Three P's of Preaching

John Murray was a theologian who taught at Princeton Theological Seminary and then helped to found Westminster Theological Seminary along with J. Gresham Machen and others.

I saw some comments attributed to John Murray regarding the difference between preaching and lecturing here.

The comments are simple and helpful, so I thought I would pass them on. I feel like I have heard this somewhere else before (perhaps in one of my preaching classes?), but I thought I could not hurt repeating.

So, here is what Murray says distinguishes the two:

A sermon must be Personal.

It must be Passionate.

And it must involve a Plea.

Just someone else's thoughts,

Frank

Some Thoughts on Preaching - from Ben Franklin??

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is one of those books that I have read parts of a number of times over the years. It is currently one of the books I have on my Kindle, so at times I find myself reading from this interesting book.

Benjamin Franklin was a moralist, but not a Christian. His book, however, has some interesting comments in various places in his Autobiography about preaching and preachers. Perhaps the most famous of these are the ones where he discusses the preaching of the great evangelist George Whitefield, who Franklin had the privilege of knowing personally.

It is in another spot, however, that I read recently that is the subject of this post, for it serves as a warning to preachers and it also serves as an illustration that some errors are not new.

In discussing his relationship with the "only Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia" he mentions that he once attended five Sundays in a row and follows that comment with the following:

Had he been in my opinion a good preachers, perhaps I might have continued... but his discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explications of the particular doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforc'd, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens.

Now, I take his comments with a grain of salt, since what he would have been looking for in a message would be "moral principles" rather than necessarily faithfulness to God's Word, but I do find it interesting that the specific example he gives would indicate that there is good reason for Ben Franklin's concern.

The very next paragraph he mentions a specific sermon that this pastor allegedly preached on Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Here are the points that Dr. Franklin says the preacher got out of that passage:

1. Keeping the Sabbath day holy
2. Being diligent to read the Holy Scriptures
3. Attending duly the publick (sic) worship
4. Partaking of the Sacrament
5. Paying a due respect to God's ministers.

Assuming that Franklin presents this accurately, I agree with his comment after giving this summary of points.

These might all be good things; but, as they were not the kind of good things that I expected from that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any other, was disgusted, and attended his preaching no more.

Preachers, we need to be careful that we preach God's Word clearly and carefully. One of the great early leaders of our country was turned away from the hearing of the Word of God because a pastor chose to seemingly ignore the text of Scripture and instead proclaim what seems to have been his personal pet peeves.

It is one thing if it is the faithful preaching of the Word that offends and drives off folks - and the Word, when faithfully preached, will likely do that at times. It is another thing entirely to offend by preaching our opinions.

Let us be careful in the proclamation of God's Word - and pray for me that I would be careful in my proclamation of God's Word.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Wow! What a Great Week! -- And, boy, am I old!

This week I have had the privilege of preaching eight times at Heritage Christian Academy in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey for the 2008-2009 Spiritual Emphasis week. (I also had the privilege of preaching in chapel last Friday at Faith Baptist School in Salisbury, Maryland and three time on Sunday at Mosherville Bible Church in Mosherville, Pennsylvania, to make for 12 times in the last 8 days.)

I love to preach and I love to preach to our folks here in Salisbury, but I also love it when the Lord gives me opportunity to preach at a different location and (having served in youth ministry from 1990-2003) preaching to young people is a special joy.

The theme for the week was "profit that matters" with a theme verse of Mark 8:36

Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Heritage Christian Academy is a great school that is led by Mr. Ron Hamilton (no, not THAT Ron Hamilton). Mr. Hamilton (whome I knew as "Pastor Ron") was my Youth Pastor at Heart to Heart Bible Church in Phoenix, Arizona when I was a fairly new believer in Christ as a teenager. Pastor Ron's influence in my life has been an ongoing and profound. As a teenager, his life and consistent faithfulness for Christ were an example and challenge to me - a challenge to me that has continued to this day. In addition to the overall effect of his life, he also helped me specifically in giving me a chance to preach as a teenager and helping me to prepare my first "real" sermon and a sermon I heard by him as a teenager encouraged me that God can use me, despite (perhaps because of) the weak vessel that I am.

It was also a special treat to me to see a number of my former teens who are now serving the Lord by teaching at Heritage Christian Academy and helping out in other ways in the ministry there at Heritage Baptist Church. There were four teachers at the school who had been in my youth groups at various times in their lives. This fact was encouragement to me - but it also made me feel very OLD. To see Pastor Ron's daughter Beth (a 24-year old nurse at the same hospital in New Jersey where my wife worked for 9 years) especially made me feel old, since I knew her when she was still in a car seat when I was a teenager in Arizona and she was later in my youth group there at Heritage.

