I'm often asked, "How would you define your method of preaching," or, "Into which school of preaching would you categorize yourself?" I am often at a loss for words or snidely reply: "Reformed," or, "Biblical!" Personally, I believe labels are necessary and helpful—after all, I am Christian, Protestant, Reformed, etc. When it comes to preaching, though, I feel the various categories and schools create false dilemmas and false dichotomies. For example, if you are "biblical theological" you don't believe in application, or, if you are "experiential" you are not Christ-centered, and the list goes on.

Well, what am I? I am an amalgam of what I consider the best of many approaches to Reformed preaching. Let me outline how I see myself and how I approach the task of homiletics with a series of dichotomies.

First, I am Expository & Catechetical. I follow the practice of the synagogue and the ancient church fathers such as Origen, Augustine, and Chrysostom in preaching through book after book of Scripture. This is called the lectio continua, or, continual reading method of preaching. I also follow the practice of the New Testament and the ancient fathers such as Cyril of Jerusalem in preaching the basics of Christian faith and life, called catechesis. One of the benefits of preaching in the morning and evening of the Lord's Day is being able to preach in both of these manners.

Second, I am Redemptive-Historical & Experiential. As Jesus taught us, all Scripture points to him (John 5:39; Luke 24), so no matter where in the Bible I am preaching, everything must be understood against the big-picture of God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. I've often commented that redemptive-history or biblical theology is a hermeneutic not a homiletic. Every sermon cannot trace the whole flow of the Bible, but every sermon can preach Christ with that flow in mind. As well, my preaching is experiential, that is, it understands that among those that are listening, there are both sheep and goats, believer and unbeliever. This means that preaching must be discrmiminatory between these type major types of people, seeking to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted. Another way of describing experiential preaching in terms of the unbeliever is that it is evangelistic preaching in the way Peter preached in Acts 2. In terms of the believer, preaching must enter the joys and sorrows of the Christian life in a practical way ("application").

Third, I am a Law & Gospel preacher. Every sermon must rightly divide the Word, as Paul told Timothy (2 Tim. 2:15). The threats of God's law must be forcefully proclaimed and applied, and the relief of the Gospel must be proclaimed and applied. As it has been wisely said, law without grace is powerless and gospel without law is meaningless.