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for a christian to understand. Sometimes, people criticized him for this, but of course, if it weren't important, he'd not have wasted his time or theirs with it. Nor would the Holy Spirit have written it down; but it's the preachers task to make sure that they understand why it's important. CLARITY: Today’s unchurched are biblically illiterate. Their parents did not take them to Sunday School and they have almost no biblical knowledge. Therefore, the preacher finds himself having to spell out words like “covenant”, “atonement”, and “holy” by illustrating. Illustration is one of the keys of preaching to the postmodern, and the material of movies, t.v. shows, and popular books all provide ample material. Jesus and Paul constantly illustrated as have many of the greatest evangelists to follow in their footsteps. Illustration for the sake of clarity has been indispensible in reaching souls.
PREACHING THE TOUGH STUFF: What kind of mailman would only deliver the coupons, but never the bills? A fired one. We've got to preach on things that make people squirm. We've got to say hard things, disagreeable things, and things that will get people to hate you. The current trend is to water down the powerful message of the gospel to the point that it no longer has anything to say. When Paul stood before Agrippa and reasoned with him regarding the righteousness of God and the unrighteousness of man. Agrippa was "extremely afraid and trembling", to the point where he said, "I will hear you more on this matter". Paul knew that the gospel had teeth, so he didn’t try to gum them into heaven. He allowed the gospel to bite!
THE NEXT GENERATION OF PREACHERS Here is an encouraging thought. God kills his preachers. It's true. He doesn't let even the best of them live forever. He takes them, but they've passed the baton on to younger men who themselves are able to teach others. The generation that went before us did
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