Author: Administrador

January brings with it the inauguration of a new President of the United States — and the start of a new campaign to elect the next President in 1992.The media gave bushels of attention in 1988 to two preachers who were running for the nation’s highest office: Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson. (I know Pat … Continue reading “Preachers and Presidents”

Lost in Darkness — Found in Light(Isaiah 60:1-3)“Light to the Gentiles” is as apt a way to describe Epiphany as another. Isaiah’s promise — “the nations shall come to your light” — conveys not only a sense of hopeful expectation, but one of mystery as well.We might ask, “What kind of light will this be … Continue reading “A Series of Epiphany meditations”

D. L. Moody once was invited to preach at New York’s sophisticated Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Many of its more intellectual parishioners didn’t want him to, but he came anyway.He decided to preach on Daniel, except he couldn’t pronounce “Daniel,” so he said “Danel.” He had a high nasal twang, and he not only said … Continue reading “By the Foolishness of Preaching”

The articles in this series focus attention upon some of the tacit, non-verbal messages that go back and forth between the preacher and the audience in the interplay of personalities between the preacher and the members of the congregation.These articles call attention to what someone has called the “parataxic distortions” of communication, in which the … Continue reading “Preaching and the Dependent Personality (Part One in a Series)”

Preachers are avid — even ravenous — readers. Publishers discovered long ago the appetite of the preaching minister for worthy reading.Though doomsayers in this electronic age seem always ready to offer a eulogy for the printed page, publishers release ever-expanding booklists, and book sales account for a considerable portion of the nation’s Gross National Product. … Continue reading “Review of 1988 books for preachers”

Browsing in the bookstore the other day — some folks jog, others work out with weights, I browse in bookstores — I came across a book with an intriguing title: 101 Things to Do During a Boring Sermon.Having never preached a boring sermon personally, I nevertheless enjoyed flipping through a few pages (thus avoiding the … Continue reading “Things to do when things aren’t going well”

Ministers are rediscovering that simple stories enrich sermons. Traditionally preaching has been considered as presenting organized themes supported with the sacred scriptures. This normative homiletical form becomes transformed when creative preachers envision their sermons as the examination, reliving, and recreation of religious experiences.During the New England Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature in Cambridge during … Continue reading “Preston Bradley: Preaching and Storytelling”

There are preachers, perhaps, who speak to congregations filled with brilliant doctors of this and that who understand every nuance of complex social issues. These wondrous listeners welcome radical pronouncements from the pulpit; they sizzle with energy when exhorted to do something about the world’s myriad messes; they read tomes on liberation theology with their … Continue reading “Preaching About Social Issues in a Darkening World”

In this second article on the significance of personality disorders for your and my work as preachers, let us concentrate on what Erich Fromm describes as “the packaged personality.”He speaks of this particular orientation to life as “the marketing orientation.” In this orientation to life “success depends largely upon how well a person sells himself … Continue reading “The “Packaged” Personality and the Preaching Event”

John R. W. Stott has emerged in the last half of the twentieth century as one of the leading evangelical preachers in the world. His ministry has spanned decades and continents, combining his missionary zeal with the timeless message of the Gospel.For many years the Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, Stott … Continue reading “Creating the Bridge: An Interview with John R.W. Stott”