Author: Administrador

In an article on the 9Marks website (adapted from the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology), Thomas Schreiner writes on the issue of “Preaching and Biblical Theology.” He notes, “If we preach the scriptures canonically, using biblical theology, then we will proclaim Christ from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We must avoid the … Continue reading “Preaching the Old Testament Canonically”

In an issue of the Business Common Sense newsletter, Deny Hatch writes: To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Plain English Campaign surveyed 5,000 supporters in 70 countries. They voted on the most irritating phrase in the language. The results: * 1. At the end of the day* 2. At this moment in time* 3. The … Continue reading “New Year’s Resolution: Avoid Cliches”

Preaching: Glorious Ruin deals with the issue of suffering, and is rooted in the biblical Book of Job. How did you come to this subject for a book? Tchividjian: I had just emerged out of a season of suffering, probably the most difficult season of my life. It was the year the church I had … Continue reading “Preaching Out of Suffering: An Interview with Tullian Tchividjian”

One of my students brought a published report to class saying that 1,500 U.S. pastors leave the ministry every month. The report said many of those pastors depart their posts because of clergy burnout. It is not a new phenomenon. Clergy burnout has been around for thousands of years. Need a case in point: how … Continue reading “Up to 1,500 Pastors a Month Need to Read this Column! (You may be one of them!)”

Being a preaching professor is similar to getting paid to tell a mother her baby’s ugly. After all, a sermon is not spontaneously generated, but born of a certain gestational period culminating in an intense, sometimes tearful travail. Finally delivered of their homiletical offspring and prepared to present their progeny proudly to the public, young … Continue reading “Preaching Points: Avoiding the Sermon Travelogue”

A wise old man in my former church was famous locally for saying, “I don’t understand all I know about that.” When you think about it, that makes perfect sense. All of us know about many things that we don’t fully understand. Consequently, we can sympathize with Agur when he confessed, “There are three things … Continue reading “7 Ways to Improve Your Preaching Using YouTube”

Effective preaching must be aimed at the head and the heart. A stale academic lecture is not savory on Sunday mornings. Likewise, an emotional appeal without any real substance is equally distasteful. A good pastor will work hard to connect to the minds and the souls of his hearers. Without question, one of the most … Continue reading “Feeding and Leading the Flock”

In a recent article for ChurchLeaders.com, Brandon Cox writes: “A pulpit characterized by negativity and belligerence will draw a moderately sized crowd of masochists who draw energy to go on another day by being beaten up spiritually. But it won’t make Jesus-like, craveable disciples. So use them at your own risk. How do you preach … Continue reading “Preach Like a Pharisee”

In Sunday’s post at ThomRainer.com, Thom wrote, “I recently asked a few hundred laypersons to write down what they desired of a pastor. Their responses were open-ended, and there was no limitation on the number of items they could list. Though my approach was not scientific, these laypersons did represent more than 60 churches. “Here are … Continue reading “What People Want in a Pastor”

In a recent article at his blog, Charles Stone drew on the book You’re in Charge—Now What (by Thomas Neff and James Citrin) to adapt and identify destructive behaviors that can impact ministry leaders. Here are some of the 10 he cites: A pastor can fail if he… 1. sets expectations too high (by never meeting … Continue reading “Why Smart Pastors Fail”