My next sermon’s text is Romans 4:1-12. I plan to discuss as my two main points the wages of the law vs. the gift of faith. Now that I have some potential direction, I can start to work on other things. Fortunately, this means I only have to have four illustrations total, instead of the customary five.

As I was thinking through some of this stuff last night with a great friend over some fried ice cream, I was contemplating the role of God’s grace in preaching. That is, I’m very much aware of the fact that I can’t live the Christian life without a ton of grace. My preferred modes of sin are not entirely of the “polite, Christian” variety. Sure, I wrestle with pride. That’s a fairly safe one. Wanting in another guy’s pants? Not nearly as polite as wanting in girls’ pants. You can always find a girl’s pants you like better and get married. Not a great way to pick a life-long wife, but it’s done a lot. Good luck to me, right?

All snarkiness aside, I’ve found some awesome guys here at school. They encourage me…they don’t treat me like a leper and remind me of the Gospel and that I’m not alone, even if I’m single. I can’t ask for better friends.