by Peggy Adrien

The Book of Genesis describes a beautiful story about the beginning of life on earth. However, it is also a story anchored in debate, fueling conversation known as “the battle of the sexes” and addresses the ongoing issue of female leadership. Should women hold positions of authority in the church?

Reviewed by Neal D. Presa

In this volume, Tim Keller has given us a tour de force that every homiletics professor and pastor will want to buy, read, and apply to their preaching and teaching. In this volume, Keller is careful to say that he has not written a preaching manual, but he has penned his preaching manifesto. In reading this book, you get a sense that you are sitting at the feet of a preaching master while at once with a fellow brother in Christ who is encouraging and rooting you on in the serious business of exegeting text, context, and subtext.

Reviewed by Karen D. Belin

Prophets highlighted in scripture, exclusive of a few prophetesses, are primarily men, and in many instances, biblical prophecies and psalms by unknown authors are assumed to be men. However, can established writings in the canon be reassigned to prophetesses, who we know existed in ancient times, but allegedly have no record of? Are we mistakenly identifying scriptural prose and songs as being that of men? Nancy C. Lee, addresses ideas such as these and explores biblical language, poetry, and phonetics in order to distinguish female voices embedded within scripture in an attempt to discover unbeknown to us, female prophetic voices traditionally presumed to be predominantly male.

by Darla Turlington

Here are some quotations from the Bible and secular writings that pastors and others may find useful in sermons, essays and other venues.

by Jin Hee Han

Our spring issue of 2016 compels us to re-start our New Year with a reflection on creation. The theme has inspired poets and preachers, as well as the ancient rabbis who gave the theme the prestigious place at the beginning of the Bible. According to a legend, the book of Job was a contender as the head of the Bible, but the sages agreed that the story of the Bible should begin with creation, not with suffering. Firmly grounded in this tradition, many of our authors direct us to the first part of the book of Genesis.

In this issue on creation, we encounter voices that challenge us to learn to value the life of the oppressed for whom God cares. They tell us that God has created human beings in God’s own image, and that every person helps us see God in all spectrums of colors and physical manifestations.

by Carmen Nanko-Fernández

One of the most profound Christian teachings is the incarnation. There is little development in the gospels of this audacious claim that the divine entered the human condition as one of us. John proclaims the Word became flesh and dwelled in our company and both synoptic gospels provide insights into the incarnation, establishing the humanity of Jesus from birth.

by Lura Pierce

I like to say that Eleanor Roosevelt chose me. I certainly didn’t know that studying the woman I had disliked as an adolescent would renew my faith and spur me to action. I didn’t know she would become my mentor across time and help me to answer, “Who am I now?”

by Kevin Yoho

Do you believe that anything is possible? Pastors and church leaders in very diverse ministries consistently tell me they want to make a difference in their community. Many do, but others retreat into their sanctuaries when unexpected obstacles and challenges arise.

by C. H. Elijah Sadaphal

Connection is defined as “a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.” From a theological perspective, the Holy Spirit is connected to Creator, Who is connected to Christ, Who is connected to the Holy Spirit. The Connectivity and subsequent relationality within and amongst the Holy Trinity is what allows salvation.

by Insook Lee

We have shifted from the industrial age to the digital age of connectivity. Some people welcome the sense of connection beyond time and space while others are ambivalent and fearful of “techno-colonialism” and a “global cyberimperialism.” Whatever the consequences of digital connectivity are, “internet access springs from a powerful longing for community—the very same force that drives church congregations.”

by David A. Davis

Many preachers have experienced that moment of paralysis when they stand before a congregation yearning to hear Biblical truth just before the sermon. For many pastors that view of the congregation comes with the knowledge of the overwhelming, collective pastoral need. But by God’s grace and in the mystery of the Holy Spirit, we believe the Gospel strikes to the heart of the people of God.

by Melvin Sensenig

Jeremiah 21:1–23:4 recounts a series of oracles against the last four kings in Israel. The canonical book’s reordering of the final four kings is important to the overall argument of the book about the future of the Davidic kingship. No future king can arise without the complete destruction of the current Davidic line.