Josh Hunt's blog

Jesus taught we are changed more by what we say than what we hear: He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' Mark 7:20 (NIV) That is why the Bible makes such a big deal about what we confess. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) It is not enough to believe. We must confess. The implication is we don't really believe it until we say it. We are changed more by what we say than what we hear. This is why Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" It is not like Jesus did not know. He knew that when Peter said, "You are the Christ" he would believe--really believe--and be changed by that message. This is why I believe so...

All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. Matthew 13:34 (MSG) Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. Matthew 13:34 (NLT) Again Jesus used stories as illustrations when he spoke to them. He said, Matthew 22:1 (GW) Where to find good stories I try to spend about half the time I spend in preparation in formal preparation--reading commentaries and what not. The other half I try to spend in reading trade books. I try to read story-rich authors--people like John Ortberg, John Maxwell and John Ortberg. Did I mention John Ortberg? I really like him. I used to listen to a lot of cassettes, back in the day. Then, CDs, now podcasts. Great thing about podcasts: they are free! Who doesn't like free? I have listened to every sermon John Ortberg and Andy Stanley have preached in the last five years. All free, ...

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 ...