IF YOU CAN KEEP FROM PREACHING, DO IT

HB Charles, Jr, shared this insightful post on his blog:

One day, I had a conversation with a friend who was seeking to discern whether the Lord was calling him to pastoral or pulpit ministry. As he discussed it with me, he noted that he had mentioned this matter to me several times before without comment from me. He was right. I hadn’t responded. And I sensed that he was waiting on a response this time. So I prayed an emergency prayer to God about what to say.

And what came to my mind is what my father said to me some twenty years ago about whether I should continue in the ministry: “If you can keep from preaching, do it.”

I was about fifteen years old. And my father had given me the opportunity to preach his 11 AM service. I remember two things about that sermon. It was the hardest I had ever worked on a sermon.

It was also the first time I received direct criticism about my preaching. First from my dad. As he made his pastoral remarks, he reminded the congregation of our afternoon fellowship with a sister church. He informed them (and me) that I would be preaching the afternoon service. He then promised that I would not preach that long in the afternoon service. This was his only comment about my sermon. Ouch. Right after service, one of my dad’s associates was first to greet me. He told me how “long-winded” I had become (a polite term used for those who speak too long, I guess). Double-ouch. Then, as I sat in my dad’s study after service, my sister ran in to kiss my cheek. She said she would see me in the next service, and apologized for rushing out, but she was in a hurry because I had preached so long. Triple-ouch. And strike three.

In comparison to the criticisms I have received about my preaching in later years, this was nothing. Absolutely nothing. But these remarks knocked me off my feet that day. And though I was able to preach that afternoon service, I was swallowed up in a black hole of discouragement the next several days. I couldn’t eat or sleep. And I would stay up at night, reading, praying, and crying.

One of those nights, my father came into the front room and heard me crying. He demanded to know what was wrong. I told him about what happened and how I felt about it. And I concluded that I didn’t know if I wanted to preach any more. When I finished my rant, my father said he understood and that he would not sit up with me all night. “The only advice I’ll give you is this,” he said as he got up to head back to bed. “If you can keep from preaching, do it.”

Huh?

He continued, “If preaching is something that you can get into and out of when you want to, it’s a sign that the Lord did not really call you. So if you can choose whether you are going to preach or not, I recommend that you don’t preach.”

That was all he said. He then turned and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway as he went back to his room.

I was angry at how seemingly unconcerned my father was. I was also surprised at how his advice (or non-advice) was exactly what I needed to hear. By the Lord’s gracious help, I was able to pull myself together. And I continued to preach. And I am still preaching more than twenty years later, to the glory of God.

By the look on my friend’s face, I am not sure he found my father’s advice to be very helpful. But it definitely helped me. Again.

As I wrestle with frustrations over my need to grow as a preacher, and as I face the various, inevitable challenges of my pastoral assignment, I need to be reminded that my calling is not my choice. I keep preaching because I do not have a choice. And I pray that I will never have a choice in the matter.

May the Lord gracious choose to continue to use me to herald the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” - 1 Corinthians 9:16 (ESV)

PREPARING YOUR PEOPLE THIS ADVENT

Blake Coffee has a great post for pastors preparing for Advent and meaningful ministry preparing their people to meet Jesus. - STEVE

The Long Journey Preparing for Jesus

29 11 2012

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’” Mark 1:1-3

Welcome to the Advent Season, everyone!  I am certain this season is as special at your church as it is at mine.  Now begins the challenge of leading our people’s hearts to turn toward Christ as opposed to getting so entangled with the secular culture of Christmas that they lose sight of Jesus.  I know you are thinking about that.  You are considering how you can best lead so as to help your people “prepare the way for the Lord”.  In that regard, you, my church leader friend, are John the Baptizer.  Your calling this season is to help your people prepare for Jesus.

So, as you strategize about this Advent Season in your own church, and how you will help your people prepare for Jesus, will you just consider the following:

• How will you help the single mom who is holding down three jobs and just trying to survive from one day to the next prepare her heart for Jesus?
• What is your strategy to help the child whose parent is deployed or in prison or just disappeared to prepare his/her heart for Jesus this season?
• What can you do this week to help that nursing home resident who gave your church so many good years of ministry to prepare for Jesus this season?
• What is your plan to pour into your second tier of church leaders over the next couple of weeks, so that they and their families are prepared for Jesus?
• How will your church minister to those who have lost loved ones in the past year and who now face their first Christmas season without them?
• What about the missionary family who unexpectedly found themselves back here for the Christmas season instead of out on the field with the people they have grown to love?  How will you help them prepare their hearts for Jesus?
• And lastly, while you are busy trying to be all things to all people in your congregation, what exactly are you planning for your own family this season, so that they will have hearts turned toward Jesus instead of resenting your ministry pulling you away from them?

