You or Jesus Christ

"When you stand in the pulpit tonight, you can do one of two things. Either you can show those in the congregation that Jesus Christ is wonderful, or you can try to convince them that [you are] a reasonably intelligent young man. You can’t do both."

--an adapted quote from A Hill on Which to Die by Paul Pressler, p. 152.

Evangelism

As a Christian, the biggest challenge to evangelism can be efficiency. Befriending a non-Christian takes more time.

It is our Story . . . but, praise God, not the end of the story.

I'm still working on a biblical theology of leadership paper. It has been both frustrating and fruitful. Here is an example of the latter. As I am seeking to summarize the verdict which the LORD speaks in 3:14-20, it's implications have struck me again and again--for they could not be any larger. Here is a quote which I couldn't put in my paper, but which I found powerful.

"The snake, the woman, and the man are not depicted as individuals involved in a personal crisis; rather they are representatives. We are left with the impression that this is not their story so much as it is our story, the story of mankind. With great skill the author presents these three participants as the 'heads' of their race. The snake, on the one hand, and the man and the woman, on the other, are as two great nations embarking on a great struggle, a struggle that will find its conclusion only by an act of some distant 'seed' or 'offspring.'"

--Sailhammer on "Genesis", The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, 54-55.