A few years ago, I attended a workshop entitled: “Authentic Patience: Improvisation and Preaching.” The presentation was by Rev Mark T. Davis who is the senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in…
Category: blog
Should We Preach Prosperity?
Well, there is a new book that helps us understand what the question even means. Many of the most popular preacher in the African American community could be considered “prosperity preachers.” These…
Are You Feeding The Sheep or Bleeding On The Sheep?
One of our readers, C. Johnson, wrote a perceptive comment which reads in part:
To a large degree, what is said, heard and done (in the pulpit) is all prepackaged. Even the words that are used, are for the most part scripted long before a text is exegeted and expounded.
and further
Too many who populate pulpits reduce the Bible to the script of the people we serve and as a result, lead them into both mediocrity and blindness.
Using the Pulpit to Beat our Enemies
Telling the Story and Making Your Points while Preaching
In the African American Preaching Tradition the ability to “tell the story” is highly prized. It is also helpful when preaching to any ethnic group. There is something about stories that captures the imagination of the hearer in ways that no other method can. Stories grab the people and place them in the Bible story as they recognize parts of the story playing out in their own lives. Stories are powerful especially Bible stories.
Is The Preacher A Prophet or Priest
A few years ago, the Biblical Preaching blog asked the question, “Are you a Prophet or Priest?
Denzel to Preachers – Just “Let It Rip”
The Talking the Walk Blog has an interesting post that seeks to derive help for preachers from an interview with Denzel Washington.
Denzel answers why he did a particular hand movement in a movie by saying:
Can You Write a Sermon Down?
OK, let’s get into some sermon philosophy. The question for today, “Can you write a sermon down?” You may think so, but I am not talking about whether to use a manuscript…
Preaching Without Notes is not a Brain Dump
This past weekend I listened and looked on the internet to a preacher who was preaching without notes. The preacher simply stated everything that came to his mind on the subject or not on the subject. He had highs and lows, but there was no rhyme or reason to the sermon. Then the preacher ended with a whimper and sat down.
At the end of the sermon it was difficult to remember any points from the sermon. There were a few “flashes of brilliance” but largely it was a long “stream of consciousness” without purpose. What went wrong?
Are Pastors Kings? Bishop Eddie Long And Pastoral Kingship
OK, I admit this is tangentially related to the point of this blog, but a few of you wanted me to put this up for discussion. Setting aside the obvious discussion about…
Is Your Mouth Open? Preachers and Proclamation
H. Beecher Hicks in the second chapter of his book Preaching Through a Storm has a sermon entitled How to Silence a Preacher; or, Shut Your Mouth!. Rev. Hicks preached this sermon…
Something to Say or Say Anything
Lowell Erdahl, in the book Best Advice for Preaching, quotes someone who said: “There are two kinds of preachers–those who have to say something and those who have something to say!” A…
Prostitution of the Black Preaching Tradition – Style but no Substance
The Black Preaching Tradition is a great gift to the larger Christian world. Many acknoweldge the vibrancy and the power of great Black Preaching. I also marvel at the improvisational genious of the great preachers in that tradition. While we accept this great gift of the African American church, we also must acknowledge that there are some who are today abusing this gift by taking it and preaching a Gospel that does not take into account the full counsel of God.
Naming Your Sermon
Among our most popular posts are the ones on Sermon Titles. There is just not that much information in book form or on the web on the issue. However, one might be…
Cotton Candy Sermons?
Is your preaching substantive? Does your preaching foster transformation? In an old post on the Preaching Today Blog that is no longer available. The TheoCentric Preaching Blog quotes an old Preaching Today…