John the Baptizer, it seems, was just a little bit crazy…a little bit different from normal folks.  And now we know why.  Helping make the way straight for Jesus in the hearts of one’s people is, well, a lot of hard work!  Shoulder to the wheel, my church leader friend…shoulder to the wheel!

© Blake Coffee

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FIVE THINGS PASTORS HATE TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR PREACHING

John Ortberg shares this list of five in the most recent issue of Leadership Journal:

1. “Your preaching has improved.” Sometimes when I hear this one it is strengthened by enthusiasm; your preaching has really improved. I think this comment is generally intended as a compliment, but it’s hard to say. Certainly it carries the message that your previous sermons left plenty of room for improvement.

2. “I’m so glad you said ‘X’.” But in fact you didn’t say “X”; you were trying to say the opposite of “X.” It makes you wonder what sermon they were listening to.

3. “I heard Andy Stanley/Tim Keller/Jon Piper/Rob Bell give a similar talk one time.” Only it turns out that their talk was actually much better than the one you gave, and the enthusiastic listener wants to give you a play-by-play account with commentary on why it was better.

4. “I’m just not being fed.” This is an all-purpose comment, offered more generally than in response to one particular message. But it does make me wonder, if preaching is a form of feeding, why is there no tipping afterwards?

5. “The Lord told me to tell you …” ”… that you look tired,” “… that you hurt my feelings,” “… that this church needs more messages about stewardship/missions/culture wars/the Colbert Report,” “… that you chose the wrong clothes.”

Read more here…

THE AUDACITY OF PREACHING

I am currently teaching a course called NEW TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS as an adjunct instructor for Winebrenner Theological Seminary.  The course is provided as part what is known as the Pastoral Training Institute.  Essentially, the bulk of my students , who are currently involved in secular professions, are pursuing the goal of becoming local church pastors. 

Each time I teach this course, I begin with these words to those who would presume to be pastors and teachers, who will occupy pulpits and classrooms to connect people with the Bible and its revelatory truth for humankind.  In many ways, there is a certain audacity to preaching that must be grounded in obedient humility. These are the four things I tell them:

You are the Servant of this Book … it is God’s Holy Word

Remember what else is called the Word.  Jesus Christ.   Karl Barth called the Bible the Word of God Written to distinguish it from Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh.  With that in mind, remember ---

It is not your tool. You are its servant … This is a sacred book, to be held in highest esteem.

“Do your best to present yourself as one approved, a workman who does not need to ve ashamed and correctly handles the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2.15

It is truth and points men and women to the Truth—Jesus Christ-the Truth Who sets us free. (Henry Blackaby “Truth is a person.”)

Never underestimate its impact and its power.

“… so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty. but will I accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11

THE CALL

WE NEVER REALLY COME TO THE BIBLE ALONE

An excellent post by Megan Ricci in the blog THE COST OF COMMUNITY

In the early years of being a Christian, it was not uncommon to hear the idea that all we need is the Bible.  If anyone of us wants to know God and understand His will, all we had to do was open up Scripture and study.  We were cautioned about commentaries- they might be helpful, but we should never substitute the blatant truth in Scripture for the opinions of others.  In its worst expressions, this led to anti-academic sentiment (and even anti-intellectualism).  The heart of this bias was genuine and well intentioned, but it was/is deeply misguided.  The truth is that we never come to the Bible alone.

Let’s say you open to the New Testament and read Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount.  The fact is, your are reading it in a translation.  Immediately you are not alone.  The work and minds behind that translation required endless hours of study, scholarship, debate and more.  It is, after all, only one of hundreds of translations available.  Even if you decided to learn the language of the original text(s), you’d still have to rely on that same scholarship.  Already the room is filled with countless others who are helping you read the text.

This says nothing about the fact that you are reading the text through the lens of your place in history, culture, language, gender, age, education, experience, etc.  Layer upon layer of bias, influence and context shapes how you read, what you understand as you read and how you respond to the implications of that understanding.  As if that weren’t enough, even the people who were listening to Jesus’ words in the moments He spoke them often understood and responded to them differently.  Even His closest friends and disciples got it wrong time and again.

This kind of thinking is met with great resistance by those who believe that the Bible is enough.  After all, they say, if you question our ability to trust Scripture, what can we trust?  I sympathize with their perspective.  There are those who have allowed these facts to rob them of faith in some/any authority in Scripture.  However, I believe that the logic of those who claim “Bible alone” actually achieves the opposite end they desire- that is, it results in us losing the essential and precious truth found in Scripture.

