Author: Administrador

Often called the “Dean of Black Preachers” in the United States, Gardner C. Taylor has proclaimed the gospel for more than half a century in churches across the nation and around the globe. Now pastor emeritus of the Concord Baptist Church of God in Christ, in Brooklyn, New York, Taylor was recently interviewed by Preaching … Continue reading “Preaching and the Power of Words: An Interview with Gardner C. Taylor”

Ulrich Zwingli was born in 1484 at Wildhaus, Switzerland. He studied for two years each at Basel and Berne, and four years in Vienna, Austria. In 1502 he returned to Basel where he first encountered the New Testament. His father was a wealthy farmer and one day a neighbor said to Him: ”Friend Zwingli, thou … Continue reading “Ulrich Zwingli: The Swiss Reformer”

We preachers live and die by words. Sometimes die is hardly an overstatement, as in the case of the pastor who announced to his congregation, “We’ve remodeled the nursery, and I want you ladies to help me fill that place up!”At least preachers aren’t alone in bungled communications. I came across a little book the … Continue reading “Did I Really Say That?”

A small-town newspaper regularly featured the sermon of a local minister. In preparing one of the weekly editions the typesetter mistakenly inserted an “l” for the letter “h” in the word “charity.” The text therefore read, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not clarity, I am become as … Continue reading “A Plea for Clarity in Preaching”

I first met Judy Phillips when she returned to Michigan after “wintering” in Florida. In March, Ron Apple and I visited her. We thought she had celebrated a birthday recently so Ron asked, “Wasn’t your birthday a few days ago?”“Yes,” responded this tiny lady with a bright smile.“Well, how old are you now?” he asked.Her … Continue reading “Funeral for a Funny Lady: Humor and the Funeral Message”

Henry Ward Beecher, one of the most famous preachers of the nineteenth century, once remarked that “a library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” Well, it certainly seems that way to the working preacher, whose library is a most important material resource.One of my seminary professors exhorted young seminarians to … Continue reading “Top Books of 1993 Cited in Annual Survey for Preachers”

Austin Farrer, a name probably unfamiliar to most Americans, has been described by Richard Harries (bishop of Oxford, and a leading authority on both Farrer and C. S. Lewis) as the greatest mind produced by the Church of England in this century. Harries’ judgment is not far from the mark.Farrer was renowned as a philosophical … Continue reading “Resurrection and Grace: The Sermons of Austin Farrer”

As I sit at the computer on a winter day — the snow piling higher by the moment — and dream of spring, several things come to mind:– Each issue of Preaching is designed to bring you a variety of approaches and insights, but this issue may contain more variety than most.For example, two of … Continue reading “Scattered Thoughts on a Winter Day”

Muscles help hold our bones together. When our muscles become flabby they allow bones to shift out of place, resulting in pain or injury. The solution to this problem requires that we tighten our muscles through a program of diet and exercise. A well-toned body produces far more benefits than a flabby one.The same holds … Continue reading “Toning Up Your Sermon”

Many mutual fund companies offer a variety of funds from which investors may choose. Often one of them is a fund called a Contrarian Fund, or a fund whose strategy could run contrary to the conventional wisdom on Wall Street. When a stock is in disfavor they buy it. The threat of a tobacco tax … Continue reading “A Contrarian View of Homiletics”