Baxter on Sincerity

Richard Baxter, as quoted by Stott in Between Two Worlds, writes,

"It is a palpable error in those ministers that make such disproportion between their preaching and their living, that they will study hard to preach exactly and study little or not at all to live exactly. All the week long is little enough to study how to speak two hours; and yet one hour seems too much to study how to live all the week . . . We must study as hard how to live well as how to preach well" (268).

Sanctify us, Heavenly Father, so that our lives might match our proclamation of the truth of your Word!

Todd

Spurgeon on Preaching

I could not help but post this one. Here's Spurgeon's take on preachers who can't connect with their audiences.

"Christ said, 'Feed my sheep . . . Feed my lambs.' Some preachers, however, put the food so high that neither lambs nor sheep can reach it. They seem to have read the text, 'Feed my giraffes.'"

Sometimes I think Dr. Mohler might have read this text when I listen to his radio program! :-)

***Please don't kick me out of school, Dr. Mohler. I was just kidding.***

Todd

"If You Could Only Say One Thing To Us"

Tonight, in our last regular preaching class, one of the students asked Dr. Vogel, "If you could only say one thing to us, what would it be?" Dr. Vogel replied, "Guard your walk with the Lord. It doesn't matter how much you invest in your preaching skills if you shipwreck your faith because you failed to guard your heart" (rough paraphrase). He gave us a couple of examples of men who had excelled at preaching but failed miserably in ministry because they let down their guard and Satan landed a crushing right hook on their glass jaw.

"Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

Thanks Dr. Vogel and John Owen.

Todd

So This is How Monday Feels For Preachers

Boy, I'm beat down. My pastor called me on Thursday of this week to tell me that he was going to have to have a wisdom tooth removed. Thankfully, I had prepared a sermon for my Ministry of Proclamation class the week before, so I had something in my back pocket. I spent my normal way-too-many-hours on Saturday between doing schoolwork, reworking my sermon for a different audience, and having some friends over for supper.

I arrived at church about 8:15 on Sunday morning in order to prep the PowerPoint with my sermon slides. From 8:30-9:30, our band (minus our preacher/drummer and his wife/pianist, plus Bart/fill-in drummer) worked out the kinks (most of them) in the music we were playing for worship. We discussed the person of Christ, specifically his eternal reign as a man, in Sunday School, and then we had a short time of prayer before the worship service began.

I preached on James 1:2-4, and tried to illustrate that we are like the hunk of steel a blacksmith forges into a useful tool. The point of the sermon was that we should have joy in our trials because we should recognize that God is shaping us into useful (fully mature) tools that he can use for his own purposes. I felt the clutch slipping quite a bit to begin the sermon; I couldn't get everything together. I felt like I was floundering! Thankfully, I started to get into a groove about half-way through, and the illustration about the blacksmith helped me pull the thing out of a steep nose-dive. God is so good; he shapes us through various trials, including preaching!

After church, we practiced the music for our Christmas service, and then several of us went out to grab something to eat. We got home about 2:30 or so, and I started working on my illustration file for my preaching class. We headed back to church at 5:00, and got home around 8:00. Heather and I talked for a while, working on a few projects that required our attention, and then I spent another hour or so on that illustration file.

So, that was my weekend. I am so tired! I hate the fact that I cannot enjoy school because of the incredible demands it places on my waking (and sleeping) hours. I hate the fact that I cannot enjoy my family the way I want to! But ultimately, I will consider this all joy, because God is working in all these various trials to bring about my full maturity; he is shaping me into a finished tool that will be useful for his purposes.

Thank you Father for working all things together for good!

Todd

Spirit Empowered Preaching

I have recently been listening to a series of sermons by Arturo G. Azurdia III on Genesis 37-50, the story of Joseph. Azurdia has been especially pleasant to listen to due to his masterful ability to tell the story, as well as his biblical theology. Azurdia serves as Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Director of Pastoral Mentoring at Western Seminary in Portland, OR. His web site hosts hundreds of his sermons, including 64 messages on Hebrews and 81 messages on Revelation. He also has a section on the Doctrines of Grace.

On a related note, for those of you who read this blog and are not associated with The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, all of Southern's chapel service messages can be found at Southern's Audio Resources page. One of the requirements for my preaching class is to listen and evaluate 18 of the chapel sermons. I'm very grateful for the Audio Resources page, since I work an 8-5 job!

Well, what are you waiting for? Get busy downloading and listening to some of these sermons!

Todd