We do not come to Scripture alone, but do so with the Holy Spirit who helps us discern God’s truth and will within.  We do so through our brokenness and thus get it wrong time and again, but with humility, chastened certainty and the grace of a forgiving God, we continue to pursue Him.  This isn’t a formula or “5-easy-steps”, but it is a path upon which we will discover more of God and His truth.

This same Holy Spirit is the Spirit who unites us as One Body in Christ.  Therefore, the Spirit quickens our understanding of Scripture as we seek to discern together as community.  And that communal discernment engages the diversity and multiplicity of gifts within that community without condescending against some strength or privileging others.  We are mutually interdependent on one another through the Spirit.  In many ways, this unity and interdependence should provide an impetus for a humble, yet passionate engagement of mission.  After all, each person who comes into the Body of Christ brings with them absolutely unique expressions of gifting, perspective, etc.  In fact, it is often in those who are most other that bring us the most essential understanding to become more like Christ together.

We never come to the Bible alone.  And I thank God for it every day.

Have you thought about the relationship between the preacher and the Word he preaches.  This is an excellent post from Ben Witherington that addresses this issue. - STEVE

God in the Afternoon— a Homily by J. D.

May 19, 2012 By Ben Witherington 3 Comments

(Here is a fine homiletical research piece by one of my students in Asbury’s ACE program. See what you think). To follow Ben's link and comment ...

Whether a cram sermon writing session on Saturday night or a well thought out sermon series prepared over weeks’ time, pastors, at least the good ones, hope their Sunday morning messages do not fall on deaf ears. A greater hope may be that those who have come did not just “hear the Good News,” but are so inspired to go out and apply the content of the morning message and Scriptures to their daily lives.

What would this look like? Maybe a family lunch before taking communion to home bound congregants? Maybe delivering food and hygiene items to the homeless community downtown? Maybe calling those who have fallen on hard times and offering a meal and a prayer? Maybe opening the Bible and studying independently throughout the week? That would have to be a pretty great morning message.

However, more often than not, the masses leave the church and rush to beat the crowds to Luby’s or rush home to see opening kick-off. Some may rush to the grocery stores to buy up their meals for the coming week. Others head out to the ball fields for an afternoon of recreational soccer. The sermon did not fall on deaf ears, but quite possibly onto complacent lives. A recent study of adolescents and young adults found staggering results on the perceptions and realities of the American Christian church. The results did not only identify issues among young people, but how their issues reflect a deeper problem in the church, “an adherence to a do-good, feel-good spirituality that has little to do with the Triune God of Christian tradition and even less to do with loving Jesus Christ enough to follow him into the world.” Such a watered-down understanding of Christianity does not produce fruit.

This paper will examine how the lack of sound biblical teaching and independent study only continues the cycle of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism in American churches. It will point to the significance of understanding the inspiration of the Scriptures, grasping the power of the living Word of God, and of applying reason and imagination to biblical study. “Too often church programs and worship are geared to the entertainment and ‘event-full’ gratification of its membership, while the preaching of the cross and the call to radical discipleship, incarnation, and justice are absent.” Radical discipleship shifts the American church back in line with the God they are meant to know and worship, an eternal focus where justice matters.

The chronic disease of passive Christianity is perpetuated by political correctness that has found its way into pulpits over the past several decades. Moral absolutes scare potential members away so they are not discussed or taught. Surface level teaching is all-inclusive and easier to understand and live out. All this creates a new religion that no one claims to be a part of, but is growing rapidly. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism believes in a god that created, ordered and watches over life on earth. It, like most other world religions, expects people to be nice and fair toward each other. Thirdly, followers simply want to be happy and feel good about their life. Rounding out the creeds of this watered down religion is an understanding that God is not involved in life on earth except when a problem arises, and heaven is the post life destination. Unfortunately, many people would say these creeds are the same as what Christians believe, though it lacks any mention of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures—or servanthood, community and relationship with God, for that matter.

Hebrews 5:12-14 speaks to the issues of discipleship stagnation, “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.” In depth biblical study, studying from the original languages and looking to scholarly commentaries make more of the Bible than just a way to know good from evil. Proper study gives the Holy Spirit “more to work with” so that God is revealed more fully. Casual acceptance leads to “a world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world and might even be more difficult to save.” Studying the Scriptures, by the power of the Holy Spirit not only teaches what he has done, but who he is and his desire to save his Creation.

