Olan Carter

Austere stone walls, cracked and weathered by time. faint shafts of golden light pierce the gloom, illuminating a solitary path that winds through the crumbling ruins. the path is narrow, the footing treacherous, but it offers the only way forward for those who would pass beyond these crumbling walls.

Beyond the Balance Sheet: Is Your Stewardship Built on Duty or Devotion?

The sermon correctly establishes God's total ownership as the foundation for stewardship. However, its homiletical structure is fundamentally moralistic, presenting a series of imperatives (work hard, be content, manage well) that are not sufficiently grounded in the indicative of Christ's finished work. This results in a 'try harder' message that risks producing either pride in success or despair in failure, rather than rest in Christ.

Read MoreBeyond the Balance Sheet: Is Your Stewardship Built on Duty or Devotion?
A single, leather-bound book rests in a shaft of golden light, evoking the timelessness and enduring wisdom of scripture.

Can We Trust the Bible? A Review of Olan Carter’s Apologetic Sermon

The sermon is a commendable topical apologetic on the authority and inspiration of Scripture, effectively dismantling common secular arguments. However, its strength in bibliology is undermined by a significant weakness in soteriology. The closing call to salvation relies on anthropocentric, decisionist language, which functionally presents faith as the decisive human contribution rather than a gift of God resulting from sovereign regeneration. This shifts the sermon from a robustly sound teaching to one that is theologically weak at the most critical point of application.

Read MoreCan We Trust the Bible? A Review of Olan Carter’s Apologetic Sermon