Why do so many sermons today feel either like a Bible lecture or a self-help talk?

The Puritans preached differently—and it wasn’t boring. It was transformative. 1/9 🧵 The Puritan sermon structure was very different than how many preachers arrange their sermons today.

Some might accuse the Puritans of using the text like a diving board, not practicing proper exegesis and exposition. But that's not what they did. 2/

There is a great need for male fraternity and leadership today. Most institutions have completely given up on providing men an exclusive place to congregate, much less reserving leadership for men. 1/9 🧵 That being said, I want to provide a primer and defense of an oft-derided aspect of my alma mater, Texas A&M...Yell Leaders. 2/

Why vote?

- Voting is a choice between options for a preferred political future for your family. 1/8 🧵 - Voting is not a sacrament. Voting is also not fundamentally about honoring those who sacrificed their lives for our country (as grateful as we are for their love). Both of these motivations create guilt-voting. 2/8

Someone asked me to break it down so here you go. Saying things like:

“Don’t obsess about politics. Our kingdom is not of this world. You can either fight earthly battles or be holy.” 1/7 🧵

https://twitter.com/jchasedavis/status/1827807546301931747

“The left wants the kingdom without the king and the right wants the king without the kingdom.” 2/7

One of the biggest factors in the punch-right, coddle-left strategy has been how the church talks about race. 🧵 For at least a decade (2000-2010), all we heard was gospel and race stuff: Neither Jew nor Gentile. Look at Peter in Galatians 2; he was a racist and had to be rebuked to his face. Look at the early church in Acts 6 taking care of minorities.

Why are many evangelicals drawn to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy?

I think it has to do with how the church views and presents itself. Evangelical churches often have the temperament of a desperate woman or a “pick me” church looking for approval from outsiders. 1/6 🧵 However, churches with a tradition they are aiming to pass down have the cool indifference of a man that says “take it or leave it, this is who we are.” 2/6

Based C.S. Lewis.

“Christian wives promise to obey their husbands. In Christian marriage the man is said to be the 'head'. Two questions obviously arise here. (1) Why should there be a head at all-why not equality? (2) Why should it be the man?” 1/6 “The need for some head follows from the idea that marriage is permanent. Of course, as long as the husband and wife are agreed, no question of a head need arise; and we may hope that this will be the normal state of affairs in a Christian marriage.” 2/6

The goal of leftism is the destruction of the created order.

Three particular targets: your forefathers, your prosperity, and your children. 🧵👇 1/8 1. Your forefathers: Leftism aims to erase our history, inviting us to forget God’s providence and dishonor our forefathers. Rather than honoring the Christian generations that came before us, we are encouraged to tear them down both figuratively and literally. 2/8

There are four ways a church subtly compromises to have a good “public witness” in the face of DEI culture. 🧵1/6 1. They take the language and accusations of DEI culture as unassailable truths. They begin by assuming the narrative of the world, taking it at face value, including DEI’s doctrine of sin and atonement. 2/6

Charles Spurgeon the Christian Nationalist? 🧵

“Are not all mankind under law to God, and where and when did the King of all the earth announce that nations were to be free from his control, and from all recognition of his existence and authority?” 1/1 “Ought not a nation in all questions which necessarily involve religion, to decide for God, and according to his word, rather than for infidelity; and when a question is decided by numbers, is not every citizen burdened with a share of responsibility, and should he not give his vote on the Lord’s side?” 2/2

I truly feel for pastors and church planters in @Acts29 who are conservative and not pleased with the direction.

Their relationship with the network is essentially a dictatorship. No voting and will be removed if they publicly dissent. What can be done? 1/ The board of the network is self-perpetuating. There is no way to get on the board unless they board chooses you. There is not even the possibility of a hostile-take over to use corporate speak because there are no shareholders. 2/

America has experienced a sudden and shocking rise in school shootings in the last 25 years. How are we to understand this rise?

Gun ownership in America per captia was actually higher before these heinous acts began to be more common, so how are we to explain it? A brief 🧵 From adultery to no-fault divorce to reliance on government for provision, the family has been relegated to the sidelines. Healthy, strong families make for a strong and coherent social fabric which counteracts the incredible loneliness many feel today. 2/

Psalm 58 🧵

"Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth." 1/ "The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter." 2/

A theme that often comes up in my sermons is the the incongruity and incompatibility of worldly “self-love” and biblically loving oneself.

However, part of the gospel message includes, just as Jesus did, an appeal to people’s natural instinct to love oneself. The first time I taught on this was as a chaplain to my fraternity in college. Several of my brothers were deeply moved by the call to find one’s life in Christ to experience true love of oneself.

Good on the coach for standing up and winning this case.

However, it’s important to pay attention to this detail… kitsapsun.com/story/news/202… The district updated their policies and listed an example of acceptable personal conduct as "saying a brief, private prayer."

“Conservatives” will see this as a “win for religious liberty.” They are content with carve outs.