Without the desire to study or the guidance of the Holy Spirit believers begin to look like everyone else in this era. The Information Age rages on often without questioning the credibility, validity or responsibility of the information. Society has access to the “answers” to many of life’s most difficult questions in their handheld, continually connected devices, but the pursuit of knowledge is no longer about the truthfulness, source and inspiration of the information. It is about how quickly any answer can be accessed. This is in sharp contrast to the importance of understanding the inspiration of Scripture. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “All Scripture is God-breathed…” (NIV). He was aware that the actual hand of God did not put pen to paper, so to speak, but God was the source and inspiration for the Law, the history and the works of the prophets he had studied since he was a young boy. The Spirit of God guided the hand of the authors. “The Spirit found their particular psyches, their intelligence, their readiness, their social location, their historical placement, useful to the divine plan and purpose, and spoke through them to and for all.” Such reverence for the text seems lost. Countless translations and versions, and possibly the shear availability of the Bible, has believers taking it for granted, mindlessly following without fully knowing. Losing sight of God’s hand in Scripture reduces it to mere fantasy and moral recommendations.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus, Peter and Paul claim the Holy Spirit inspired the work of their ancestors. In Matthew 22:43, Jesus pointed to David’s authorship of Psalm 110 as being inspired by the Spirit, as did Peter in in Acts 25 when speaking of Psalm 2. While in Rome speaking to the Jewish leaders Paul says, “the Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers Isaiah the prophet.” There was no doubt that the Words they had been raised on were truly from God and were relevant and steadfast. The same is true for their own words that are now included in the canon of Scripture. In John 1:14 we see clearly that Jesus’ words were not only inspired. In him, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” All that Jesus spoke was and is God’s. The whole of the New Testament carries the same inspiration of the Spirit.

Grasping the Bible as a direct, inspired work of God must progress into an understanding and acceptance of its power. Casual treatment of the Scriptures is ignoring its power. Ancients treated the Word of God as sacred and holy, to be relished. Its power is frightening and comforting at the same time. One touch of the Ark of the Covenant could kill, but knowing its presence nearby was knowing that God was close to the people he loved. Ancients also believed that same power came when the Scriptures were read aloud. The power could move a community. The Scriptures were prayed with expectations of response because they had power. The present American Christian Church that relies on surface level knowledge does not recognize the Scriptures as power, but opinion. The call to be like Christ is never answered because the real Jesus has been “hijacked…portraying him as an open-minded, big-hearted, and never-offended-anyone moral teacher.”

Christians cannot be like someone they do not know. The authors of Scripture wrote with the intent that “God’s word is alive, and when it is heard and received it changes human lives and takes up residence in them…” To be like Christ, believers must read what the Scriptures say about him and expect to be changed, expect the Word to be made alive in them. God created humanity’s tireless desire for knowledge, truth, justice beauty, perfection, and love. In return, much of humanity has distorted or displaced this quest and “few things are so haunting as the stories of the very greatest seekers falling short.” The written word of God is his self-disclosure. It preserves and triggers memories. As American churches lackadaisically acknowledge Scripture, they are selling themselves short and those whom God had hoped to reach through them. Believers “are called to a Christian phronesis – to the mind of Christ. This Christian phronesis is expressed in kenosis, in self-emptying of prestige, prerogatives, and power.”
In Romans 12:2 Paul writes, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformation through God’s word is the opposite of conforming to the tolerances and expectations of this world. This passage also calls for use of the mind. People have to reason how to process the rich complexities of life, to probe and test and stretch their faith from the perspective of a Christ follower. Paul writes of the Bereans who studied and compared his teachings to the Scriptures before believing in Jesus as the Messiah. They applied reason and intellect, an act that was praised by Paul. It is that same ability to reason that can empower Christians today to progress in the faith, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Craving God’s truth in exchange for the world’s, growing up in his truth to strengthens relationships both with him and with others. Reason does not contradict faith, rather they are interlocking practices. Reasoning through Scripture, tradition and experience allows Christians to better understand the truth of Scripture and guard against self-contradictions.

Intellect also invites the reader to look at the author’s intent. What was the primary message of their narrative or letter? Who were they writing for? Who was their primary audience? When were they writing? Where were they writing?

Within the mind is not only the ability to reason and apply intellect, but also the ability to imagine, to think creatively. The prophets used their imaginations when conveying the messages of God to the people of Israel. Isaiah’s “woes” were a result of his ability to imagine what life would be like for God’s chosen people for generations to come if the people now did not turn from their wickedness. Jesus used his imagination as he taught in parables. He pulled the environment in which his listeners were surrounded into his lessons. He pulled from the traditional way of storytelling his people knew to create a new lesson, to help them relate to the kingdom language he was using. Paul and John of Patmos could imagine what the second coming of Christ would be like and, from that, worshiped and warned with a sense of urgency to compel the masses to understand and imagine along with them.

