Blue Note Preaching
You ever notice the real note isn’t always the one on the page? In the blues, the right note is often in between the notes. Not the clean pitch the …
Blue Note Preaching Read MoreAuthor: Sherman Haywood Cox II
March at Midnight – First Sunday of Advent- Year A
Isaiah 2:1–5 March at Midnight The church year don’t start at high noon. It doesn’t begin when the sun’s shining, the bills are paid, the choir is tight, and everybody’s …
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The I, The Us, and the Hope In Preaching
I was listening to Wynton Marsalis recently—one of the great jazz trumpeters of our time—and he broke jazz down into three essential elements. This is my summary of what he …
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The Blues, The Dance, and Preaching
There’s something strange and beautiful about the blues. It’s a music soaked in pain—lost love, long nights, empty pockets, broken promises, unanswered prayers. The blues doesn’t pretend everything is alright. …
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Three Things the Blues Will Do To Your Preaching
Real preaching doesn’t promise you the new car. It doesn’t guarantee a bigger house, a better job, or a fairy tale ending. Because the Bible doesn’t either. You can name …
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The Moan and the Whoop: Where Blues Meets Preaching
You ever notice it? That preacher starts to rise near the end of the sermon — voice bending, throat tightening, rhythm building. And suddenly, they’re not just talking. They’re singing …
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Sermon is Art Not Lecture
Let’s go ahead and say it: some of these sermons out here sound like lectures. Long on information, short on inspiration. Packed with notes, but no oil. Now look — …
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Why The Psalms and the Prophets Sound Like Blues
If you’ve ever spent real time in the Psalms or the Prophets, you know they don’t sound like the neat, polished songs we often sing in church. They’re raw. They’re …
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How The Blues Helped My Preaching
Yes… I’m still thinking about the blues, y’all. And the more I sit with it, the more I realize the blues has made me a better preacher. When we talk …
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Preaching Truth Through the Blues
Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On opens soft, like a prayer hanging in the air: “Mother, mother, there’s too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother, there’s far too many of …
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What The Blues Teaches Us About Celebration
I’ve been thinking about celebration lately—what it really is, and what I actually do in my own sermons. And I’m going to get back to you soon with more on …
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Stop Sleeping In The Pulpit
“I“I don’t yell or whoop, how can I bring that energy to my sermon?” Good question. Very good question. Some preachers are so monotone and lifeless that they appear to …
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Thou Shalt Have Good News
I sometimes feel like a broken record….But one of my pastors used to always say, “Repetition deepens the impression.”. Anyway, this is something that preachers often ignore so I want …
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The Answer Is In The Records
OK… So I have been learning music over the last few years. Somebody said, “All the answers are in the records.” What they were saying is that if you have …
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