The Preaching & Ministry Journal: February 2024 THE BETTER ISSUE

FROM THE EDITORS: When we thinking of preaching and preachers our mind often goes to a little town in West Tennessee where we learned so much and where we both met our spouses. We go to the Freed-Hardeman Lectures each year because we get to spend a whole week with fellow ministers, we go because we are blessed to learn from some of our favorite preachers, we go because we have the opportunity to talk to preachers about the stresses and life of ministry. But perhaps most of all we go because we want to continue to learn and to be better preachers.

With this issue of The Preaching & Ministry Journal we turn our attention to improving our preaching. You’ll grow from and be encouraged by men who have spent their lives growing as communicating God’s Word.

We hope you are blessed.

Thank you for reading The Journal and for encouraging us in this periodical dedicated to Preaching & Ministry. Please help us by sharing it with others and making full use of it. And, as always we pray for you as you grow in His Service.

- Jeff & Dale Jenkins editors

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Chris McCurley * Dickson, TN ckmccurley3@gmail.com

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As a coach, I didn’t preach winning. That wasn’t our focus. In 2001, my team started the season on a 7-game winning streak. We were ranked 2nd in the state of Arkansas, but we didn’t talk about the streak. I never mentioned it. We didn’t talk about what it would look like if we made it through the season undefeated.

It wasn’t something we considered. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to win every game we played, but I felt like de ning success solely by wins and losses wasn’t an accurate barometer of who we were. All too often, a team is de ned by their won-loss record or how many championships they have won. Maybe that’s acceptable when the coach and players are making exorbitant amounts of money, but not so at the high school level. Some years it was very clear that I was not going to win many games. I had to face the reality that I had a bunch of mules, but I needed a bunch of thoroughbreds. It would have been

unrealistic for me to expect a team with very little talent to win it all.

However, the better the team the higher the expectations. Still, instead of focusing on winning and losing, I always focused on 3 things: 1) Playing Hard, 2) Limiting Turnovers, and 3) Getting Better.

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Hustle never has a bad day. You can always hustle. Also, the team that makes the fewest mistakes typically wins. And buy into the process of getting better every single day. Every day is an opportunity to get better, so take advantage of it. I felt like if we did these things, we would be successful. Winning would take care of itself. Plus, these are things that make you better at life, not just sports. But when your team’s identity is tied up in wins and losses, then you only de ne yourself by outcomes, which is not a good gauge. Outcomes are not always a true indication of who you are. You may play hard, work hard, and get better, yet still lose every game.

While that stinks, you likely grew as a person. Perhaps you developed character. Maybe you learned some valuable life lessons. I guarantee that if you work hard, limit turnovers, and get better every day, you will win more than you lose.

The same concepts apply to our spirituality. We tend to judge ourselves by wins and losses, and more times than not, we feel like losers. We keep turning the ball over.

We keep getting beat. As a result, we live defeated. I would like to suggest that the heart of the issue is a matter of focus. Being better is not so much about outcomes, but more about identity.

Notice what John writes in John Chapter 15 beginning in verse 1.

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father

is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the re and they are burned. 7 If you abide in

Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glori ed by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My l o v e . 10 I f y o u k e e p M y commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (Jn. 15:1-11).

We are an outcome-driven people.

You don’t believe me? Consider how we often view Christianity.

• Follow the rules and you get to go to heaven.

• Do this and you make God happy.

Don’t do this and you make God mad.

• Say your prayers, read your Bible, don’t miss church, share the gospel and you won’t go to hell.

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This is how many in the church have thought and still think about Christianity. Do right or else. Get right or get left. Lest I give the wrong impression, please hear me when I say that rules are important. Doctrine matters. But let’s not get the cart

before the horse. Who we are in Christ determines how we live as a Christian. Our identity informs our behavior, not the other way around.

The goal is not to be a good little productive Christian so that God doesn’t turn me into a French fry.

In John Chapter 14, verse 15, the Master says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Jesus’ words are in the context of oneness. He’s speaking of abiding.

He’s talking about relationship. He’s pointing to His identity—abiding in God and God abiding in Him. The Son and the Father are one. It’s all about the connection. “If you love me,” He says, “You will keep my commandments.” It’s not about being a rule follower so you can show yourself productive and, thus, earn God’s favor and avoid hell. Here's what I think Jesus is driving at in John Chapter 15—YOUR BEHAVIOR I S A R E F L E C T I O N O F YO U R IDENTITY. What we produce on the outside stems from who we are on the inside. Or, we might say it this way, what we produce on the outside stems from who is ruling us on the inside. Who’s in charge of your heart?