The American Christian church has lost its imagination and thus its ability for “making the invisible kingdom visible.” It has lost its ability to see itself as part of God’s story, a story it can no longer accurately retell. A lack of imagination makes it difficult for followers to know the historical Jesus, the Jesus who was a first century Jew. Keeping Jesus out of his cultural context keeps believers from relating to him as fully human. Readers are invited to imagine what the writers and their audiences were feeling—like Paul writing from prison to Timothy. Readers can read between the lines of Scripture to imagine and better interpret the truth at work while being careful to stay within the writer’s instruction and away from fantasy.

An intentional effort to study and know God’s word seems like a radical inclination in a culture where careless information sharing reigns, where knowledge goes in one ear and out another. A follower, a member of the American Christian church must recognize that “Word is the appointed means by which God’s grace is made known to men, calling them to repentance, assuring them of forgiveness, drawing them to obedience and building them up in the fellowship of faith and love” The Word is worth knowing and relishing, and radically sharing through relationship not conversion. A shift in the church back to a focus on creating disciples opens believers up to revelation, which occurs because God chooses to make himself known, not because we have chosen to have certain experience or have perfectly interpreted Scripture or have participated in the traditional sacraments. A focus on discipleship encourages pastors to preach the real Jesus, not the hi-jacked Jesus. It encourages congregations to listen and learn under the guise of the Holy Spirit. It reminds them that church is not a place you go, worship not an hour on a Sunday morning, but who you are and what you do well into a Sunday afternoon and each and every day.

Works Cited
Dean, Kendra Creasy. Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Guiness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, Kindle Edition. New York: W Publishing Group, 1998.
Kinnaman, David and Gabe Lyons. Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007.
Oden, Thomas C. Classic Christianity. Kindle Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
Smith, Christian and Melinda Lundquist Denton. Soul Searching. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Witherington, Ben III. The Living Word of God. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2007.
Villafane, Eldin. Beyond Cheap Grace. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006.

SOUND THEOLOGY

THE 4 LEVELS OF LISTENING: PASTOR, ARE YOU AT THE PRESCHOOL LEVEL?

Charles Stone publishes a superb blog called Charles Stone: Vintage Wisdom: Authentic Answers. This one of the blogs I read regularly.  Recently he wrote a post about listening, a key skill for those of us who would presume to preach. - Steve

BY CHARLES STONE

One of the greatest skills a pastor or leader can develop is to learn to listen well. Woodrow Wilson’s words below should cause every leader to evaluate his or her listening skills.

The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.

We pay others a high compliment when we listen.
We affirm other’s God-given value when we listen.
We develop our own heart when we listen.
The father of the field of listening, Ralph Nichols, captures the essence of listening in these words.

The most basic of all human needs is the need to be understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.

Through my 15-week coaching I’ve learned that we listen at several levels. Often we get stuck on the first level, the most elementary one. As you read the four levels below, ask yourself at which level do you usually listen.

1. Level 1-Listening TO…Internal Listening. At this level when we listen to others we mostly listen to our inner dialogue, our thoughts, our feelings, and what we plan to say once the other person has finished speaking. We focus on ourselves, our conclusions, our thoughts about the person/subject of conversation, and what the subject means to me. Unfortunately most listening happens at this level where it’s all about me.
2. Level 2-Listening FOR…Focused Listening. At this level we begin to authentically listen as we focus on what the other person is saying. We lock onto their dialogue and suppress our temptation to correct, give our opinion, give advice, or offer another perspective as soon as they finish. We become truly present and give them the gift of being understood.
3. Level 3-Listening WITH… Intuitive Listening. At this level we pay attention to what is not being said through these cues:  inflection, pauses, changes in tone and energy, the eyes, and body language. We listen with our gut and allow intuition to speak to our soul.
4. Level 4-Listening to the Holy Spirit. This is the deepest level where we intersect what the person is saying/not saying with an openness to what the Spirit of God is saying to us. This level requires great discipline and focus, yet provides pastors and ministry leaders a way to become conduits of God’s grace to people.

So, at which level do you often listen? What tips have you discovered that help you listen at levels 2-4?
____

WHERE IS THIS THING GOING?

"Be obscure clearly." - EB White

Most English majors have encountered the writing and counsel of E.B. White. White is brilliant and some of his brilliance comes through being facetious.  He wasn't advocating obscurity. He was becrying the absence of clarity.

There are times I think EB White should be teaching homiletics.

Because I am a local church pastor, I do more preaching than listening to preachers.  But when I have the opportunity to hear from my colleagues, I find myself troubled by how many sermons start out and then go nowhere, taking 20-30 minutes to arrive at their destination.

The result is people who are bored or confused or ignorant of the Word.  And the result is that people who need the milk of the Word get the truth even more watered down. And those who  need meat never find it in the fast food of shallow obscure messages.

