David
In one of his recent books, William Willimon, offers some sound counsel concerning preaching with the aid of a manuscript in our current culture. The point is this I believe: don’t be bound to your manuscript, be bound and determined to communicate God’s Word clearly! Here is how Willimon describes the task for us preachers: …
“Use prayer as a boring rod, and wells of living water will leap up from the bowels of the Word….Prayer will singularly assist you in the delivery of your sermon; in fact, nothing can so gloriously fit you to preach as descending flesh from the mount of communion with God to speak with men. None …
“You and I, as preachers, are dealers in words. Words are all that we have to do any important work. Like some of the psalms of lament, I want both to thank God for speech and to blame God for speech being so difficult. And I want to fall in love with language, over and …
Pastors as you prepare and study to deliver God’s Word to God’s people this coming Lord’s Day, ponder the words below from Dietrich Bonhoeffer concerning preaching. “A truly evangelical sermon must be like offering a child a fine red apple or offering a thirsty man a cool glass of water, and then saying, Do you …
My good friend, Ben Stevens, recently launched a new website and blog. Ben is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife are preparing to move to Germany for full-time cross-cultural ministry. I would encourage you to check out Ben’s writing and ministry at Haunted By Paradise. His latest post is entitled, …
“Sometimes people say, “God? Oh, can’t say anything definitive about God. God is large, nebulous, and vague.” We wish. By rendering God into an abstract idea, we can be assured that we’ll always be safe from God. By God raising the crucified Jesus from the dead, it was as if God vindicated Jesus, as if …
“Ministry itself can create a mask of performance, the projection of success. Everyone wants to be a winner. In contrast, Jesus never used his power to show off. He used his power for love. So he wasn’t immediately noticeable. Humility makes you disappear, which is why we avoid it.” -Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life …
“The apostle Paul was consistent. Paul desired “that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). When he said hard things he was able to remind those who knew him how consistent his life was with the gospel (Acts …
“The healthy evangelist is asking these questions and looking for answers so as to guard the gospel. Here is the critical test. Could you have preached that sermon if Christ had not died on the cross? Could you have developed that Christian leadership principle had Christ not been crucified? I’m not saying be impractical-the Bible …
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.” -Martin Luther, quoted in Mark Dever, What Does God Want Of Us Anyway (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 21.