Author: Administrador

Genealogies have something to say, but readers seldom listen! Without the advantage of narrative’s lively detail and arousing pathos, genealogies are often overlooked by preachers like passersby who ignore a voiceless mute amidst a crowd. Since genealogies are static, lacking the features of good storytelling, they are usually avoided.Developed protagonists, plot entanglements, and satisfying denouements … Continue reading “Preaching Old Testament Genealogies”

Each year, around the country, recognized masters of the biblical “art” of preaching offer help and advice in scores of lecture series on preaching. The Sprunt, Warrack, Mullins, Payton, Hester, Jameson Jones Lectures — to name only a few — have become for many one answer to the question, “Where do I go to find … Continue reading “One Century After the 1889 Yale Lectures: A Reflection on Broadus’ Homiletical Thought”

Twenty years ago I took a course entitled “Oral Interpretation.” At the time, I did not know what “Oral Interpretation” was but, at the urging of a friend who was going to take the class, I signed up. Much to my delight, this class would prove to be invaluable to me in the future.It was … Continue reading “Reading Scripture Effectively”

Power is the preacher’s nemesis, the stuff of prophets that we mortals handle with fear. Frankly, most of us would just rather be preachers than prophets. Preachers preach, prophets thunder. Preachers may be accused of haranguing, but popular expectation is generally lower for preachers than prophets. Preachers only write sermons concerned about the ins and … Continue reading “Preaching and Power”

George Herbert Morrison was the son of a minister, born in Glasgow October 2, 1866. His mother had been reading George Herbert, the 17th century devotional poet, before his birth, hence the Christian names given to her son. Her death — when he was barely five – made a deep impression on him and the … Continue reading “George Herbert Morrison: Preaching with Clarity and Conviction”

For more than a year, a book with a remarkable title — All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum — has been at or near the top of national bestseller lists.What’s more remarkable is that such success wasn’t purchased with liberal doses of sex, violence, or “fool-proof” schemes for … Continue reading “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Seminary”

It’s a disturbing precedent.According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (January 31, 1990), Clark University is offering students a money-back guarantee on — of all things — student cafeteria food.Anyone who recalls four or more years of dining hall cuisine will share my astonishment at the Worcester, Mass., school’s bold action. With this guarantee, the … Continue reading “Blessings or Double Your Money Back”

It is difficult to imagine a pastor who does not thrill to preaching; yet there are some who claim to dread sermon preparation. Hopefully, they are in the minority, for one of the sheer delights of the ministry is proclaiming God’s Word faithfully from His pulpit to a waiting people.With that said, it must be … Continue reading “Handling God’s Package with Care: Preparing the Sermon”

“Is Russia the Beast of Daniel 7?” Such a sermon topic seems to be frequently announced in some churches. Or do we only remember those Sunday School stories about Daniel in the lion’s den, or the three men in the fiery furnace? Is that all there is to the Book of Daniel?What are the possibilities … Continue reading “Preaching from the Book of Daniel”

It is a great pity that no biography of W. L. Watkinson has been published. All we have in addition to his sermons is a slight but precious volume Letters of Two Friends, a record of correspondence between Watkinson and another Methodist minister, F. W. Macdonald, in the closing years of their lives (1919-1925), showing … Continue reading “W. L. Watkinson: The Touch of Reality”