Look at John 15:5 & 6 again:

“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the re, and they are burned.”

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Jesus says, “Good connection. Good fruit. Bad connection. Bad fruit.” Our attachment to the vine ensures that we will produce quality fruit. Our branch dies and our fruit shrivels up when we lose our connection. Keep in mind that identity comes before productivity. This is about abiding.

You do because you love. You’re productive because you abide. It’s who you are. The picture of a vine and branches signi es a relationship de ned by growth and maturity.

Branches nd their life in the vine.

They are only productive if they

remain attached to the vine. When you’re connected to the source, you’re going to grow and mature and produce fruit. That’s a natural byproduct of being attached to the source. You pluck fruit from its vine or from its tree and its lifespan is greatly decreased. It starts to die the moment you remove it from the branch. Same is true with disciples.

Our connection to the vine is what gives us life. Abiding in the Lord is what makes us effective and useful servants.

So, why be better? Because your spiritual livelihood depends on it.

However, being better isn’t just about trying harder or doing more.

Being better is about being, not doing. Let your identity fuel your behavior. If you want to grow and mature, don’t start with doing more.

Start with being more.

Five Things That Have Helped Me Become Better In My Delivery -

Bill Watkins * Nashville, TN bilwat1001@yahoo.com

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f you are committing yourself First of all, I have learned to embrace to preaching, you already the fear that comes with the know that the message you awesome responsibility that we have are going to give is the most undertaken. In general, the number important communication that one fear of people is the fear of mankind will ever receive. Every public speaking. The second greatest other message is a communication fear is dying. Think about that. Most from humans to humans. But people are more afraid of public preaching is a speaking than communication they are of “Every time you step into the pulpit, the from the Creator dying! If that is awesome responsibility of delivering and Sustainer of true of public truth and motivation from the heart of the universe to speaking in God to the hearts of people, aught to ll those he has general, how you with awe that God has granted you created and much more true the privilege of imparting the loves. Real is it of speaking unsearchable riches of Christ.” preaching is not on behalf of the promotion Almighty God? of human opinion, no The Bible says matter how wise that consideration that some fear is a good thing. “The may be. Real preaching is delivering fear of the LORD is clean, enduring the absolute, infallible word from forever” (Psalm 19:9). “The fear of God to those who are lost and the LORD is the beginning of aimless without it. wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm That means that we need to take 111:10). “The fear of the LORD is every opportunity to learn how to the beginning of knowledge” more clearly and effectively deliver (Proverbs 1:7). “In the fear of the that word.

LORD one has strong con dence” (Proverbs 14:26).

Here are ve things that have helped me to do a better job in my Every time you step into the pulpit, presenting of God’s Truth. I pray that the awesome responsibility of they will be helpful to you. delivering truth and motivation from the heart of God to the hearts of

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Second, I have learned that I really don’t know my sermon simply because I understand my notes.

Early in my ministry, I found that nding a place where I could speak my sermon aloud before delivering it to an audience, was of great value. When it was possible, I would present my lesson from the pulpit where I would be speaking on Sunday. There were far too many times when I was sure of my presentation until I actually said it aloud. It’s important that you not only understand the message, but that you also can articulate it clearly. The actual words you use – not just the ideas, but the words – are the things that either communicate or obscure the m e s s a g e . Th i s a l s o h e l p s i n determining the kind of gestures and posture that you will use in your sermon. Today, after over 50 years of preaching, I do not often say my entire sermon aloud, but I still do speak certain parts that are most essential to the sermon. I want my

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people, aught to ll you with awe that God has granted you the privilege of imparting the unsearchable riches of Christ. It will keep you from being bored or boring.

words to mean something – every one of them!

Third, I have learned that delivery is far more effective when you know your audience. There are going to be times when you will have to preach to a group you have never met, but for the most part, you will have the opportunity to know your audience.

Always consider the people to whom you are speaking. If you are the visiting preacher, show up early, meet the people who are arriving, ask questions that will help you know their dreams, their fears, their struggles, their expectations, their needs. Pray for them and with them if they are willing. Find something about every person that you meet that you like – after all, God loves them and wants them to be saved and shining for Him (1 Timothy 2:1-4; Matthew 5:14-16). Remember that the sermon is for them and not to show them how skilled you are or how much you know. Sermons are for the purpose of changing people for the better. It will be far more dif cult if you do not see how they need to change.

