I am often asked for advice, but I generally find that people have made up their minds long before they come to their minister, and only want him to sanction what they have already settled; and therefore I very seldom give any counsel.
Spurgeon, C. H. (2005). Exploring the Mind and Heart of the Prince of Preachers: Five-Thousand Illustrations Selected from the Works of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (93). Oswego, IL: Fox River Press.
Another devotional from A W Tozer
Acts 20:26–27
This is one of the marks of our modern time—that many are guilty of merely “nibbling” at the truth of the Christian gospel.
I wonder if you realize that in many ways the preaching of the Word of God is being pulled down to the level of the ignorant and spiritually obtuse; that we must tell stories and jokes and entertain and amuse in order to have a few people in the audience? We do these things that we may have some reputation and that there may be money in the treasury to meet the church bills.…
In many churches Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone!
Lord, don’t ever let me be guilty of watering down the truth or playing to the crowds, concerned about my “reputation” or “money in the treasury.” Amen.
Tozer, A. W. (2001). Tozer on Christian leadership : A 366-day devotional. Camp Hill, PA.: WingSpread.
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The following is taken from a message by D L Moody. Read it and enjoy the great grace of the Lord Jesus Christ!
I can imagine when Christ said to the little band around Him, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel,’
Peter said, ‘Lord, do you really mean that we are to go back to Jerusalem and preach the gospel to those men that murdered you?’
‘Yes,’ said Christ, ‘go, hunt up that man that spat in my face, tell him he may have a seat in my kingdom yet.
Yes, Peter, go find that man that made that cruel crown of thorns and placed it on my brow, and tell him I will have a crown ready for him when he comes into my kingdom, and there will be no thorns in it.
Hunt up that man that took a reed and brought it down over the cruel thorns, driving them into my brow, and tell him I will put a scepter in his hand, and he shall rule over the nations of the earth, if he will accept salvation.
Search for the man that drove the spear into my side, and tell him there is a nearer way to my heart than that. Tell him I forgive him freely, and that he can be saved if he will accept salvation as a gift.’
George, T. (2004). Mr Moody and the evangelical tradition (5). London; New York: T&T Clark.
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There has been much said about a great leader dying just a few weeks ago. As I read all the things that were said I considered several that should become true in each of our lives and ministries. Please consider the following with me:
He handed over his ministry to other leaders!
I am afraid that is a weakness I see all too often. We do not prepare anyone to take our place. We are a “one of a kind” leader. We are indispensable. I think that if that is true of us we have failed. We must prepare others to carry the ministry forward and turn it over to them. If we are not careful our pride and insecurity makes us hold on way too long to a ministry that should already be in the hands of another person!
“I think he set an impeccable example for leaders of ministries of handing things over to other leaders,” Homan said. “He imparted to many a love for the global church and imparted a passion for biblical fidelity and a love for the Savior.”
He was not an original thinker!
Too many of us worry about being original. We want people to think we are smart, cute, relevant, etc. We lose because too much emphasis is put on a person and not enough on the Holy Scriptures!
He was not known as an original thinker, nor did he seek to be. He always turned to the Bible for understanding, and his unforgettable gift was to penetrate and explain the Scriptures.
He was a Bible expositor!
I want to see more and more of our people not telling so many cute stories but drilling down into the text and telling people what God said. I, personally, want to be able to clearly expound the Bible!
In an evangelical world tempted to rely on proof texts and emotive stories, Stott drilled down deep into Scripture to display its power. Many people, hearing Stott preach for the first time, said they had never heard the Bible expounded with such clarity and depth. His passion was to learn what God said, and to let it shape life. Stott’s preaching and writing renewed faith in the inspiration of Scripture—not only because he defended it, but because he displayed it.
The above quotes come from an article found here in Christianity today. I obviously never met or knew John Stott but I believe that I can learn from his life.
It should be noted that John Stott was an Anglican. You can learn of his life here!
The influence of a preacher’s testimony on the acceptance of a sermon requires that one’s life be under the rule of Scripture. With unblinking candor, John Wesley once explained to a struggling protégé why his ministry lacked power: “Your temper is uneven; you lack love for your neighbors. You grow angry too easily; your tongue is too sharp—thus, the people will not hear you.” Wesley’s honesty reflects Scripture’s admonition and challenges each of us to guard our character if we desire effectiveness with the Word.
True character cannot be hidden, although it can be temporarily masked. Character oozes out of us in our messages. Just as people reveal themselves in conversations by their words and mannerisms, we constantly reveal ourselves to others in our preaching. Over time our word choices, topics, examples, and tone unveil our hearts regardless of how well we think we have cordoned off deeper truths from public display. The inside is always on view. People sense more than they can prove by the way we present ourselves in the most inadvertent ways.
With the insight of many years of preaching experience, Haddon Robinson summarizes:As much as we might wish it otherwise, we cannot be separated from the message. Who has not heard some devout brother or sister pray in anticipation of a sermon, “Hide our pastor behind the cross so that we may see not him but Jesus only.” We commend the spirit of such a prayer.… Yet no place exists where a preacher may hide. Even a large pulpit cannot conceal us from view.… We affect our message. We may be mouthing a scriptural idea yet we can remain as impersonal as a telephone recording, as superficial as a radio commercial, or as manipulative as a con man. The audience does not hear a sermon, they hear a person—they hear you.
No truth calls louder for pastoral holiness than the link between a preacher’s character and a sermon’s reception.
Chapell, B. (2005). Christ-centered preaching: Redeeming the expository sermon (Second Edition) (37–38). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
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