How to Preach Foolishness

Preaching is rightly dividing the Word of God with a view to persuasion – a balance of all things that make a preacher one who is persuasive.

In 1941, J. Harwood Patterson defined preaching:

Preaching is the spoken communication of divine truth with a view to persuasion.

Patterson explained his definition had three aspects:

  • THE MATTER: divine truth | what to preach
  • THE MANNER: spoken | how to preach
  • THE PURPOSE: persuasion |why we preach

Patterson modeled after Guthrie’s Three P’s:

  • Proving
  • Painting
  • Persuading

Preaching must be more than a lecture or a talk. A sermon must tell us how to live and convince us to act appropriately. Daniel Webster said,

I do not go to church to learn history, but to be reminded of duty.

Preaching must be greater than philosophical pondering out loud. The preacher is a messenger who delivers the Word of God to his flock, not intellectual doubt, not speculation, not negativity, but a confident statement of God’s expectations.

Longfellow said,

To me, a sermon is no sermon in which I cannot hear the heart beat.

Luther said,

It is no light thing to speak before men in the place of God.

 

…just because the ocean is so vast and his vessel so small, no sailor should attempt to compass his tack in one voyage.

 

The Preacher’s Vital Relationship With God

The preacher, as a man of God, must thoughtfully embrace the meaning of salvation, must know what is involved, what a personal relationship with Christ is.

The preacher must be in a place with God where he has sensed the Holy Spirit bearing witness with his spirit so he knows he has His touch on his own life. The preacher must experience what he is saying.

The preacher must have had that message touch his own life –  the message has been practical to him. The minister must have a high degree of honesty in applying the Truth that God gives to his own life and family.

The Preacher’s Vital Relationship With the Human Race

The preacher, as a man of his times, to be effective, must always be a learner. Read, watch, see. Know the news. Don’t bottle yourself up in as study. Know your community and your congregation.

The preacher must know the times, the issues, and the people in order to learn fresh themes, discern proper doctrinal emphasis, apply proper illustrations and pertinent applications.

The preacher should be the most knowledgeable person in the community. Read a reputable news source. Invest 30 minutes each evening listening to the local news. Spend 2-3 days a week rubbing shoulders with people in the marketplace.

 

How to Be an Imaginary Christian

PART ONE

A Christian is a person who has chosen to believe in the Jesus Christ. If you think you are a Christian, but you don’t have faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ, then you are an imaginary Christian.

A Christian believes in the authentic Jesus, the Jesus of the Gospels. If you claim to be a Christian, but you believe in an amended version of the person of Jesus, such as the “good-teacher-but-not-divine Jesus”, then you are an imaginary Christian.

A Christian follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. If you don’t know what Jesus taught, if you haven’t read and studied His words, then you are an imaginary Christian.

If you call yourself a Christian, but behave disobediently to His teachings (love your enemies, be faithful to your wife, speak the truth, stop stealing, etc.), then you merely imagine that you are a Christian.

PART TWO

A Christian does not hate sinners. A Christian is a sinner.

Christians do not hate those who commit sexual sins or any other sins.

Christians do not want God to kill other people. Christians do not want to kill sinners.

A Christian is a sinner who has acknowledged their sinful behavior and nature… and turned to God to receive mercy and grace.

When the enemies of Christ argue that Christians are all “homophobic, misogynistic, racists,” then the enemies of Christ have created an imaginary Christian. They do this, not because it is true, but because it serves their agenda better. They do this because fighting a straw man is so much easier than actually investigating the truth about Christ and His followers.

How to Be Deplorable

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton insulted American voters by categorizing many of them as a “basket of deplorables”.  She did this on both Saturday and Sunday.

One of the reactions has been to call her speech “hate speech”. Therefore, she offered an apology for her choice of words.

However, I may agree with many of the words that she used. I have observed that some Donald’s Trump supporters actually do hate people of other races, nationalities and ethnicity.

And then I think that Mrs. Clinton was ill, possibly running a fever, when she made the statements.

Donald Trump has been accused of speaking his mind plainly. He is also been credited with “telling it like it is”. The fact is that Donald Trump simply speaks his mind, he talks like a lot of Americans talk, off-the-cuff, casually, emotionally. I don’t think he is particularly skillful at presenting the truth in an understandable fashion. He certainly doesn’t sound like a New York billionaire. (Cue “Green Acres” theme song.)

Followers of Jesus Christ must be different. Let’s not be conformed to any of this. Let’s be Spirit-transformed people who will transform our culture by the presence of God’s Spirit in our own lives. Some people may find us deplorable. So what.