Homiletical Sensings

A new edition of Qualitative Research is coming soon. Wipf & Stock has agreed to publish a second edition. Due to the wonderful sales, Wipf & Stock will be moving the book to its Cascade imprint.

Preface to the Second Edition

The appeal of the first edition surprised me. It not only filled a lacuna in the literature, but it also met a need in Doctor of Ministry programs across North America. However, I do not like second editions because so much of the material is the same. I wonder, “Was this a way to get me to buy a second book?” While much of this book is the same, it is expanded, revised, and nuanced. The book is different because I am not the same. The idea of a second edition sprouted from the many scattered seeds of feedback from students and colleagues from other institutions. Emails and phone calls from students using the book spotlighted places the book needed clarification. More »

The adult Bible classes at Highland began again on January 17. The video is found here.  The reflection questions for John 12 are:

Discussion Questions More »

Today I have updated my bibliography on Black Preaching.

See Black Preaching Bibliography 2020 More »

What are Your Credentials?

Philippians 3:4b-4:1

More »

June 13, 2020

Abilene Christian University (ACU) announces the opening of The Baptist Studies Center as part of the Graduate School of Theology (GST). Dr. Myles Werntz, presently the T. B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at Logsdon School of Theology, will be named the first Director of the Baptist Studies Center. Dr. Werntz has nearly ten years of experience teaching in Baptist seminaries, as well as long-standing relationships with Baptist organizations and churches regionally and nationally. He is a tenured Associate Professor at Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) and the author and editor of five books in theology and ethics. In addition to courses in Baptist theology, ethics, and ecclesiology, he will serve as an Associate Professor in the GST and will teach general classes in theology and ethics. More »

“PPE” “C0VID-19” “Pandemic” “Social Distancing” “Essential Workers”

“Epidemiology” “Quarantine” “N95 Respirators” More »

“Preaching Ephesians: The Fourfold Fountain of God” was originally a presentation at the F. Furman Kearley Conference for Biblical Scholarship: Biblical Ecclesiology: Text, History, and Culture, October 18, 2019. The audio is found on Youtube Link

The print version is published here: “Preaching Ephesians: The Fourfold Fountain of God” Restoration Quarterly 62 (Second Quarter 2020): 81-97. More »

Recently, I was asked to teach the adult Bible class at the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene. Highland is my home church and I regularly teach the Living in the Promise class. Covid-19 has moved our class online.

1 Corinthians 12

The Body of Christ

Video Link

 I am glad to be with you, Highland church, even if it is within this limited virtual media. 1 Corinthians 12 is a loved text that describes us, the church, as the unified body of Christ. While not Paul’s only metaphor for the church, the body is Paul’s best-known image of the church, especially when Paul speaks of unity within diversity. [READ TEXT]

Within our one community, God has unified the body. From the wholeness of God, God gives a variety of gifts to people which produces diversity in the body of Christ. Within this one community there are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries but the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God. The wholeness of God, by one Spirit gifts the one body of Christ for the purpose of (v. 7) the common good.  Paul will double down on the purpose of building up the body of Christ in chapter 14. And in the middle of the discussion of spiritual gifts in chapters 12-14, Paul will encourage us all to pursue the common good by a more excellent way, the way of love. More »