Author: Administrador

When Jowett preached in the sermon class at Airedale College, Dr. Fairbairn said to his students: “Gentlemen, I will tell you what I have observed this morning: behind that sermon there was a man.”That man grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with the churches, until he became one of the princes of the … Continue reading “John Henry Jowett: A Preacher of Grace”

While browsing at the sale table of a local book store, I came across a delightful book entitled American Averages by Mike Feinsilber and William B. Mead (Dolphin Books, 1980).The authors describe it as sort of a Guinness Book of World Records in reverse. The book is a compilation of thousands of facts about average … Continue reading “Some average thoughts to begin 1987”

A revival of classical oratory, or what is intended to pass for it, occurs every four years in campaign speeches delivered during the presidential election contents. Millions of people see and hear them on nationwide telecasts and are impressed with the speakers and their speeches.Jack Valenti, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, … Continue reading “The Story Sermon: Key to Effective Preaching”

This series on “The Presence of God in Preaching” is a sequel to a book of mine now being published by Word Books, Inc. as The Presence of God in Pastoral Counseling.I purpose to examine the work of preaching from what Samuel Terrien has called the “heart of Biblical Theology” in his book The Elusive … Continue reading “The Presence of God: Heart of Preaching (Part One of a Five-Part Series)”

What would you think if someone who had just heard you preach said this about your sermon: “Its breath-taking banality has thrown me completely off the track. So many words and nothing said! … Empty straw, all the cliches that just seemed to flood into the preacher’s head!“And knowing that it was all pious blather–for … Continue reading “Evaluating Content of Your Preaching (Part One of a Five-Part Series)”

It was a century ago — February 27, 1887-that Henry Ward Beecher stepped into the pulpit of Brooklyn’s Plymouth Church for the final time. By mid-week, the 73-year-old pastor had fallen seriously ill; the following Tuesday, March 8, one of America’s princes of the pulpit died.In an era when some of Christian’s greatest preachers ministered … Continue reading “Henry Ward Beecher: Preaching to change lives and society”

A few years ago Henry Ward Beecher became a good friend of mine.Over a year-long period when I was researching Henry’s preaching and writing a dissertation (Henry Ward Beecher and the Political Pulpit, available at fine microfilm depositories everywhere), I grew to know and love my colleague of a century ago.Perhaps my favorite thing about … Continue reading “Preaching that makes a difference”

When the Old and New Testaments speak of the Presence of God two recurrent metaphors are used.The first metaphor is found in the words for “face”: panim in the Old Testament and prosopon in the New Testament. It conveys a deep sense of the “otherness” and “overagainstness” of God in God’s awesome difference from us, … Continue reading “The Presence of God Over Against and Alongside the Preacher (Part Two of a Five-Part Series)”

One of the sharpest rebukes I ever received for a sermon was from a faithful member of my congregation. She was a university English teacher, a Harvard graduate; therefore, I took her comments seriously.For some reason that I have long since forgotten, or perhaps — and this is worse — for no excuse whatever, my … Continue reading “Evaluating the Form of Your Preaching (Second of five parts)”

In thousands of churches every Sunday someone enters the pulpit, reads from the Bible, and preaches a sermon.The impression is conveyed or the claim is made that the sermon is based upon the biblical text, as when the preacher intones, “My text today is …” Even when such a preamble is omitted, the sequence, text/sermon, … Continue reading “From Text to Sermon: the Proper Use of the Bible in Preaching”