Fourth, I have learned to pay attention to my audience while I am speaking. This absolutely requires eye contact with the people in the

room.

The average audience is trained to pay attention in 6 to 10 minute segments, and you will be speaking between 20 and 40 minutes. So look for the signs that they are losing attention.

What signs? If everyone moves at once, it is a sign that you have lost your audience. If there is an outbreak of coughing, you have lost your audience. If many people are looking everywhere except at you, you have lost your audience. If people suddenly seem to be too hot or too cold, you have lost your audience.

At that point you will need to do something to help them reset their attention. It may be a story, or it may be asking the audience to respond by raising their hands to a question, or saying “Amen”, or using humor, or encouraging them to write something down. It may be that you will change the tone or speed of your voice. It may be that you will move from your current position. It may be showing them a picture on powerpoint. It can be any number of things, but unless you are tuned in to them, you will continue on with no bene t to them

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Fifth, I have learned to use visual aids carefully. Visual aids can be

extremely helpful to your audience as an aid to follow and retain the sermon. But remember they are only an aid – they are not the message.

When visual aids become an end in themselves, they are a distraction and not an aid. It is possible today to present amazing visual effects with most of our presentation software.

My advice is that, just because an app can do incredible things, that is not a reason to use them. Too often the audience is wondering what will happen next, instead of wondering “What is God telling me to do?” In the words of Isaiah, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). The message – not the aids – is the most important thing. Keep rst things rst!

There is much more, and many more important things to say. But I do hope that these ve things will be as helpful to you in your delivery as they have been to me. God bless you as you undertake the most important and most challenging life that anyone on earth has ever been called to live!

Delivering The Invitation: More Than A Sign-Off

I have beautiful feet. My wife doesn't think so, but God thinks so. Consider Romans10:15: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” I'm a “good news”preacher. I am a nobody who is trying to tell everybody about the somebody who can save anybody. I go all over America inviting people to come to Jesus.

I have invited a couple to have dinner with us tomorrow night. The invitation was limited. It was not an open invitation to everybody. Not so with the invitation of Jesus. Jesus invites everybody to come. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “The Spirit and bride say, 'Come!'” (Revelation 22:17). In the very rst book of the New Testament, Jesus invites us to come. In the very last book of the New Testament, Jesus invites us to come. Jesus is constantly begging, “Please, come!” And why does He want us to come? Here's the answer: “Behold, I am coming soon!”

(Revelation 22:12). He wants us to come, because He is coming soon.

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Keith Parker, Hendersonville, TN * kparkers5@bellsouth.net

responding churches. “Be...faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Second, deliver the invitation positively. When people “walk the aisle,” it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. When sinners come to Jesus, it's a time of rejoicing. Philip preached the gospel in Samaria. The result? “There was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8). Later when Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian How should preachers offer the and he was obedient, the mood was invitation of Jesus? Let me share with positive. The eunuch from Ethiopia you ve ways. “went on his way rejoicing” First, deliver the (Acts 8:39).

The invitation of Jesus is super serious. i n v i t a t i o n Preachers, keep It is more than just a way to end the prayerfully. Pray the invitation sermon. It is more than a sign-of. It is for those who are p o s i t i v e . lost. Pray for those Emphasize the a life or death decision. It is a Heaven who are weak. blessings of P ray f o r t h o s e becoming a who are Christian. “Be backslidden. “Brothers, my heart's joyful in hope” (Romans 12:12). desire and prayer to God for theIsraelites is that they may be Th i r d , d e l i v e r t h e i n v i t a t i o n saved” (Romans 10:1). Often when I powerfully. Paul said, “I am not go somewhere to preach, on the very ashamed of the gospel, because it is rst day that I'm there, I ask the the power of God for the salvation of church for a favor. The favor: Pray for everyone who believes” (Romans one person by name. Pray for 1:16). The power is in the message, someone who needs to be saved. not the man. The power is in the Pray for one who needs to be teaching, not the technique. The restored. Praying churches are power is in the gospel, not the gospel preacher. In other words, if

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If you knew that Jesus were coming today, what would you do? Would you be saved? Would you repent?