The call to preach and the opportunity to preach are a tremendous privilege.  You get to stand in that "spotlight: as the spokesman of the Living God. Out of your mouth can comes the wonderful words of life.

Too bad when so much of it is garbled by sermons that leave you asking, "Where is this going?"

Can I offer you a seven-letter homiletics lesson?

P - R - E - P - A - R - E

Is that direct enough?

When we prepare, let us remember we are preparing the way for the Word of the Lord.  Winging it as a pattern for your pulpit is a sin.

P - R - E - P - A - R -E

Those of you who understand this, I'd love to hear what you have learned is involved in preparation.

(C) 2012 by Stephen L Dunn

PREACHING CARTOONS

AND NOW THEY CAN HEAR

  Danny Dodd posts a blog called ADVENTURES IN PREACHING.  Written a year ago, his words speal to the challenge and task of preaching a fall and consumeristic world. - STEVE

There is tension in the pews.

Marriages are crumbling.  Jobs have been lost. A sister is lonely. Someone’s health is failing. A brother is fighting an addiction. Depression is damaging a relationship. A believer is not sure he believes anymore. A teen wonders why her parents do not understand her.

Every preacher realizes the task facing him each Sunday- and he hurts with his church family. He carries within him the burden of trying to speak a word of help and hope- of grace and truth- to this tension.

Often, there is another type of tension in the pews.  This concerns the preacher himself.  He is aware of it too.
He is not experienced enough (read too young). He is not energetic enough (read too old). He needs to preach deeper sermons. His sermons are too deep. He needs more passion. He needs to be more entertaining. He is too dry. He tells too many stories. He is too liberal. He is too conservative.

The preacher hurts over this tension also- but it is a personal and quiet hurt. And if he is conscientious does try to sort through this tension too and work to address it as best he can understanding, however, that he cannot be everything everyone always wants him to be.


This is nothing new.

The Apostle Paul knew this tension in his ministry. Imagine facing the issues that defined the church in Corinth! Their immaturity, immorality, divisiveness, doctrinal and worship issues would challenge any preacher. Add to this mix the fact that- some at least- within this church were disappointed in the message that had been preached. They somehow had expected something more spectacular.

“God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe” was Paul’s reply to that (1 Corinthians 1:21).

Further, it just wasn’t preaching in general they struggled with- it was Paul specifically. Apollos was more eloquent (a given- Acts 18:25). Peter was more dynamic (not hard to imagine Peter being dramatic). And Christ well who can compare to him? (See 1:12)

As he felt the sting of this tension he replied:

When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.  (2:1-5)

Preachers come in all shapes, sizes and giftedness. For most of us- it is an adventuresome life calling. It is not just what we do, it is who we are. Our lives are irrevocably connected and intertwined with the church we serve.

We all can relate to Paul’s words. Preaching “Christ and him crucified”- that is our aim too. Leading people to resting their faith on God’s wisdom is also our goal.

That is why we do what we do- tension and all.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  (Romans 10:14)

SO BIBLICAL THAT IT'S UNBIBLICAL

I came across this post from Thinking Christian via Greg West's excellent apologetics blog called The Poached Egg. (Both blogs are on the blogroll for this blog).  I would be interested in your feedback.


Justin Buzzard tells this story:

About ten years ago I heard Ben Patterson, campus pastor of Westmont College, say something that I will never forget. Ben told the story of a retired pastor who began noticing that his former congregation was sliding away from orthodoxy. The pastor saw this as his fault, noting the one thing he thought he did most poorly as a pastor. The pastor stated, in two sentences, his great failure as a pastor:

I always told people what to believe. My great mistake is that I never told my people what NOT to believe.

It’s possible to be so “biblical” that we’re unbiblical.

I’m referring to pastors, churches, and individual Christians who say, “we’re sticking to the Bible, and we don’t ever need to study anything but the Bible.” The great men and women of the Bible didn’t say that. They didn’t just preach in support of God’s truth. They knew the lies that were current in their cultures, they named those lies—with very contemporary examples—and they exposed what was false about them. When Isaiah ripped apart idol worship so sarcastically in Isaiah 44:9-20, he knew what he was talking about. So those who only study the Bible are failing to follow its example!

We don’t need only to learn God’s truths. We also need to un-learn the lies we’ve taken into ourselves. Some of that un-learning happens along the way, as a matter of course, as we study the truth; but some of the lies we’re afflicted with are so ingrained, so much a part of us, that it takes real focused attention to discover where they reside inside of us, and to sort out what’s wrong and what might still be right. Sometimes we need to study and learn what not to believe.

