by Doug Nichols
Jane Austin was a writer during the Victorian era and wrote several books, most of which portrayed the clergy in a demeaning way. The clergy were always simpletons and prideful; seemingly turning down their noses at people, rather than ministering the grace of God and His loving kindness.
Recently my family and I watched a new rendition of “Emma” by the British BBC. The acting and photography were excellent!
In the first part of the series, the Vicar (clergy) was leaving a house and getting on a horse and someone said about him, “That man is so full of himself, it is a wonder he can stay on his horse!”
This is exactly the opposite description of what should be said about a pastor or even a Christian.
Instead, a person should be able to say, “That man [woman] is such a wonderful person. He is so kind, gracious, humble and easy to get along. He is always reaching out to others, serving them, taking the back seat (or even giving up his seat) so that others can be cared for; he is the last one to be served and the first one to graciously give a kind word of encouragement and minister to others, even though he may be suffering himself.”
In Colossians 3:12-13, Paul says, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
As you can see, these nine character qualities listed in Colossians are the exact opposite of pride. A good question for each of us, therefore is, “Can we stay on a horse or are we too full of ourselves with pride?”
“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, nasb).
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
We are Agreed Regarding Prayer
by John Richard, ACTION Minister-at-large
** That if two of us on earth agree about anything we ask for, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19)
** That where two or three of us come together in the name of Jesus, there Jesus is present among us (Matthew 18:20)
** That He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely along with Him , graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)
** That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us -- this is the assuranc e we have in approaching God (1 John 5:14)
** That we will obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, if we would go boldly to the throne of His grace (Hebrews 4:16)
** That we have not because we ask not and that when we do ask, we do not receive because we ask amiss (James 4:2-3)
** That when someone gives us a hard time and persecutes us, we need to cover that person in earnest prayer (Matthew 5:44)
** That Jesus taught His disciples how to pray rather than how to preach (Matthew 6:5)
** That we are to watch and pray even as Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane required of His disciples: “Could you not watch with me for a single hour?” (Matthew 26:40)
** That Jesus taught by example what it is to continue all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12)
** That the good and compassionate Heavenly Father is waiting readily to give the Holy Spirit to us, if we would humble ourselves to ask Him (Luke 11:13)
** That if our hearts do not condemn us, then have we confidence toward God and we receive from Him whatever we ask (1 John 3:21-22)
** That if we harbor sin in our hearts, then the Lord will not even hear us; He has to hear us, before He can answer us (Psalm 66:18)
** That the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous and His ears are open to our cry (Psalm 34:15; James 5:16b)
** That when the poor and needy seek water but there is none and their tongues are failing for thirst, then the LORD will hear them and not forsake them (Isaiah 41:17)
** That even though we confess: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God” , yet there’s no real thirsting in our soul for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2)
** That if we are to have a spiritual revival in our church, then we will need to answer truthfully two disturbing questions: “Has someone got something against me? (Matthew 5:23-24) and “Have I got something against someone? (Mark 11:25)
** That there’s such a thing as solidarity of sin, that is, when any one of us sins, that affects the whole body of Christ (Joshua 7:11, 21; Isaiah 59:9, 11; Ezra 9:13; Nehemiah 9:33-34; Daniel 9:3-19)
** That we are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and that with this in mind, we are to be alert and keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)
** That Satan trembles when he sees the feeblest saint on his knees and that there’s no other way whereby we can withstand against his schemings (Ephesians 6:11)
** That when we call to the LORD, He is willing both to answer us and to show us marvelous and wondrous things we could never have figured out on our own (Jeremiah 33:3)
** That when man works, man works but when man prays, God works (James 5:17-18)
--John Richard, ACTION Minister-at-large