Would you be baptized? Would you ask someone to pray for you? Would you be restored? The invitation of Jesus is super serious. It is more than just a way to end the sermon. It is more than a sign-of. It is a life or death decision. It is a Heaven or Hell moment!

people are going to be saved, we must “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). Evangelists, take a close look at your sermons. When you preach, is God speaking or you? Are you preaching “book, chapter, and verse” sermons? God promised that his word would not come back empty (Isaiah 55:11).

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Fo u r t h , d e l ive r t h e i nv i t a t i o n passionately. Deliver the invitation with zeal, passion and enthusiasm.

The invitation that you're offering is not an invitation to a dinner or to a ballgame or to a birthday party. It is an invitation for sinners to be saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). On the day of Pentecost, it is said of Peter, “With many others words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation'” (Acts 2:41). When was the last time you pleaded with an audience? Warned an audience? If your life were in danger, how would you want me to tell you? Would you want me to casually and calmly say, “Hey, you need to think about this”? Sometimes we offer the invitation as though “it's not a big deal.” We do it casually, lightly and half-heartily. We do it out of habit—it's just the way that we sign of. But, preachers, you're dying people preaching to dying people.

Plead with people. Beg people to make a decision. In other words, put some re in the sermons, or sermons in the re. “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor” (Romans 12:11).

Fifth, deliver the invitation persistently. I have often preached in a revival, sung the invitation song, attended the needs of those who responded, closed the service with prayer, and a few minutes or hours later baptized some who wanted to make things right with the Lord.

Some people are like that. They are private in nature. They are shy and timid. They don't want to go public with their problems. They were created that way. Perhaps our greatest invitations come outside our worship assemblies, maybe in private studies or in the parking lot after church. Invitations like, “Why don't you come over to the house for coffee and cake and we can continue to study.” Or, “As we were singing the invitation song, I had you on my heart. I love you and I've been praying for you.” Or, “Let's stop in at McDonald's and talk a little bit more about what you heard today.”

The invitation is not over after the singing of the invitation song. It is

open 24/7—7 days a week and 24 hours everyday. “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). “Our salvation is nearer now than when we rst believed” (Romans 13:11).

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Today I invited Dwight and Amy to spend the night with us. They live about a hundred miles away and were in our area for a doctor's appointment. Instead of driving home after the appointment, they could spend the night with us and enjoy some of our good oI' southern hospitality. I invited them to be nice, not really thinking they would

accept the invitation. If they had accepted, I would have been surprised.

Don't let the invitation of Jesus become like that. Don't offer the invitation not expecting people to accept. Don't offer the invitation for the sake of being nice. It's not just a custom, or routine, or the “way to end the sermon.” It's not a “signing of.” For Heaven's sake, give it your best.

Preach with Passion

Je A. Jenkins, Flower Mound, TX je ajenkins@gmail.com

It was a great sermon. The content was excellent, it was Biblical, and it was organized extremely well. It was obvious that the preacher had spent hours studying and he knew his material. But it seemed that he wasn’t sure he believed what he was saying, he seemed bored and unengaged in his presentation. I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I looked around the auditorium and he had lost a big part of his audience early in the sermon.

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Please allow me to make a disclaimer here. There is a very ne line (almost like a tightrope) when it comes to our presentation of the

Gospel. We desperately need balance in our preaching. I do not write this article because I think I know everything about how it should be done. It is written from nearly sixty- ve years of listening to thousands of preachers and a heart for those who gather every week to hear a word from God. Back to the ne line and remaining balanced. Many confuse passion with a lot of shouting, hand waving, and movement. Brothers, if we are not careful, we will nd ourselves acting as if we are on a stage.

Preaching is not about performing so that others will tell us how good we

are. Some preachers seem to be more enamored with themselves than they are with the Gospel.

O n e o f m y a l l - t i m e f av o r i t e preachers to listen too rarely ever raises his voice. He typically stands directly behind the pulpit, and doesn’t use a lot of gestures. But when he preaches, no one would ever walk away and say he is boring.

He is uber-effective. He preaches from a deep devotion to God in his heart and a great love for those who hear him.

He reminds me of Jeremiah who s a i d , “ B u t i f I s a y, ‘ I w i l l not remember Him nor speak anymore in His name, then in my heart it becomes like a burning re shut up in my bones; and I am tired of holding it in, and I cannot endure it’” (Jeremiah 20:9).

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He reminds me of Paul who said, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:15). The word that Paul uses here means hot, boiling over, on re. I remember hearing my Dad say that Paul had a Holy heartburn for the Lord.

