Samuel or God? - Reflections on 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Israel is in need of a new mediator, and the calling of Samuel is proof that such a mediator is at hand. The famous three-times divine call to then boy is couched in ancient storyteller language.
Must Reads Classics – Saved from Silence: Finding Women's Voice in Preaching by Mary Donovan Turner
In this episode of Must Reads Classics, Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Jr. interviews Dr. Mary Donovan Turner - Carl Patton Professor of Preaching and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pacific School of Religion, and Dr. Mary Lin Hudson - Professor Emeritus of Homiletics and Liturgics at Memphis Theological Seminary, about their book “Saved from Silence: Finding Women's Voice in Preaching.”
A Very Large Vision Indeed! - Reflections on Isaiah 60:1-6
In Is.60 there are multiple references to “light” out of darkness: “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” he begins and continues by describing earth and its people covered with “thick darkness,” but enlightened by “the Lord,” and the “Lord’s glory.” And this great light will be a beacon for the nations, represented by their kings who will “come to the brightness of your dawn.”
With Hands Full of Blood! - Reflections on 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
After three weeks with Isaiah, who helped us get clearer about what we can expect on Christmas, the sort of God who will appear and how, we now turn in a rather odd direction, toward a passage from the long and complex tale of Saul, Samuel, and David, found in 1 and 2 Samuel and the first two chapters of 1 Kings.
Must Reads, Episode 25, with Ronald J. Allen, featuring “Preaching the Manifold Grace of God”
Welcome to another episode of Must Reads where Dr. Ronald J. Allen, Professor Emeritus of Preaching, and Gospels and Letters at Christian Theological Seminary Indianapolis, discusses a book he edited: “Preaching the Manifold Grace of God.”
The Baby’s Promise - Reflections on Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
We continue our look at the surprising baby for this Advent season. We may have thought we needed a God who “tears the skies” and comes down in ferocious wrath against our enemies, cleansing the world of them and leaving us, the faithful ones, as the true chosen of God. But, surprise, surprise! What we received instead was a peaceful shepherd, carrying silly lambs in divine arms, gently guiding those who are pregnant.
Must Reads, Episode 24, with Lisa Washington Lamb, featuring her book “Resonate"
Welcome to another episode of Must Reads where Dr. Lisa Washington Lamb, Visiting Assistant Professor of Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary, discusses her book “Resonate: How to Preach for Deep Connection.”
A Mighty Shepherd? - Reflections on Isaiah 40:1-11
During the two-generation exile, Israel found itself trapped in a theological cauldron with multiple competing voices trying to explain just what had happened to the chosen people of YHWH, just why land, king, and temple, had been snatched away. YHWH’s very first word to them is “comfort,” spoken “tenderly” (to the heart) to Jerusalem, assuring them that their “time of service,” and their “penalty” has been paid and that it was all too true that YHWH had indeed punished them for all their monstrous deeds (Is.40:1-2). But all that is now past.
If only… - Reflections on Isaiah 64:1-9
I am struck by Is.64:1-2, and its hope: “If only (or “O that you would…”) tear open the skies and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence…to make known your name to your adversaries, so that nations might tremble at your presence!” Such language is generated by a people who find themselves helpless in the midst of multiple trials that they cannot seem to overcome.
A New David? - Reflections on Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Using the imagery of Israel as sheep, and reminding them that only God is finally the shepherd, the prophet promises that the great shepherd will once again call all the sheep together, and give them rich Israelite mountain pastures (Ez.34:14), making them “lie down,” using a clear echo from Psalm 23.
Things Are Seldom What They Seem - Reflections on Judges 4:1-7
The prose account of Judges 4, locked as it is into the unbreakable Deuteronomic pattern of Israelite sin, divine punishment, enemy oppression, and eventual victory by means of a savior, leading again to sin, would appear to undercut any possible literary artistry. However, a closer look reveals considerable flair within the straightjacket of the pattern.
Must Reads Classics – Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible by Thomas Long
In this episode of Must Reads Classics, Dr. Alyce McKenzie interviews Dr. Thomas Long, the Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, about his book “Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible.”