Of all the un-learning required today, nothing is more crucial than “truth is relative, and it’s immoral to believe otherwise.” Western students “know” this to be true. Pastors and parents must understand this belief well enough to disarm it. Otherwise, though we may be successful in persuading students Christianity is true, they’re bound to mix it with other “truths” they believe, just as the Israelites mixed true worship with idolatry.

This applies to each of us individually, in our families, and in our churches; and in a parallel way it also applies to our encounters with culture. We need to know our culture’s falsehoods, not to participate in them but to be able to name them and to contrast them with God’s truth. Our friends and neighbors have a lot of un-learning to do, too, and we need to be equipped to help them—winsomely and effectively—so they can better grasp and follow God’s truth, revealed to us in his Word.

FIVE SUBTLE WAYS SATAN SNEAKS INTO YOUR PEOPLE

One of my passions is evangelism and I am always on the lookout for resources for this vital ministry.  One of those is called EvanTell Inc. led by a gentlemen named Larry Moyer. He has written an excellent article for self-evaluation as the preaching pastor.

Larry Moyer: Effective ministry demands that we recognize the tactics of the enemy and then guard against them in our preaching.

 

Take five minutes out. Lean back in your chair at the office or put your feet up in your recliner. You might close your eyes to help you think and ponder. Now ask yourself a question that could determine if you'll still have an effective ministry 20 years from now: "If Satan were to sneak into your pulpit, how would he do it?" Keep in mind that you won't recognize him by his clothing or actions. He'll be kind, polite, winsome, and attractive. But he's ugly and deceptive underneath.

Effective ministry demands that we recognize the tactics of the enemy and then guard against them. Penetrating Satan's mind and knowing that "He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world" are key (I John 4:4).

Criss-crossing the world as an evangelist, I've seen five prominent ways he sneaks in the pulpit. Let's examine what they are and how to avoid them.

1. Satan will convince you that you're not only someone, you are SOMETHING.

 God never uses one person or one ministry to touch everyone. It's together that we get the job done. It's the combination of spiritual gifts God uses to build up the body. That's why I Corinthians 12: 21 teaches, "And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you'; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.'"

You are one of the "someones." Uniquely gifted, God uses you and your giftedness to both reach the lost and build up those who are His. As people are helped and blessed, they let you know. They should! All of us need to be encouraged.

But one encouraging comment can become several comments, sometimes many comments. They come verbally through text messages and emails. Sometimes comments you make get repeated on a website or two, and then you might find people have referred to you on Twitter or Facebook.

That's when Satan causes you to think you're not only someone, you are SOMETHING. Pride creeps in—not overnight, just one Sunday at a time. In six months, you start to be a different person. You begin to ponder, "Where would the church be without me? Why don't other preachers develop the skills that I have? I never knew God was going to so abundantly use me."

The answer for this problem is two-fold. First, secure an accountability partner who is honest enough to tell you every time they see something prideful about you. But don't get defensive, since they are probably right and are trying to help (as you asked them to), not hurt. Secondly, every day remember something: Should you be wiped off the scene today, the work of Christ would go on pretty much unhindered. This fact is sobering to say the least and keeps you right where you need to be—feeling dependent, undeserving, and grateful.

2. Satan will suggest that instead of teaching something relevant, you need to teach something new.

The preacher's job is well defined. II Timothy 4:2 says, "Preach the word! " This means our message is confined to what He says. We are not teaching something new but truth as old as the Bible itself. We don't have to make it relevant; it is relevant. All we have to do is communicate effectively to the people. This is why the pressure we need to feel is not how to come up with a truth our people have never heard of. Instead, it's the pressure to take the truth God gave years ago and put it in words that are meaningful and applicable. Sometimes we teach the same truth 50 times. It's been accurately stated that effective communication is saying the same thing in different words.

But the longer you're in the ministry, the easier it can be for Satan to convince you that people are tired of hearing the same old thing. Therefore, instead of feeling the need to use sentences, illustrations, and analogies that drive truth home in a fresh way, you think that you need to come up with something new, period—something never thought of, never taught, and never heard. The subject may be the mind, marriage, relationships, spiritual growth, love, hate, or a myriad of things. Soon you have stepped outside the Scriptures, teaching your thoughts instead of His. Discerning people will appropriately begin to say, "I'm not sure that's what the Scriptures say." The difference is profound. God has never promised to bless your word; He's only promised to bless His.

The answer? Get down on your knees, open the Bible in front of you, and utter a simple prayer: "Don't let me stray outside this book, but help me teach whatever is in this book clearly and effectively." Then, approach someone in your church who is very knowledgeable in the Word and say to them, "If you hear me say something strange, don't just accept it. Ask me about it, and don't assume that because I'm the preacher I am right." That person should regard you highly for caring enough to make sure you're preaching His thoughts, not yours.

