Drew Boswell

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    • James
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    • Christmas 2021
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    • Misc. Sermons
  • Podcasts
    • “Quickly Bring the Best” Ephesians 2:1-10
    • “The Equation of Trust” Mark 6:1-13, 30-52
    • “Miracles Part 2: Power Over Sickness and Death” Mark 5:21-43
    • “Miracles Part 1: Power Over Nature and Demons” Mark 4:35-5:20
    • 6-2-2022 Podcast
    • “If You Have an Ear, Listen To This: Parables” Mark 4:1-34
    • Mark 3:7-35 Sermon “The Society for the Promotion of Madness Among the Respectable Classes”
    • Mark 1:14-45 “Remaining Focused On Your Calling In A World of Distractions”
    • Mark 1:1-13 “The Beginning of When the World Was Changed”

1 Thessalonians Commentary And Book Suggestions

1 Thessalonians Sermon Series
Bibliography

Allen, Clifton J. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 11. Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Bible Commentary, 1971.

Airhart, E. Arnold. Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume 9. Kansas City, Missouri; Beacon Hill Press, 1965.

Bruce, FF. Word Biblical Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Waco, Texas; Word Books, 1982.

Buttrick, George Arthur, Dictionary Editor. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Volume 4. Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962.

Buttrick, George Arthur, General Editor. The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 9. Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1955.

Gaebelein, Frank E. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1978.

Gupta, Nijay K. Critical Introductions to the New Testament, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 2019.

Hendrickson, William. New Testament Commentary, Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1987.

Holmes, Michael W. The NIV Application Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1998.

Morris, Leo. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1959.

Morris, Leon. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Inter-Varsity Press, 1991.

Phillips, John. Exploring 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 2005.

Robertson, Archbald Thomas. Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 4. Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931.

Walvoord, John F. The Thessalonian Epistles. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Dunham Publication, 1968.

J. David, Williams. New International Biblical Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers, 1992.

A Quick Comment About Bible Teaching – Isogesis

Isogesis – This is where we bring our own presuppositions, opinions, backgrounds, biases, etc. to the text and make it say what we want it to say, instead of letting the text speak for itself.

 

Suggested Commentaries for Your Next Study of the Book of James

 

Biography for my sermon series on James:

Adamson, James. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle of James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.

Allen, Clifton J, General Editor. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1973.

Arnold, Clinton E, General Editor. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Press, 2001.

Buttrick, Arthur. The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1957.

Davids, Peter H. New International Biblical Commentary, James. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishing, 1989.

Moo, Douglas. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.

Nystrom, David P. The NIV Application Commentary, James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1997.

Perkins, Pheme. Interpretation A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, First and Second Peter, James, and Jude. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1982.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Epistles of James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publishing, 2004.

Robertson, A. T. Studies in the Epistle of James. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1959.

Stevenson, Hebert F. James Speaks For Today. Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966.

Strauss, Lehman. James, Your Brother. Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1980.

Stulac, George M. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1993.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Mature, James. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook Publishing, 1978. (I used an updated version of this book but could not find the date).

Should Your Child Be A Gardener or A Soldier? Defending Your Child’s Sense of Self-Worth

Be a Strength-Based Parent - Mindful

“It is better to be a warrior tending to his garden than a gardener in a war.”

The basic idea of this quote is that it is better to be prepared for life’s circumstances and its’ difficulties, than to be thrust into an experience that you have no training or preparation for. The motto of Boy Scouts is “be prepared.” But prepared for what? How can you one possibly be prepared for every possible scenario one may encounter? There are some life topics that demand our attention, while others, while important, are not the same in gravity. To return to our quote, if there is a possibility of having to fight, then one needs to know how to engage in battle, and that possibility outweighs knowing how to grow plants.  So, what information should one focus on? How do we know if we should be preparing for battle versus pruning gardenias?

The Soldier 

The warrior is one who is prepared for battle, is respected, even feared because of his ability to succeed in the world of battle, destruction, and chaos. This warrior then steps into a world of peace and order as he tends to his garden. There is always the potential for the chaotic soldier to return and to destroy. He is dangerous yet controlled.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The word meek in this passage means, “power under control.” It was used in reference to a horse having a bridle in its’ mouth. The horse is incredibly powerful and has a huge amount of potential destructive capability, but it is led by a small bridle. But, the soldier leaves destruction in his wake.

The Gardener  

The Gardener on the other hand, knows peace, order, and how to cultivate growth. But when he is placed in a situation demanding power, he is ill equipped. The Gardener understands how to build up, start from nothing but soil and build a garden. He has the patience to wait as things mature. But, how can he protect his garden if he has no knowledge of battle? How can he protect himself and defend his brothers on the battlefield if his only knowledge is agriculture?

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Should Our Children Be Gardeners or Soldiers? 

So with our children; do we teach them to fight and defend, or do we teach them to build and develop? One is seen as strong, and the other as weak. One is seen as destructive, and the other as productive. The quote gives some indication of what the author thought, let’s look at it again:“It is better to be a warrior tending to his garden than a gardener in a war.”

The person of strength and destruction has stepped into and is working in an area of cultivation. The solider is growing and developing his world around him from a place of respect and fear. This position seems to be voluntary and sought after, because the garden is “his garden.”

While the “gardener in a war” seems to be in a place of defense and fighting that is out of his control. The person who knows how to control and cultivate his garden, now is powerless to control anything.

There are things about life that are difficult to talk about with our children. One of those things is that there will be people who will seek to destroy whatever you have built, simply because it’s there to tear down. Like bullies on the seashore stomping on sand castles, there will always be those who in an instant can pull down what took years to build with much skill and hard work.

