Illustration-a-day: Jesus gives bad advice

"Mr. Hayes was a churchgoer (indeed, a deacon), but he considered his religion a civic duty, a moral discipline, a social obligation, and (he was honest) a business asset. . . . Hayes was a Christian, but if the truth be known, Christ irritated him to death.  With the army in Freiburg, Germany, in 1959, he'd read the Gospels while cooped up in the infirmary, and he'd argued by pencil in the margins against the Savior.  In his personal opinion, Christ's advice sounded like civic sabotage, moral lunacy, social anarchy, and business disaster."

Michael Malone, Handling Sin, as quoted in Frank G. Honeycutt's, Preaching for Adult Conversion

Quote of the week: Preaching with a straight face

"Pastors who climb into a pulpit Sunday after Sunday inherit a rather odd story to proclaim with a straight face. . . Our homiletical goal for our people over time must be nothing short of conversion to this odd man revealed in this odd story."

Frank G. Honeycutt, Preaching for Adult Conversion and Commitment