What The Blues Teaches Us About Preaching
The Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly has an Interview with the Dean of Preachers Gardner C. Taylor. You can find the interview in text and some video at this link. Dr. Taylor talks about many issues including church and politics, mega churches, and preaching.
One very important quote is the following:
Sermons that Prepare People to Live in the Real World Read More
Well, the Apprentice is back and I must admit that this is about the only television show that I look at every week. I am not sure why it is so appealing to me, perhaps it is that we are simply looking at human nature.
Pat Robertson predicts that a massive terrorist attack will happen to the USA in 2007 according to an article in CNN.Com. The article goes on to tell of Robertson’s other predictions and interesting statements. For example, Robertson saying that God punished Ariel Sharon with a stroke for giving some of the land to the Palistinians. Robertson also predicted that bush would easily win re-election.
Fortuneteller or Prophet? Read MoreOver at the Vulgar Homiletics blog, Dave Barnhart is in the middle of a series entitled Preaching Basics. It looks to be a helpful series of pointers to keep in mind when you preach. For example the first is to Keep it Simple. Barnhart suggests that we use simple language without dumbing down the message. The second is to get rid of the passive verbs. The third is to incorporate silence and pause into the message. Go on over and follow this interesting series.
Preaching Basics from the Vulgar Homiletics Blog Read More
Many people make resolutions to read the Bible through in the incoming year.
Thanks from Dipnoi for this link to the Real Live Preacher’s series on How To Read the Bible. Here is a link to the video for part 1. It looks as if it will be helpful and valuable.
How to Read the Bible Read More
The Homiletic Terms bliography defines Celebration as A peak moment of emotional, cognitive, and spiritual release occurring during sermons. This “peak moment” is often the final portion of the sermon.
Paul Reid asks this question in his blog. He answers integrity, faithfulness, intelligible, and humility. These are truly good qualities to ask of onesself when the preacher steps into the pulpit, but a couple of things came to my mind. Are these required however is a good question. I have heard powerful sermons by preachers who were not the least bit humble. And integrity is a powerful word. Can any of us really say that we are true to the message that we preach?
What is Good Preaching? Read More
Our Homiletic Terms bibliography defines Call and Response as “A back-and-forth verbal dialogue between preacher and congregation during the sermon.†Often this is assumed to be in the African American church with an African American preacher, but I have seen pentecostal European American pastors interacting with mixed congregations in this way.
Ken Collins gives you a list of things to do if you want to preach a terrible sermon. The whole list is helpful and can be read with profit.
How To Preach a Lousy Sermon Read MoreThe author of the Vulgar Homiletics Blog has published some sermon starters for the first few sundays of next year in the Circuit Rider. These correspond to the lectionary readings for Jan 18 – Feb 14 of 2007.
Sermon Starters from Dave Barnhart Read MoreI was talking to a fellow student the other day about the quality of sermons that we get to hear in divinity school. You see when students are graded they put forth their best effort. That is not to say that all have been good, but most have. This past week I got to hear two sermons that were particularly interesting to me in that they both gave me models of a particular aspect of preaching that I have been working on.
As some of you know, I am a MDiv student at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
