Prestige is defined as “reputation or influence arising from success, achievement, rank, or other favorable attributes.”[1]”Prestige” from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/prestige?s=t. Can the desire for prestige become a danger for th... Read More »

It’s Sunday night. It’s late. You’re exhausted. But you just can’t seem to turn off your mind. You had an unexpected funeral on Tuesday (when are they ever expected?), a wedding on Saturday, and you preached the best sermon you knew how—but no one se... Read More »

In 1953 Ray Bradbury published the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451.  In it protagonist Guy Montag observes his wife using “Seashells,” described as follows: And in her ears the little Seashells, the timble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of so... Read More »

Someone has said, “Preach to hurting people and you will never want for an audience.” Suffering is universal. Adam brought sin to the human race. Suffering is the byproduct of sin. Even when suffering is not associated with sin, it is because of sin that s... Read More »

Great preaching aims at more than the head. Being truthful and touching the intellect both matter deeply. We are, after all, called to preach God’s word, and that deals with facts, knowledge, and reason. But great preaching recognizes that just as the head n... Read More »

I remember being in Phoenix, Arizona, years ago with my family. It was a place that I used to live, so I was rather excited to show my wife and kids all around the area of the city that I grew up in. And when it came to dinnertime, I couldn’t wait to take th... Read More »

NOTE: This post is slightly revised from David L. Allen, 1-3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family, in Preaching the Word, R. Kent Hughes, ed. (Wheaton: IL, 2013), 275-77. If you are in a leadership position in someone’s church, and especially if you are a past... Read More »

In his book, Design for Preaching (1958), Henry Grady Davis offers some sage advice for preachers. Here are some of his insights: The preacher has only so much time for preparation, and it is never enough time. If he devotes too much time to form and too littl... Read More »

NOTE: This is part of an article by Vance Havner which appeared in the journal Logos on March 1, 1978. See also parts one and two. The preacher of today must be apocalyptic: He ought to sound like the book of Revelation, for we are living in a grand and awful ... Read More »

NOTE: This is part of an article by Vance Havner which appeared in the journal Logos on March 1, 1978. Click here for part one. Part three is to follow. The preacher we need is authoritative: My Lord taught as one “having authority and not as the scribes,”... Read More »

NOTE: This is part of an article by Vance Havner which appeared in the journal Logos on March 1, 1978. Parts two and three are to follow. In these wild and weird and wicked times, the work of the preacher is being rethought and revamped and reexamined. He’s ... Read More »

The text-driven preacher must recognize that there are four basic types of meaning conveyed in every text and context: referential, situational, structural and semantic. Referential meaning is that which is being talked about; the subject matter of a text. Sit... Read More »