Our life’s work is worth defending, and therefore, we need to equip our children to fight for what they put their hands to build. So, our children must be soldiers in their preparation, defense, and strength, and gardeners in that they are creatively building the world around them – making it into a beautiful garden. The bully must fear them enough to leave them alone, and they must resist the fear to stop building. The destroyer will get through the defenses from time to time, so they must have the strength to start the building anew, to begin again, and to plant the tender seedling once more.

While Nehemiah was trying to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem he encountered the threat of constant attack. He came to realize that the enemy must fear the people enough to stay back while they continued to build the walls. He showed strength by having the workers hold a weapon in one hand, and a trowel in the other.

Nehemiah 4:16 “From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.”

Nehemiah understood that the work he set his hand to do was important enough to be defended, and he took action to do so. The people were soldiers and gardeners at the same time. Perhaps, this is the real challenge to parenting – to find the balance between aggression and peace, battlefield and garden.

Families Staying Together During the Service; Six Suggestions on Including Children in the Worship Experience

So church is starting back and for a short season we are following social distancing and staying together during the entire service. Part of the new-normal is the recognition that your children will be with you during the service, and most churches have elected to keep the children in the services. So, there you are, in the service, and your little ones are crawling under your feet, making clicking noises during the prayer time, and you are completely distracted.

The following is an article I wrote in 2016, and I thought it might help you today during these strange days of church. The church and home bear the responsibility to teach the next generation essential biblical concepts — especially in these Covid-19 days.

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In track there is a very important time during the 4×100 relay. No matter how fast one runner may have gone, everything hinges on the passing of the baton. Proper technique must be practiced and maintained no matter how tired the runner may be. The runner who is receiving the baton cannot go anywhere until it is in his/her hand, and the runner who is passing the baton is not considered successful until the next runner has it in their hand. The success of the handoff equals the success of the race.

In the Christian faith there is a handoff that takes place. One generation passes the baton of faith to the next generation. The children in the seats today will be preaching the sermons tomorrow. As a parent there is nothing more satisfying and that brings as much joy, as to see your children genuinely worshipping the Lord. However, as parents there is no one moment in time when the baton is passed; instead it happens a thousand times, one pass, and then another, and then another. One opportunity, that leads to another responsibility, that leads to raised expectations, etc. Slowly, over time, and then years, children grow in their faith and become leaders.

Not only is this passing the baton a parent’s responsibility it is also shared by the church as well. No matter your church’s position on children being present during the service (some leave half way through, some are out the entire time, some stay the whole time, etc.) there will be times when the children will be present for the service.

I begin with the assumption that whoever the teacher/preacher may be, that he desires to be understood and impact all in the room. Also, when the service is designed as a whole that the planners do not desire to leave anyone behind. The following are things that a worship leader or worship design team can implement with regard to children being present in a worship service.

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  1. Sermons that utilize stories – specifically stories about the speakers childhood. This will help the children to see themselves or place themselves into the story.

Telling stories, putting principles and precepts into skin and bones, truths and ideas into real or imaginary people and situations excels as a means of communication. An abstraction may hold some interest, but embody it in a story and it becomes clear, understandable, and compelling.[1]

  1. Avoid unnecessary theological terms.[2] If you can explain something or reword it to make it easier to understand, then why wouldn’t you? If there is a term that is important to explain the main teaching point then take the time to define the term and illustrate why it is important.
  1. Include children in the service or story in some way. Ask them questions, mention their names in a positive way, etc. One could have them hold up a teaching object (ex. If the main idea was on “division” then they could hold up a splitting wedge. Or if the main idea was “service” then they could be asked to serve in some way that day during the service.) Of course knowing ahead of time which children are comfortable being in front of others and which ones are not is important.
  1. Use actual objects to teach – things they can see and touch. The more common the object the better because when they see it again they will be very likely to connect your teaching idea to the object (ex. Toothbrush, zipper, shoe laces, etc.)
  1. Give them an objective to complete – It helps everyone to know what is expected of them. If children can be given a worksheet to complete during the service it may focus their attention and allow them to know what you expect them to know at the end of the service. You may ask questions like, “What was your favorite song? Why? What was the main idea of the sermon? How could you do that this week?, etc”

Avoid fact finding questions, instead focus on wording the questions so that they will help them reach a goal or understanding. Remember you are not desiring to raise a bunch of knowledgeable Pharisees, but whole hearted followers of Christ. For example, don’t ask “How many disciples were in today’s Bible passage?” Instead ask, “How do you think Peter felt when Jesus said, ‘Get behind me Satan?'”

  1. Make comments that relax the parents. Let’s face it, kids are at different stages of maturity (spiritual, mental, and physical). Their ability to sit still will vary greatly, but let me caution you to avoid assuming that because they were moving around that they were not listening. Also, don’t assume that because they were sitting still that they were listening.

A comment like “Children are welcome here. We know they may make noises, ask questions, or move around. . . it’s ok.” (the same is true for special needs families as well).

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You don’t have to water down theology or even “dumb down” the service just because the kids are there. But you need to pray and spend some extra time on how to make families feel more welcome and relaxed as they attend services together.

Also, a quick note to parents; just because your child may be drawing on the bulletin or crawling around under the chairs, don’t assume that they were not listening. Ask them on the way home what they heard, you will be amazed at what they can retain. As the church and the home work together on making our services more kid/family friendly we will make some great strides to passing off the baton. But don’t forget it’s not a one shot deal, it’s week after week, Sunday after Sunday of partnering together to reach the next generation for Christ.

Get ready, set, . . .Go

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[1] Roy Zuck. Teaching as Jesus Taught (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Publishing), 306.

[2] I go into this specific topic in greater depth in other articles. Click here to read further.

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"Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Rick Warren

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