selected by Darla Turlington

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

by Efrain Agosto

What in the Bible relates or refers to, or constitutes issues of “the City in the Bible”? Where is the “urban” or urbanization evident in the First and Second Testaments, and what do those instances say and teach? This Fall issue of The Living Pulpit includes some of the October 2014 presentations plus several additional reflections in order to continue to explore how urbanization and urban issues depicted in the Bible helps us do ministry today.

by Bill Simpson

Here are thoughts on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, AL, a day that shocked the nation and galvanized a process that transformed America.

by Rhonda K. Kruse

Strong congregational leadership is needed to encourage the church to remind people that church is not just a place to go, but a way to live our lives; that Jesus calls the church to focus on discipleship not membership, on service not growth, on mission and ministry, not buildings and structure.

by Albrecht Classen

Many people regard the Middle Ages as a time when the people endured great stress, a time unique in history. The author disagrees with those sentiments and feels that what occurred in the Middle Ages was different from our contemporary stresses but neither worse nor better. This is an eye-opening read.

by Donna Schaper

The role of the swine in Mark 5 that cured the legion-filled demoniac is rarely discussed. The author asks if we really need a displacement to heal? Does the devil have to be put in an animal considered unclean in religious and hygienic terms–for change to come? These are among the questions designed to encourage pastors to seek new insights on ancient tales.

by Amos Yong

This article is divided into three consecutive parts: The intuition behind this essay is that the dynamic character of Christian preaching should be explicated theologically in terms of its orality and ontologically in terms of its audibility. We will explore the orality of preaching and do so in conversation with the oral culture of Pentecostalism.

by Amos Yong

In order to probe deeper into the implications of orality for a theology of preaching, the author expands the field of analysis to include both the nature of speaking vis-à-vis vocalization and the nature of hearing in relationship to sound.

by Amos Yong

A pneumatological theology of preaching connects the past to the present through the biblical witness. Chronologically, we might say that we have three sets of events: those behind the biblical text; those constituting the scriptural witness; and those in front of the text, receptors of its legacy and message.

Reviewed by Neal Presa

As a volume written from and for Global North contexts, Bieler and Gutmann call preachers to synchronic the “how” (form) and the “what” (content) of preaching to the “life-worlds” of parishioners, specifically, and the human family, more broadly.

by Darla Turlington

Sometimes a Biblical or other quote may come in handy to help a preacher strengthen a point within a sermon or the point of the sermon itself. Our compiler has delivered an interesting potpourri of temptation-apt quotes for our readers.

by Jin Hee Han

Easter confirms the promise of transformation (metamorphosis). Nature has been transformed, and hope is renewed. Our preachers and theologians in this issue call upon us to dare to hope and pursue the path of transformation with a note that our posture is more of a receiver than of a maker of the change.