christians founded our country to escape persecution in Europe. Sadly, our country has moved away from its Christian roots in just two short centuries. Instead of protecting life, we are destroying it before it can even take its first breath. Instead of upholding the sanctity of marriage as outlined in Scripture, we are allowing states to define it. Instead of teaching Scripture in our schools, we have banned it. As a result, our nation is not the Christian nation it once was.

With those changes in mind, if we really want to honor our Founding Father’s on this Independence Day, we should pray for revival in our country, and seek a return to the Christian faith we once held so dear. A faith that caused men to drag their families across the Atlantic Ocean to a new and foreign land known as the United States of America.