I also had the privilege of meeting up with some other friends and students from years gone by. It was an exciting week. Thank you to all who made the time enjoyable.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

A Great Weekend with Hardingville Bible Church

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go up to Hardingville, New Jersey to preach the morning and evening services at Hardingville Bible Church in Monroeville. It was great to be back up at Hardingville and to spend some time with good friends and share some fellowship together.

Going back up to Hardingville is a lot like going "home" for me. The over four years that we lived in the parsonage on Whig Lane Road rank as the longest that I have ever lived anywhere consecutively in my life. (We will have equaled that amount of time in this house in August of next year.)

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to open up His Word and preach at Hardingville this weekend, for the receptive congregation, for liberty as I preached, and for fellowship that we were able to have with the Frasers (who hosted us over night) and with the Shaws and Stimpsons (who had us over for food) and with all the other folks we were able to spend some time with. It was a great and encouraging time.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Advice to Young Pastors (or all Pastors, for that matter)

I came across this article recently and, since I am too tired to write anything significant myself, I thought I would share this with you and encourage you to read the advice offered in this article - To The Young Pastor by Ron Gleason.

I have never heard of Ron Gleason before and the article is written from a Presbyterian viewpoint, but much of the advice seems equally valid for Baptists or Bible Church pastors. Of course, it should go without saying, including a link to a person or ministry is not meant to imply endorsement of the person or organization.

A couple of comments to whet your appetite.

As pastors, it is our job to do the Lord's bidding where He calls us, according to His purposes, and for as long as He requires our services there

The preacher's foremost task is to preach the Gospel. Many voices in Christianity today tempt us to forget this. They encourage us to do what will attract the unsaved. Nevertheless, the pastor is primarily called to proclaim the riches of Christ through the preaching of the Word and the clear exposition of Scripture

Manage your time to the glory of God. This is a crucial, essential component of the pastor's life and calling. Far too many pastors waste precious time performing ever-nebulous "networking." Time, once spent, cannot be regained. Therefore, how we use our time matters greatly.

Just someone else's thoughts on a topic that is dear to me,

Frank

On the Ordination Service of David Field

On Sunday night, March 30, I had the great privilege of being able to take part in the Ordination Service of Pastor Dave Field at Hardingville Bible Church in Monroeville, New Jersey. Dave is a great guy and I greatly appreciate his asking me to take part in this significant milestone in his life. I look forward to continuing to watch and rejoice as Dave walks and serves God - along with his wife Dawn and the rest of the family.

My part of the service included giving the "Charge to the Candidate", which is designed to be a challenge to the one being ordained concerning life and ministry. In preparation for this, I re-read the books of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, especially noting the commands regarding life and ministry that the Apostle Paul gave to these two young ministerial men. It was a good reminder of the types of things that ought to be our higher concerns in the realms of life and ministry and it was a challenge to me as I re-read these familiar passages.

Trying to narrow down the charges that Paul gave to Timothy and Titus into something that could be preached in 15-17 minutes is a bit of a task. There are around 50 different charges that Paul gives in these few short books. Some of them are repeated in the different books, some of them are unique to the situations, and some of them are unique to the addressee, but overall there is much in them that should apply to all of us who stand behind the sacred desk.

As I sought to narrow it down, I went with a little thematic view, taking a separate passage for each main point. My main points were all taken from common passages from the Prison Epistles and each is deserving of their own sermon. (Which may explain why I accidentally went over my allotted time by about 10 minutes - oops!)

I. Be a Pattern in Your Character (1 Timothy 4:12-16)

While the 1 Timothy 4 passage expresses this specifically, the same idea is included multiple times within these three books, both in specific charges to Timothy and Titus or in the concern for character expressed in the requirements for office that are listed.

As Pastors, we must be concerned that our character serves as a pattern to other believers. It is not enough to be able to stand up and give a "preaching performance." It is not enough to be able to "do" things. God is more concerned with our person than our performance. Repeatedly Paul focuses on what these men in leadership are like in their character.


II. Be Purposeful in Your Charge (2 Timothy 2:1-7)

Men in ministry have been given a special task - the edifying of the saints for the work of the ministry, the holding forth of the Word of Truth, the training of others who will, in turn, train others, the proclamation of God's Word.

If we are going to accomplish these tasks, we must be purposeful about it. We must be purposeful in our responsibilities, not allowing ourselves to be caught up in a lot of wasteful activities. As a soldier endures and a runner strives and a farmer labors, so must the man of God endure and strive and labor in the task that God has given us.

