I’m scanning through John Piper’s Brothers We Are Not Professionals.  I resonate deeply with some of what he writes, then disagree with other elements – I suppose that makes for an engaging read.  Anyway, here’s an “I resonateâ€� for us all to ponder in relation to preaching ministry: â€...

I was just prompted by a question to re-read John Piper’s first chapter in Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Here’s a taste of Piper’s prayer at the end of the chapter: Banish professionalism from our midst, Oh God, and in its place put passionate prayer, poverty of spirit, hunge...

Some people have goals for every five-minute segment of the day, while others balk at that approach to life and deliberately claim to have no goals at all.  While goal-setting can be taken to a manic extreme, it is healthy to have goals in the important areas of life in order to avoid aimlessness.Â...

Continuing the list of ten characteristics of Jesus’ preaching, as observed by a chapter in Preach the Word: (6) Visual in its Appeal - Jesus painted word pictures.  He didn’t speak in abstractions, but he helped his teaching to form in the minds of the listeners (whether they were inte...

Haslam’s book, Preach the Word, has a chapter entitled “Learning from Jesus.”  To some it is obvious that we should look to Jesus, who was, after all, the finest of preachers.  But I suppose some would overlook Jesus as a model of preaching since, well, we’re not Jesus.  I...

Continuing Greg Haslam’s list of reasons why preaching is ailing (first chapter of Preach the Word): 5. Some are too polite and too politically correct. It is easy for the message to be so diluted that it fails to rattle or challenge listeners.  Preaching is not for cowards, but political correct...

You’ve probably heard it said that good preaching comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable (or something similar).  While this may be true, it is also possible to make listeners uncomfortable in the wrong way.  Here are a couple of examples: 1. Pushing naturally unresponsive peopl...

It should go without saying that a preacher should be a pray-er.  It doesn’t.  We are living in a day when much noise has drowned much prayer, not only for the typical churchgoer, but sadly for the typical church preacher.  If the preacher is employed by the church, the job description has ...

Just a thought to throw into the mix of life as a preacher.  I just had a fairly busy weekend - preaching three times in two churches.  That means not only preaching, but being mentally distracted in the lead up to the different meetings.  As any preacher knows, it can be a draining experience. ...

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote that “Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire.”  In fact, allow me to quote further (from 97-98 of Preaching and Preachers): What is the chief end of preaching?  I like to think it is this.  It is to give men and women a sense of God and his ...