Marguerite Shuster

Jesus hung out at parties, seeming to be glad enough to be there—rather a promising opening gambit for evangelism. At least, that type of evangelism sounds a lot more comforting than strange-looking folks carrying signs announcing coming…

The worship wars”: the phrase evokes images of generational conflict over styles of worship and, especially, music and impassioned references to the demands of a changing culture marked by increasingly uninterested youth and disaffiliated…

Editor’s note: This article is an adaptation of a sermon preached on June 14, 2014.

Most of  you, I am imagining, would not easily guess a part of the service of worship I especially anticipate. It is the benediction. No,…

Thomas Oden, longtime professor of Theology and Ethics at Drew University, for years wrote volume after volume elaborating and espousing the latest theories and practices—successful, up-to-date, modern, in the best liberal tradition—yet somehow…

The sermon is the foundation of all ministerial approach and appeal to the group mind. Hence, its paramount place in the study and labor of the gospel ministry. We are ordained, charged, and commissioned to preach. How, then, shall we preach,…

Times, we have been told, change. And they do, even quite radically. In particular, times for the church in the United States and western Europe have not only changed, they’ve changed in ways that don’t look so good for us.

For one…

Jesus told a parable about the coexistence of wheat and weeds (Matt. 13:24-30). But can we agree that there are such things as weeds in the world?

Just try persuading almost anyone that there are…

Derek Morris: Dr. Shuster, in both teaching and writing, you have become an advocate of preaching Christian doctrine. And yet, in your essay entitled "Preaching the Trinity," you state: "I am well aware, then, that I am swimming…

Editor’s note: This article is a version of a chapter from the forthcoming book Best Advice for Pastors and Preachers, edited by William J. Carl III. Copyright 2008 Westminster John Knox Press.

A…

“Your God is too fast,” wrote Rich Mouw, now president of Fuller Theological Seminary.¹ He was reflecting on our impatience, our unwillingness to wait, our apparent assumption that anything God really wants…

My assignment is to talk about spending time in the Word. So, here goes: Spend more time reading your Bible. Just do it.
The command doesn’t work very well, does it?

Most of us dread being told…