Talbot Davis's Blog, page 35
April 18, 2019
What A Basketball Writer Taught A Methodist Preacher About Ministry
Bill Simmons, who is a Boston-bred, internet-based author and columnist, has written the definitive history of the NBA with his The Book Of Basketball. In this, the quickest 800 page read of my life, Simmons is in turn unfiltered, poignant, statistical, profane, irreverent, and hilarious. His gifts for footnoting and pop culture analogies have to be
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April 17, 2019
Me, Enneagram, And A Three
A lot of you know that the Enneagram personality inventory has become quite a phenomenon in recent years, especially among emerging generations. So, after having people tell me that I’m a “Five” or a “One” over the last several months, I decided to take the plunge and take the test. I turns out I’m a
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April 16, 2019
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Athletes / Teams I NEVER Root For
We all have them. Teams we hope lose. Athletes we hope choke. People who, when they win, we just have to turn the TV off because we can’t bear to watch the celebration. So here are five players and/or teams who have fit that bill for me at different times in my life. Don’t hate
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April 15, 2019
The Jesus Effect, Week 3 — The “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other” Sermon Rewind
The message for Palm Sunday … Recognized that King Jesus’ Coronation actually took place on the cross — it’s just that mockers and scoffers didn’t realize it; Developed the pattern of the “testing” of Jesus while he was on the cross — “if you’re the Savior, save you first!” Reminded people that there is no
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April 11, 2019
The Connecting Power Of Shared Confession(s)
Several years ago, I attended a worship event where I was surrounded by an eclectic group of 20s and 30s. On several occasions that evening, the primary speaker referred to “our Savior.” It’s not a novel description of Jesus to be sure, but it nevertheless impacted me with its power and precision. He’s not “my
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April 10, 2019
From The Tomb To The Womb
Yesterday, I met with a man from Good Shepherd in advance of his baptism we will celebrate on Easter Sunday. And as part of his preparation, we looked at Romans 6:3-5: 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried
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April 9, 2019
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Tensions In Ministry
Andy Stanley has spoken helpfully about the distinction in church life between tensions to be managed as opposed to problems to be solved. In other words, there are certain dilemmas that pastors and church leaders will simply need to learn to live with because they will never just “go away.” Stanley’s observation has remained part
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April 8, 2019
The Jesus Effect, Week 2 — The “Split Decision” Sermon Rewind
Yesterday’s message: Centered around the most famously insignificant governor of all time, Pontius Pilate; Open and closed with anecdotes involving funerals; Took a title from a relatively obscure Steve Winwood song while also referencing Lynrd Skynrd and Pink Floyd; Landed at this bottom line: When it comes to Jesus, indecision is the worst decision of
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April 4, 2019
Inclusio, Bookends, Romans
One of my favorite laws of literary structure is inclusio. The less technical term is bookends. Whatever you call it, it’s when a section of literature (biblical or otherwise) begins and ends with the same phrase or idea. Any author who employs inclusio wants to make sure that you understand the material in between the
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April 3, 2019
The Bible As An Adventure
Every once in awhile, I get a fresh reminder of how the division of the bible into chapters and verses can actually get in the way of our encounter with Scripture. Case in point: some time ago, as part of preparation for a Life Group Bible Study I lead, I read Acts 10-15 in one
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