Josh Hunt's blog

I have said it before, I will say it again: I think Lifeway's Masterworks series is the best of the best. And, next quarter, it is the best of the best of the best. All literature published by any publisher struggles with the same problem: how do you find someone who can write something brilliant about the topic or text? Turns out, this is a very difficult task to do consistently. Masterworks has solved this problem in the following way. They don't try to find someone to write something brilliant. They find something that has already been written that is brilliant. The Masterworks lesson supplement I wrote today was on Beth Moore's book on Daniel. One could argue that Beth Moore is a brilliant writer. I'd agree. If she is writing the curriculum, how bad could it be? Masterworks gets this class of writers to write the literature every quarter. They take best selling Christian trade books and turn them into literature. It costs a little more, but it is great stuff! (OK, I...

I wrote a lesson on Psalm 73 recently: Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. Psalms 73:1-2 (NIV) Here is my paraphrase: I know God is good. . . in theory. But, my life pretty much stinks right now. Why doesn't God do something for me. . . NOW! I used this story from Warren Wiersbe's commentary: It was brought home to me when our first child was born. In the hospital God took that child. I only heard the cry of that little one. All she ever did in her life was cry. I shall never forget the day she died. Across the hall from where my wife was, there was a very wealthy couple who had a baby boy, and their rich friends came to celebrate with them. As I drove into the parking lot in my old beat-up Chevrolet, they all drove up in Cadillacs. They went into the hospital with their champagne and celebrated the birth of the little boy. He was ...

A constant theme of my teaching revolves around a few central ideas: It is always in our best interest to live the Christian life. It is good for us to follow God. God is good. His ways are good. Following God is good. It is good for me. Always. We must come to love the Christian life or we will never come to live the Christian life. I wanted to emphasize this point in an introduction recently and said something like this: "I picked up this book yesterday. . ." Note: people are interested in what is current. They want to know what you learned recently. In your relationship with God, they want to know if God has said anything to you lately. They want to know what you are reading this week. They want to drink from a moving stream. "It is written by pollster Frank Luntz and has commendations by both President Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. It seems ...

I did a sermon on the woman caught in adultery years ago. I told the first part of the story then said, "Just then, people starting running through the crowd passing out stones. Everyone knew what they were for. They were and instrument of death. There was about to be a stoning." Just as I said, "people started running through the crowds passing out stones" the youth group was cued to do just that. They jumped out and began passing out stones. When everyone had a stone, I asked, "Who would you hurt if you had the power to do so? God calls upon us to forgive. He calls us to set down our judgmentalism and forgive. I want to ask you to set down your stone and with it, your judgmentalism. Set down your slowness to forgive. Set down your stone and forgive." If you would teach sticky lessons, if you would teach like Jesus taught, you need to do this kind of thing from time to time. You need to use stuff that you can to...

Our brains are designed to see the unexpected, the unusual, the shocking. If you would teach sticky lessons, like Jesus did, teach with some shock value. You don't have to read Jesus very long before you find an example of this in His teaching: Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. (25) In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. (26) The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. (27) "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." (28) "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." (29) Then he told ...

"If you can't reduce it to a slogan, people will never remember it." -- Rick Warren "Memorable is portable." -- Andy Stanley Quick: what are two or three things your dad taught you? Here is my answer: Many hands lighten the load. We don't all do things alike. New is not always better; it is just new. Notice you don't find any paragraphs there. You don't find book chapters. You dont' find any long, complicated (deep?) ideas. What you find is what we always find when we ask what people remember: short, pithy, memorable, easy-to-pass-on statements. Jesus was a master at this. Look at His longest and most famous sermon, easily the most important piece of prose ever written. It is full of these slogan-ish statements: You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to ...

I start reading hundreds of books but rarely finish any of them. Occasionally I finish one. Once in a blue moon I read one twice. Reading a book three times is almost unheard of. I have just done it with two different books. I want to talk about one of them in this set of articles. Modern science has taught us much about communication. A great deal of research has been done on what makes a message stick. One of the best books on the subject is Heath and Heath's Made to Stick. If you have ever seen a copy you might remember. The book is bright orange with a piece of duct tape stuck to it. The cover itself teaches one of the six principles contained inside. As I read (then listened) to this incredible book, I was struck by two things: This is exactly how Jesus taught Every Bible Study lesson should include these 6 elements It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught; we need to teach how Jesus taught. Jesus pe...

Good Questions that have groups talking are different from most lessons you have seen. Here are a few reasons why. Discussion based rather than lecture based Our tag line is, "Good questions have groups talking" and that is the goal of every lesson. Look at one of the sample lessons and you can see this difference right away. Put these lessons into the hands of all your teachers and watch your classes transform from lecture-based groups to discussion based groups. Each lesson consists of 20 or so ready-to-use questions that get groups talking. Why is this important? Jesus taught that we are changed by what comes out of us. Until we confess the truth--not just hear it--we are not changed by it. See this article for more details. Commentary quoted from world-class writers Most curriculum has an inherent flaw. They can often get past it, but it cripples nearly every series made. Here is how it works. A committee gets together and decides o a text and topic. ...

Many of you know I started pastoring a small church in the country about 45 minutes north of Las Cruces about 6 months ago. I wanted to provide an update on how things are going. I asked for advice when I started this. I talked to two pastors. One said, "New broom sweeps clean. Make something happen. Get some things going. Create some momentum. Make a splash." Another guys said, "Take it slow and easy." I went with the second guy’s advice. I got a Sunday School report at our quarterly business meeting the other day. The first business meeting Sunday School was 18. Six months later we are at 24. The way I think of it, this is a 33% increase in six months. We started our first new class this past Sunday. We have a major outreach event planned for the first of the year. (It is not really official just yet, but if you would like to take a peek, see www.joshhunt.com/mail317.htm ) You might be surprised to hear I don't k...

I love being a Christian, don't you? I love spending time with God--just me and God--in the mornings. I love walking with God through the day. I love relying on God's wisdom from the Bible. I love the comfort that comes during difficult days--and there will be difficult days. I love the sense of meaning and purpose that following God gives me--the feeling that I am part of a Cause that is bigger than I am. I love being a Christian, don't you? If we do all love being a Christian, why doesn't the message of Christ naturally and unavoidably spread? Why the coaxing of people to share their faith? Why evangelism strategies and programs? You would think that if we all love it, we would just naturally tell and they would naturally want to hear about good news. People love to talk about things they love. They love to talk about their new PS 3 (My son camped out 2 nights at Target to get one) or their latest...

One of the many smart things Rick Warren has said is that people don't remember paragraphs; they remember slogans. They don't remember sermons or lessons or books. They remember sayings: Give me liberty or give me death. The truth will set you free. People don't care what you know until they know that you care. Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. Here are a few of my favorites: You must come to love the Christian life or you will never come to live the Christian life. If you can get them to the party, you couldn't keep them from class. Teach a half-way decent lesson each and every week, nothing less will do. Community must proceed content. People are not looking for a friendly church; they are looking for friends. People matter to God. Give Friday nights to Jesus. Love at its best is a little bit boring. It is pedestrian, earthy, stuff you can touch and feel. It is Diet Co...