3. Satan will tell you that your people need an exhorter in evangelism.

A pastor who has spent any time in the Word knows II Timothy 4:5: "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." When Paul wrote that, he was not addressing Timothy as a gifted evangelist, but Timothy as a gifted pastor-teacher.
Unfortunately, Satan will try to define that verse for you. He can convince you that you have to stand before your people and say, "Evangelize, evangelize, and evangelize." That way, you feel that you have done your part.

It is what Satan doesn't tell you that matters. He doesn't tell you that people are most apt to do what you do, not what you say. If you talk about the lost, they will talk about the lost. If you talk to the lost, they will talk to the lost. Examples, not exhortation, change the hearts of people in evangelism.

As you show your church how you take advantage of opportunities to converse with the lost, soon you will have a church full of people who are not just "discussing" the work of an evangelist but are doing the work of an evangelist. How do you get there? It's simpler than you might think.

First, as Paul did in Ephesians 6:19–20, ask your people to pray that when you open your mouth, something will come out of it (utterance) and boldly. Secondly, once again, find an accountability partner. This may be the one you've asked to check your pride or maybe a different one. But once a month, have that person ask you, "What have you done to reach out this week to a lost person?" I assure you, I know pastors who have taken up that challenge, and it is changing their lives and—guess what—their churches.

4. Satan will convince you that you can grow spiritually through your sermon preparation.

I've heard of few sermons that benefited people much when they didn't first hit the preacher. Preachers who preach with passion are those who have been so deeply touched by a passage that they become a channel to transfer the blessing to others. It shows in the way they come across. Their whole demeanor is not, "This is what you need." Instead, it is, "This is what God showed me I need, and I know you're going to be blessed by it, too." Sometimes there's uncertainty as to whether it's a sermon or a testimonial.
But Satan uses the struggle every preacher faces: time. You can begin to think that you don't have time to get alone with God, so your sermon preparation, climaxed by a few moments of prayer, will suffice.
Since God is a God of grace, He obviously understands your time constraints and loves you, but He also desires your fellowship (I John 1:3). Those moments when you close your ear to everyone else's voice and just listen to His as it comes through devotional study of the Word—those uninterrupted moments with your best friend—are what keeps you fresh. Some of those times cause tears to run down your cheeks as He shows you areas in which you're flawed and need improvement, but you still come away feeling energized. Interestingly enough, preachers who have fallen away from the Lord have commented to me that where they made their mistake was neglecting their quiet time with Him.

Consider creating a hallowed spot. For me, it's my chair in the living room where God and I meet each morning. Always going through a book of the Bible, I may cover one verse or I may cover a chapter. I don't care. What I do care about is that I go from there into my day's activity with one truth to meditate on for that day. I also keep the requests I give Him carefully noted on a 3x5 card, so I'm careful not to forget. I come away fed, energized, helped, and encouraged—as only the One who saved me more than 40 years ago can do. Don't ask me why He would ever want to be with someone so depraved as you or me. But He can't wait to talk, and I can't wait to listen and respond.

5. Satan will convince you that "you're not getting the attention you deserve."

Frustrating, isn't it? You may be more faithful in your study and preparation of your message than many preachers you know, but somehow they get the recognition you don't. What follows is money. Increased recognition brings increased funds with it. So while you and your church struggle to make it, the other preacher's church and even the preacher are doing quite well.

Satan can convince you that you have a right to be frustrated. You are not getting half the attention you deserve. Soon your frustration turns to others whom you deem responsible—your people, a staff member, board member, denominational head, or perhaps your own mate. Tension builds, and Satan stands on the sideline smiling…correction: laughing.

The answer: Go back to the starting block. Don't memorize but master I Corinthians 4:2, "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." Note the word is "faithful," not "famous." Place it in front of you on the desk. Hang it in your office. But don't just memorize it; swallow it. Absorb it into your spiritual being so that it becomes a governing principle of your life.

Why? Because God is the keeper of the books. No good deed goes unrewarded. No amount of discipleship goes unnoticed. No mistakes are made in His bookkeeping. Everything due to you will come in terms of recognition, if not now, then later. He promises, "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work" (Revelation 22:12). Think about it—who would you rather be rewarded by? Someone down here who only sees a lot of what you do, or someone "up there" who sees all of what you do?

Conclusion

Now that you know Satan's tactics and how to prevent them, ACT! Let Satan know in no uncertain terms that his tactics won't work with you. James 4:7 promises, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Your prayers and action will give him a not-so-subtle message: "I'm not interested in a truce; I'm only interested in victory. And victory will be mine."