Even with a commitment to expository preaching that is faithful to the biblical text, there is nothing in the pages of scripture that mandates the preacher preaching every sermon in the same exact mode of delivery. Indeed, there may be times when the occasion ... Read More »

When my wife and I moved to Seattle, Washington, in 2015 to plant a church, we realized we must understand what our people loved if we were to love our city well.  Seattleites love their pro teams.  So, we jumped on the bandwagon and began going to Seattle M... Read More »

You sit in your office beginning to prepare your sermon. Maybe you’ve done this hundreds of times. Maybe you’re just getting started in your ministry. Whatever the case may be, this time feels different, because you know that what you’re about to preach ... Read More »

My pastor and mentor in the ministry told me, “Always put some of the cookies on the bottom shelf.” I tell my own students, “One goal is for the kindergarten kid to be able to tell mommy and daddy at lunch exactly what your sermon was about.” Clarity i... Read More »

We barely notice the cough medicine on the shelf until the day the allergies hit. We don’t give a second look to the gas station until the needle points toward empty. And the car commercials? We flip the channel until our clunker finally gives up the ghost a... Read More »

In Part 1, we defined manipulation as shrewd or devious influence that seeks one’s own advantage. Biblical persuasion and emotional manipulation are often confused for the simple fact that they are differentiated by intent. A preacher’s passionate plea for... Read More »

“Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.” There it is: manipulation. Before you disagree, let’s get technical. Manipulation is the action of operating, arranging or controlling something or someone else. Any behavioral modification you influence as... Read More »

C. W. Brister,[1]C. W. Brister was a professor of Pastoral Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX for 47 years. During this time it was said that Brister instructed more men in pastoral ministry than any other in the history of... Read More »

One of my favorite television shows from my childhood was Full House, which chronicled the life of a widower Danny Tanner, his three daughters (D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle), brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis, and his childhood best friend Joey Gladstone as the... Read More »

In the earliest surviving treatise on the subject of persuasion, The Art of Rhetoric (330 B.C.), Aristotle said there are three things that persuade listeners: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is the persuasive appeal of a sound argument supported by good evide... Read More »