Author: Administrador

We preachers very often find ourselves up against the necessity of preaching a topical sermon about one of the difficult and yet pressing issues of the day. Take the issue of abortion, for example. Few of us dare touch the issue from the pulpit, because it is much too controversial.Everyone out there in the congregation … Continue reading “Speaking the Unspeakable: A Demonstration”

Books, said James Russell Lowell, “are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.” If this be so, then the past year has seen an entire swarm of books released for purposes of cross-pollination.Indeed, the publishing industry continues to release multiple thousands of new titles each year. If Americans are reading … Continue reading “1996 Annual Survey of Books for Preachers”

The past year has witnessed the publication of a number of excellent books about preaching. Nevertheless, one title clearly promises to become a standard reference for preachers over the years to come, and that volume is our 1995 Preaching Book of the Year: the Concise Encyclopedia of Preaching, edited by William H. Willimon and Richard … Continue reading “Concise Encyclopedia of Preaching Is Book of the Year for 1995”

When I’m on-site for a church consultation, I conduct interviews with a sampling of the members. I am often not at the church for a worship service and am frequently asked, “How can you consult our church and give recommendations for health and growth without hearing the preaching in a worship service?”The answer is that … Continue reading “Preaching that Produces Church Growth”

Grady Nutt, the late great “Prime Minister of Humor,” was sometimes accosted by persons who failed to appreciate his humor-spiced messages. “Do you really think you should be doing that?” they would ask. “I mean, do you really think God has a sense of humor?” Grady was always tempted to say, “Have you looked in … Continue reading “A Time to Laugh: Principles of Good Pulpit Humor”

“It is a by-word among us: It was a very plain sermon: and I say again, the plainer, the better.” (William Perkins)Calvin and Luther we know. But who is William Perkins (1588-1602)? Amazingly enough, many modern scholars state that Perkins rivaled both men in his influence on seventeenth-century English Protestants and New England Colonial Puritans. … Continue reading “William Perkins: Plain Preaching”

During the past several weeks I have been discovering a whole new world with its own language: bits and browsers, ftp’s and domains, links and listservs. Preaching has now entered the World Wide Web, and all that weaving has got me a little dizzy.In case you’ve been hiding in a cave for years and never … Continue reading “Spinning a New Web”

"Hey, let's get out of here and go see a movie. I gotta get some ideas for Sunday's sermon." I attended a meeting with a few preacher friends. The meeting was almost over when one friend uttered those infamous words. My body echoed a sentiment for returning to the hotel for rest. Yet my colleagues … Continue reading “Using Movies in Preaching”

The scene is too typical. The pastor nervously stands up at the end of a Sunday morning service. He reads his resignation letter to the congregation. Two weeks later, he is gone completely. Left in the wake is a grieving congregation, facing an uncertain future, having no shepherd, and feeling confused about what to do … Continue reading “Preaching Through Pulpit Transitions”

Peter Taylor Forsyth was born May 12, 1848 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The son of a postal worker and a maid, he was raised as a member of the Black-friars Street Congregational Church. His family was devout, if not affluent. In spite of his family’s modest means, he was able to attend the university where he … Continue reading “P. T. Forsyth: Preaching the Centrality of the Cross”