Posts Tagged ‘preaching’
Preaching in a Whole New World
by Mike Glenn I remember watching Jackie Gleason in a movie called Gigot when I was a child. It’s a comedy film made in 1962, and Gleason plays a mute who lives in the basement of his landlady’s apartment building. He squeezes out a meager living working as a janitor and doing odd jobs around…
Read MoreMixed Signals
A lifeboat was called out to rescue a yacht in trouble. The coastguard, trying to get the yacht’s location, called it on the radio. “What is your position? Repeat, what is your position?” And the reply came back, “My position? Well I’m marketing director of a medium sized computer software company in New York.”
Read MoreConnecting Pulpit and Classroom
An interview with Hershael York Hershael York has served as a professor of preaching for nearly three decades and as a senior pastor for more than 40 years. He recently stepped down after 20 years as pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Kentucky, but continues to serve as professor of preaching and Dean…
Read MorePreaching Leadership Lessons from the Marine Corps
Shortly before my 38th birthday, after more than eleven years of full-time pastoral ministry, I commissioned as an active-duty chaplain in the United States Navy. I possessed no prior military experience but had always desired to serve. For various reasons, the time seemed right for me and my family. So, after shedding thirty pounds, I…
Read MoreThe Use of Emotion in Preaching
By Mark Palmer To preach is to lead. Whether preachers realize it or not, they lead when proclaiming God’s word. The only question is, “To where or to what?” If the proclamation is not carried out with biblical and personal passion, the message will not resonate with listeners. Although the message of the gospel is…
Read MoreRooted, Not Restricted
By Robert Smith Jr The phrase ad fontes – “to the sources” – antedates the Reformation. To Erasmus and the scholars it meant back to classical and Christian antiquity; back to the Renaissance. To the Reformers it meant back to the early church fathers and ultimately to the early church. Back to the five solas…
Read MoreRooted, Not Restricted
by Robert Smith Jr. The phrase ad fontes – “to the sources” – antedates the Reformation. To Erasmus and the scholars it meant back to classical and Christian antiquity; back to the Renaissance. To the Reformers it meant back to the early church fathers and ultimately to the early church. Back to the five solas…
Read MoreStart with a Bang! Crafting a Memorable Sermon Opener
By Tyler Scarlett Great books often begin with great opening lines. Who doesn’t remember the beginning of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”? What about the curiously blunt start to Moby Dick, “Call me Ishmael”? Authors know that if you waste a…
Read MoreSermon: Purpose and Distractions
We went on vacation last summer to Pawley’s Island on the coast of South Carolina where my family has been going since long before I was born. We pursued the most important things you do at the beach — boiled shrimp and drawn butter, fried flounder, fried oysters, and all the accompaniments. On of the…
Read MoreThe Preacher as Prophet
Preaching has a long and unsteady relationship with prophecy. I was raised to be distrustful of the kind of preaching that would chart a vision for the church in these “end times” – especially if a real chart was involved! Preachers like these always seemed a little too sure of themselves, given that Jesus himself…
Read MoreReading for Preaching
One of the first sermons I ever preached was a eulogy for my grandfather. I was about one year into seminary, and I had not yet taken a single preaching class. My grandfather, meanwhile, was my hero. It was he who first drew me to Jesus and who first modeled for me a Christ-shaped life;…
Read MoreA Violation of Trust
Pastors have been using other preacher’s material for years. When I was growing up, preachers would regularly quote Billy Graham, Vance Pittman, and Charles Spurgeon. They would also throw in a quote from their favorite childhood preacher or seminary professor. This was common and even expected. Preachers steal lines from each other all the time.…
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