A little while ago, a preacher called me and asked me about his idea for a sermon. He wanted me to critique his sermon idea and give him pointers on how he…
Category: blog
My God, My God, Why….?
On the cross Jesus uttered a fascinating sentence. We find it in Matthew 27:45-46, Jesus said “My God, My God, Why has thou forsaken me?” If you have been in the church…
On the Reuse of Sermons
Teresa Fry Brown hits on another important topic as she presents Charles Adams’ 9 suggestions to preachers found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. This one has to do with re-using sermons.
Trusting Your Stuff: How to Know When Your Sermon is Ready
One question that often comes up is “When is my sermon ready to preach?” This is not an easy question to answer for a few reasons. One reason it is difficult is because some preachers never spend enough time in preparation. They allow the demands of ministry to overpower their need to preach effective sermons.
Don’t Commentate….Preach!
A while ago, Peter Mead ran a series on his helpful website on the subject of “Preaching Epistles.” People ask me to bring different perspectives, so here is one that I read…
The Black Tradition – Freedom is at It’s Core
Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom,
Oh Freedom Over Me
And Before I’d Be a Slave
I’d Be Burried in my Grave
And Go Home to my Lord and be Free
Increase in Sermon Intensity not Yelling
In my post discussing Jasper William’s Whooping System, I wrote about the whooping Curve. This is an increase in intensity that subsides slightly as you enter the whoop and then grows again to the final climax.
Illustrations and the Whole Congregation
Have you ever really analyzed your illustrations? I suspect most preachers don’t. I did it one time and found that the vast majority of my illustrations were largely about men. They were…
Preaching To Those Who Hear
On the Biblical Preaching blog, the author is currently in a series about the different listeners in our sermons. Who is listening? There is the community of faith, not yet believers, angels,…
Prayer And Preaching
Preparation for preaching requires a number of steps. Have you completed all of them? I fear that some preachers come into the preaching moment having done their checklist… Pray for God’s help….check!…
Three Steps to Effective Assistant Ministers
I have been tan assistant for much of my time in ministry. Some pastors have treated me with the utmost respect. I have seen other pastors who treat their assistants almost as slaves, giving them the least desirable jobs and neglecting acknowledgment of the work that they do.
Senior pastors should note that they are not the only ones who are giving their time and energies to the church. Many of these assistants are in part time situations sometimes they are not even be paid at all. But these assistants finish their work in industry and then come to ministry to seek to give their talents to God.
There are, in my estimation, three steps that a senior minister must follow if that minister is to have effective assistant ministers.
Lord Where Are You? – Honoring the Question
Lord, why do you allow bad things to happen? Lord, why is pain allowed to run rampant. Lord, what is going on? And, Lord, where are you? Such questions come to our…
How to Use Another Person’s Sermon
Ok. You have less than a day. You have waited until it is very late. At this point you have a few options and none of them are good.
Are You Serving Slop In the Pulpit?
I was talking to a fellow preacher the other day about the difficulties and challenges of preaching sermons that both touch the people as well as sits under the smile of God….