With these thoughts in mind, please consider some ways we can make certain that we are balanced and passionate about this life-giving, lifechanging Good News.

(1) Preach the Word. There are many wonderful statements that can be made about the wonderful Word of God, but no one who has spent much time in it all would ever describe the Word of God as being boring. It is a vast storehouse of rich treasure. When we preach the Word we must never act as though we don’t believe it or that we are bored with it. I love our brother, Paul’s statement, "Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33) (2) Know your material. Few men can effectively read a manuscript. If we have spent the proper amount of time in study, our presentation will be more easily received. If we ever quit studying, we are dead in the water. Often time boring comes from not being prepared and from a failure to study

the Word. Dear brothers, never quit growing.

people in our lives who we trust to help us grow in our preaching.

(3) Spend a lot of time in prayer. Every message we preach needs to be bathed, as it were, in prayer. We need to ask God often to give us the wisdom and the energy to deliver His Word with passion. As a young boy, I remember men often praying that the preacher would stand behind the cross of Christ.

Brothers, we must not make to preaching about us. We must always point people to Jesus. We really should want people not to say what a great preacher we are, but rather, what a great God we serve.

(6) Be willing to change.

Don’t be so proud and arrogant that you think you’ve got it all gured out. We should be willing to change our style and our delivery if it will help us more effectively communicate the Word of God.

(4) Listen to good preachers.

We have opportunities in our age like never before to listen to other preachers. It is not necessary to emulate their style, but we can learn much about how they preach with passion by listening and watching.

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(5) B e w i l l i n g t o t a k e constructive criticism. Even ask for advice from others. This is not easy for many of us who preach, but it will help us greatly if we have some

(7) Be excited about the Good News. We will all have tough days. We may not feel well, we may have experienced a loss of someone close to us, or we may be in a dry season. But generally speaking we should be excited about the opportunity to share the Gospel with others. I’m not sure who said it rst, but it is a good adage. We should either put some re into our sermons or put our sermons in the re.

May God bless you, dear brother, even this week as you study for your sermon and particularly as you preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus.

I am a preacher. It is all I ever wanted to be. My father was a gospel preacher. Most of my friends are preachers. I have been preaching for more than fty years, and the last forty- ve have been with the same congregation. If I have my way, on the last Sunday I am on this earth I will preach.

The question I have been asked to answer is, “How do you maintain your passion for preaching over the long haul?”

First of all, your passion must be for Christ. Loving to preach and loving Christ are not the same. But how do you stay in love with Jesus, and keep proclaiming the Good News with Passion?

Think of a Fire.

If you want a re to burn hot and long, you must keep feeding it. A re requires fuel, oxygen, and heat. You must keep bringing wood to the re if you want it to burn. The fuel you bring is so important. If you bring trash you will have a trash re. Paper and rotten wood will burn but not hot or well.

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Brush and grass will burn hot but not long. Garbage will smolder and stink but not burn well. But, good hard

PREACHING FOR THE LONG-HAUL wood will burn long and hot and even the smoke is pleasant. So ask yourself, “What is the fuel you are bringing to your life and sermons?”

The fuel you bring is what you are carrying. 1 Timothy 5:22 “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.” The fuel should be the Word of God. If you ll your mind and heart and sermons with trivia, trash, anger, or the world, you become; you become part of what is passing away. 1 John 2:17 “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

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This love you have must be growing – but “Love never ends” you never run out of words concerning what or who you truly love. Paul would say, “…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death.”

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I like to think of the oxygen that fans the ame as the Holy Spirit.

The Word, which the Spirit wrote, promised us our needs would be ful lled. Ephesians 3:16-19 “…that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be lled with all the fullness of God.”The heat is our passion for Christ, any other stimuli will fail in the long run.

A Race Our life as a minister is like a race or a journey. Many start, few nish. Many get lost along the way. Others get tired and give up.

Some just get bored. We even call this “Burn Out.” The re just goes out. So how can you run your race to the nish? How can you “Finish the course?”

You must avoid at all cost the ruts.

Ruts are easy to get into but hard to get out of. And they will take you where you don’t want to go. I once saw a priest conducting a funeral. He has his “holy water” in a nasal spray bottle. So as he conducted his prayers and rituals with a board and indifferent look on his face, he was spraying water out of his “Afrin” bottle. I thought, “Now there is a man who is burned out.” Ruts will do that to you.

Here are some things that will help you stay on the path. Return to the basics.

