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Archive for the ‘Preacher’s Personal Life’ Category

I suspect that if we’re honest, we’d all admit that preaching leads to numerous battles with pride.  Perhaps not every time, perhaps not in the same way as each other, but there is an inherent danger that points of pride will peek through when we preach.  Much of this may be an internal battle unseen [...]

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Somehow I think the shorter the better for this post.  Let me quote Paul Mallard who I heard recently at Keswick.  “Do not preach because you love preaching.  Preach because you love Jesus.”

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So I started into Spurgeon’s Lectures and got about, well, more or less, about a page in before I was “arrested” by his helpful thinking.  Here’s a taster … We are, in a certain sense, our own tools, and therefore must keep ourselves in order. If I want to preach the gospel, I can only [...]

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Honestly, I’m at Keswick this week, moving on Monday, and a little overwhelmed, so I am resorting to an easy source for quality thought-provoking material.  Spurgeon.  Following on from yesterday and thinking about preaching to save souls, here’s a blast worth receiving: If we ourselves doubt the power of the gospel, how can we preach [...]

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I think most preachers who have some level of commitment to an expository approach to preaching are fairly clear on the importance of understanding the Bible and their listeners.  It is the two worlds that John Stott referred to in his great book on the subject.  I suspect most preachers are less aware of the [...]

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Preachers need to be, as well as many other things, readers.  But unless you are single and financially set for life, you probably don’t have as much time as you’d like for reading.  Join the club.  So this post includes some thoughts, then perhaps you can share your suggestions and experiences too. 1. Reading book [...]

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When I post on the Cor Deo blog, I link to it on this site.  Today’s post is relevant for us all as believers, and as we consider the effect of our preaching on others.  Please take a look, and if you wouldn’t mind, please leave a comment too – that would be really helpful! [...]

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We have just returned from a two-month “home assignment/furlough” and are planning to move house in a month.  Consequently the desk is overloaded, the to-do list is growing like a newborn and things will probably only get worse.  Which leads me to today’s post . . . the preacher needs space. Desk Space – When [...]

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I didn’t get to write a post today as we were travelling back from the US.  But I thought I’d offer a link to my friend’s blog as his latest post is well worth reading for all preachers.  Here’s the link to SpreadingGoodness.org.

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Lacking motivation for anything productive (post-preaching experience, anyone?), I decided to dip into Thielicke’s Encounter with Spurgeon again.  Guess how many paragraphs I had to read before being ready to offer another post (and that largely by quotation)?  One.  Check this out: “Among the important elements in the promotion of conversion are your own tone, [...]

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Thielicke responds to Spurgeon’s insistence on the necessity for the farmer to sharpen his scythe (the need for Sabbath, for rest, for sabbatical, for vacation, for refreshment, as well as for preparation and, indirectly, training) with this: Nor can the fisherman always be fishing; he must mend his nets.  . . . Whereas Spurgeon enjoins [...]

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Thielicke, speak to us about Spurgeon . . . For Spurgeon the really determinative foundation of the education of preachers was naturally this work on the spiritual man.  The education of preachers must not be directly pragmatic; it must not be immediately directed to preaching as its goal.  Otherwise the process of education becomes an [...]

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Some more of Thielicke on Spurgeon: When Spurgeon speaks, it is as if the figures of the patriarchs and prophets and apostles were in the auditorium – sitting upon a raised tribune! – looking down upon the listeners.  You hear the rush of the Jordan and the murmuring of the brooks of Siloam; you see [...]

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On Friday I wrote about raising the bar without just cranking up the pressure. But any talk of application must also bring us back to take a prayerful look at ourselves.  I read a comment in Michael Quicke’s 360-Degree Leadership, a quote from someone, R T Warner, I think.  It said that the early church [...]

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Perhaps you’ve stumbled across this post.  Perhaps your pastor or a regular preacher in your church has “accidentally” linked to it (if so, forgive them, they must have linked here unawares!) What can you give a pastor, minister, elder, preacher?  I want to make one suggestion with various options built-in.  You can give them time. [...]

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Continuing Stephen Gaukroger’s helpful list of necessary considerations for those who want to sustain a long-term preaching ministry in the same setting where they are the main or only speaker: 5. Know thyself – It is important to know your own strengths and weaknesses.  If you’re invited to a big event, then let your prejudices [...]

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Some churches rely on itinerant speakers, others have a team preaching approach, and many churches have the solo preacher approach.  There are some unique challenges that come from being the main or the only preacher in a church.  At the BibleFresh preaching event, Stephen Gaukroger offered seven quick comments on what it takes to sustain [...]

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All of us are naturally drawn to some people, and less so to others.  At the same time, all of us are busy and often live in the frenzy of the urgent.  But there is real value in stopping for a few moments and pondering a biblical preacher – that is, a preacher in the [...]

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I am just finishing up an excellent book on bibliology.  In the final chapter the author addresses the issue of preaching.  I need to re-read, digest some more and then write a review or something.  Excellent.  Anyway, just a point to ponder today. The author quotes Karl Barth who suggests the question preachers should be [...]

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I strongly resist the notion that learning about homiletics means that your preaching will automatically become professional, fleshly and spiritually cold.  Some do end up there.  Some do become mechanistic in their approach.  But I hold that it is right to be a good steward of the opportunity to develop as a preacher, as long [...]

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How about starting the week with a quote from Pasquarello’s We Speak Because We Have First Been Spoken (p4): “For this reason, the most important element of sermon preparation is the theological, spiritual and moral formation of the preacher through the Spirit’s empowerments of faith, hope, and love, which are completed by the gifts of [...]

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I know I recently started Darrell Johnson’s book and mentioned that I would review it, but have not had a chance to finish it since.  And I know that I should probably finish that before I start another.  But, well, too late.  I just started into Michael Pasquarello’s We Speak Because We Have First Been [...]

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Isn’t that what God does with us?  Gracious reinforcement.  Over and over God patiently teaches us what we need to learn – not just information, but lessons of the heart, lessons of life, lessons on His character, His values, His heart.  There is a certain rhythm in life, subtle and below the surface, inaudible, but [...]

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Today’s post isn’t one.  It’s a 35-minute interview I did with Mike Reeves over at theologynetwork.org in their Table Talk series.  It’s all about preaching and how our view of God influences our view of the Bible and therefore our approach to communicating it.  So, here’s the link and I hope this is helpful: theologynetwork.org [...]

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Years ago I read Heralds of God by James Stewart.  I just read a response paper sent to me by a friend.  It’s time I read the book again. He reminded me of Stewart’s advice regarding preacher’s block, or those times when artistic inspiration simply is not flowing, but discouragement is pouring in like a [...]

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