III. Be a Preacher who Continues (2 Timothy 4:1-8)

We are to proclaim as a herald the message of the Word. We are to be instant and ready whatever the circumstances may be. We are to carefully take the Word of God and use it to reprove, rebuke and exhort, being careful that the manner in which we do so is with all longsuffering and doctrine.

As Paul continued in this task until the end - so much so that he could confidently rest in the fact that he had fought a good fight and finished his course, so must the man of God continue in the task of faithfully preaching the Word of God no matter the circumstances.

If you are a Pastor reading this, may I encourage you to take a thoughtful re-reading of the Pastorals some time in the near future. It will do your heart good.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

P.S. In an earlier post I wrote regarding the Ordination Council and the process of preparation that Dave went through in regards to his preparation for that Ordination Council. (You can read that post here .)

The Preacher's Daughter

The preacher's 5-year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head, for a moment, before starting his sermon.

One day, she asked him why.

"Well, honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages, "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon."

"How come He doesn't do it?" she asked.



-- Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I have a much more substantial post in the process, but looking for time to actually finish writing it. (I have finished the first page, but the nature of the topic that it will be a fuller treatment than that.)

Just my thoughts,

Frank

P.S. No, this IS NOT a personal story!

The Cumulative Effect of Taking in God's Word

Yesterday after church I was involved in an humorous and interesting conversation.

During the morning service, I had preached a message on Biblical change from 2 Corinthians 2:18. Following the service, we had a meeting and then after the meeting folks were preparing to leave and a lady from church commented to me that the message was "an excellent message" (no, that is NOT the interesting part :) ), to which another lady who was nearby replied, "Yes, it was - and so was last week's message." The first lady replied something to the effect of "What was last week's message, again?" And the lady who had commented on last week's message said, "I can't remember, but it was really good."

Then there was a pause while both ladies tried to remember what last week's sermon was about. (And while I also tried to remind myself of what last week's sermon was about in case they asked me - while I am currently doing a series on Right Thinking from Philippians on Sunday nights, I am not currently in a series on Sunday mornings.) After a short delay, the one who had originally made a comment regarding last week's sermon remembered that it was in Isaiah, which then triggered everyone's memory (including mine) that it was on Isaiah 6 and the holiness of God.

The thing that struck me as interesting was the fact that the individual could remember "it was an excellent sermon", but not remember anything about it. Now, I don't fault her for that but it does seem kind of strange - yet I can completely understand it.

I have listened to well over a thousand sermons in my life. Some of those sermons have been excellent sermons - sermons that I have even made it a point to listen to a number of times. However, I would guess that there are probably only a relative few sermons that I have heard that I can still remember the sermon now. I can remember one sermon from my Youth Pastor, Ron Hamilton (not THAT Ron Hamilton) on "God Can Use What You Have." I can remember a sermon by Dr. Jim Berg on "What it Means to Know God" that I first heard on a Sunday in Rodeheaver Auditorium (it was preached during the summer on Sunday AM service). If I sat here and tried, but it would still be a relatively small number compared to the totality of the sermons that I have heard, but that is not necessary for my point.

If I am typical (and I have seldom been accused of THAT), why bother preaching sermons? After all, if people are not going to remember them anyway, is it not just a waste of time?

My answer to that is "NO." It is not a waste of time. I am convinced that there is a cumulative aspect to the intake of the Word of God that affects our Christian growth. When you and I take in the Word of God (whether it be via hearing a sermon, reading the Bible, studying a passage, meditating on a passage or whatever), there is an affect from that intake - even if we cannot actively sit down later and remember what we learned from a particular sermon.

The way that I like to illustrate it is this: (I am sure I borrowed this or adapted this from somewhere, but I have no idea where).

My mom was/is a great cook. She made excellent meals and I know that I enjoyed a bunch of those meals. However, there are only a few meals during all of the time that I grew up that I can remember. I remember Mom's lasagna (wow, my mouth almost waters thinking of it). I remember the pork chops and fried apples meals that we had as a special treat. I remember some polish sausage and fried potato meals. However, when I think about it, there are a lot of meals my mom fed me that I have no recollection about at all. Yet (and this is the important part), those meals fed me and helped me grow.

So, the next time you start to think - why bother doing the work necessary to prepare and preach this sermon - OR - why bother going to hear another sermon that I am going to forget anyway, stop and remember this illustration - while we may not be able to remember the specific details, these spiritual meals can still feed a soul and help it grow.

Andy Rupert posted some similar (but briefer) thoughts from Pastor Ashbrook over here at Isle Kerguellen that kind inspired this post.


Just my thoughts,

Frank