Re-study the fundamentals. See what you missed; you will be

surprised. Sing some new songs. I am, after more than 50 years, changing the translation I preach form. This is really hard for me and a little scary. But, what I think will happen is I will be able to see the scripture afresh. The words will be a little different and even on different places on the page. I expect I will nd some wonderful surprises, and I will have help getting out of those ruts.

Another thing we must do is give our outlines a rest. You don’t have to burn them just give them a sabbatical. One of the great blessings that I have received by staying with one congregation so long is I have been forced to keep studying. So work up some new lessons. If you want to be preaching when you are old never stop studying.

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Try a new method of preaching.

Never change the message but maybe the method. The church can change the method by getting a new messenger, why not beat them to the punch by changing the method.

I began my preaching with topical sermons. Then I discovered expository sermons.

Now I am experimenting with a narrative approach. Also, remember there are many messages out there that are not worthy of your time. Some are trivial, angry, or as Paul calls some “foolish controversies.” Take those who listen to you to the cross. Stay with the important subjects.

Now back to the best. Make sure you have passion for Christ. There is a lot of difference between loving to preach and loving Jesus. You can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t describe what you haven’t seen. So get serious. Ask the hard questions.

And like Peter by the lake, answer Jesus’ question, “Do you love me?”

Paul Shero, paul.shero@sgcoc.com South Gate in San Angelo, TX

Somewhere along the way the art of using of powerful and meaningful stories fell into disrepute. Whether it was the abuse, overuse, or dominance of the story some would almost “hiss,” “Well, he’s just a story-teller.” For some of us it would seen a reset might just be in order.

Without objection I would simple remind us all of Matthew 13:34 “All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them” and Mark 4:34 “He did not speak to them without a parable…” When the person even casually familiar with Jesus teachings thinks about them, they think of The Story of the Good Samaritan, the five wise and the five foolish virgins, the good shepherd who left the ninety and nine to seek the one lost sheep, The parable of the prodigal son. Incidentally Charles Dicksons called that last one the greatest short story ever written.

Yes, we can overdo it when it comes to the “windows into the text,” but we might also “underdo” it. Often the most natural place to put this material is in the introduction. As our friend David Shannon says: “You have to get all the people on the bus before you can take them anywhere.” If they aren’t on the bus in the first place, they won’t be making the journey.

Nearly 40 years ago I sat in a preaching seminar in California. It is the one time since I was 18 that I have missed the FHU Lectureships. The presenter was talking about the place of staying connected to your audience by carefully collecting Dale Jenkins, Spring Hill, TN dale@edge.net

and curating current illustrations. He had each participate raise their hand in promising to collect at least one illustration, story, statistic every day. He was being a tad humorous (I think), but was trying to get across the correct point that if we are to have put continual effort into it. Most of us would admit we’ve scoured our sources frantically on a Saturday night to illustrate well the solid Biblical truth we are trying to get across. But what if we disciplined ourselves and realized that to effectively illustrate our lessons we need the resources at hand.

Before we list some possible sources let’s consider filing systems. Because without an accessible system, it matters not how good or many items you have a cluttered “desk” of useless stuff.

- If you are old school a simple file cabinet with a file by Keyword of each item you collect. The master of this method was Marlin Connelly who had multiple file cabinets in his basement office. I’m told he would also cross-reference each file with additional files with possible topics and/or texts with which the illustration could be used.

- Keep it cheap: Use Dropbox, Evernote, One Note, Pages, Word, or equivalent. The key here is in titling the file. As each of the programs above are searchable the more info you put in either the title or keywords the more useful and easier it will be to search for what you are looking for.

- For your Mobile device you can use any of the above OR multiple ones (not advisable), and use the File App to search cross sites.

- When you run across something you can’t file otherwise, Take a screenshot and save it to Evernote which will pull off the meta-data allowing you to search more easily for it.

Sources for Introductory Material: 1. Everywhere! We are inundated with information, news, X, billboards, newspapers, talking heads, factoids.

2. Of course The Book itself is a great source for illustrating itself and ANY truth.

3. Listen with an ear to harvest and then capture the information for future use.

Listen to podcast that tell history or biographical information, use an app like audible and listen to books about people’s life and history books. You’ll find a wealth of surprising material.

I’m not sure you need more on this, the simple truth is there is good material everywhere. What may need to change in your life is collecting all the good and then putting it to use.

Bless you as you strive to preach God’s Word and to make it live in the lives of the souls to whom you communicate.