** That if two of us on earth agree about anything we ask for, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19)
** That where two or three of us come together in the name of Jesus, there Jesus is present among us (Matthew 18:20)
** That He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely along with Him , graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)
** That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us -- this is the assuranc e we have in approaching God (1 John 5:14)
** That we will obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, if we would go boldly to the throne of His grace (Hebrews 4:16)
** That we have not because we ask not and that when we do ask, we do not receive because we ask amiss (James 4:2-3)
** That when someone gives us a hard time and persecutes us, we need to cover that person in earnest prayer (Matthew 5:44)
** That Jesus taught His disciples how to pray rather than how to preach (Matthew 6:5)
** That we are to watch and pray even as Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane required of His disciples: “Could you not watch with me for a single hour?” (Matthew 26:40)
** That Jesus taught by example what it is to continue all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12)
** That the good and compassionate Heavenly Father is waiting readily to give the Holy Spirit to us, if we would humble ourselves to ask Him (Luke 11:13)
** That if our hearts do not condemn us, then have we confidence toward God and we receive from Him whatever we ask (1 John 3:21-22)
** That if we harbor sin in our hearts, then the Lord will not even hear us; He has to hear us, before He can answer us (Psalm 66:18)
** That the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous and His ears are open to our cry (Psalm 34:15; James 5:16b)
** That when the poor and needy seek water but there is none and their tongues are failing for thirst, then the LORD will hear them and not forsake them (Isaiah 41:17)
** That even though we confess: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God” , yet there’s no real thirsting in our soul for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2)
** That if we are to have a spiritual revival in our church, then we will need to answer truthfully two disturbing questions: “Has someone got something against me? (Matthew 5:23-24) and “Have I got something against someone? (Mark 11:25)
** That there’s such a thing as solidarity of sin, that is, when any one of us sins, that affects the whole body of Christ (Joshua 7:11, 21; Isaiah 59:9, 11; Ezra 9:13; Nehemiah 9:33-34; Daniel 9:3-19)
** That we are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and that with this in mind, we are to be alert and keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)
** That Satan trembles when he sees the feeblest saint on his knees and that there’s no other way whereby we can withstand against his schemings (Ephesians 6:11)
** That when we call to the LORD, He is willing both to answer us and to show us marvelous and wondrous things we could never have figured out on our own (Jeremiah 33:3)
** That when man works, man works but when man prays, God works (James 5:17-18)
--John Richard, ACTION Minister-at-large
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Leader and Courage
Is it important for a Christian leader to have courage in the battles we face? The following are 8 quotes I have taken from the “Introduction” of the secular book The Anatomy of Courage by Lord Moran. It is quite interesting. What do you think?
Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007
Introduction: By General Sir Peter de la Billiere
1.Courage conquers fear. Fighting in war creates an environment where fear is prevalent, and unless courage prevails, all is lost. [Page xi]
2.Courage is not preserve of any one service; it is critical to the morale and battle effectiveness of servicemen and women in ships or in air combat, as well as in the army on the ground. Courage and fear are in constant conflict in war, for without fear there would be no requirement for courage. [Page xii]
3.Leadership in war at junior ranks places great emphasis on the individual’s personal courage, tactical flair and ability to communicate. At a more senior level all these characteristics remain essential ingredients, and other qualities come into play. However at any rank the one constant essential is courage, regardless of a person’s position or service; without it, all is lost. With customary perception Churchill, who possessed extensive experience as a fighting soldier, commented; ‘Courage is rightly esteemed… because it is the quality that guarantees all others.’ [Page xii]
4.Moral courage is higher and rarer in quality than physical courage. It embraces all courage, and physical courage flows from it. We are all faced with decisions requiring moral courage in our daily lives, even at home – disciplining and teaching our children for example. It is applicable in business, in law, within institutions such as schools and hospitals. It takes moral courage to stand up against the crowd, to assist a victim of bullying or to reveal negligence where others would prefer it to remain hidden. Moral courage implies the belief that what you are doing or saying is right, and are willing to follow through your conviction regardless of personal popularity or favour. So easy to expound, so demanding to achieve. In my experience a person of high moral courage will seldom fail to demonstrate an equally distinguished level of physical courage. [Page xii, xiii]
5.Fear in war is contagious, and unless disciplined can destroy a whole unit, let alone one individual. It can only be overcome by courage backed by discipline and motivation. [Page xiv]
6.As with money, your courage credit-worthiness can steadily diminish, depending upon the level of sustained stress experienced in battle or in other demanding situations. Physical courage is achieved through personal self-discipline, governing and subordinating the innate fear possessed by all humans. [Page xiv]
7.The most important personal requirement for those who go to war is to understand the enigma of courage and its critical importance in overcoming fear. [Page xvii]
Preface to the second edition
8.…the martial spirit of a race is in a measure a crucial test of its viriliy, and that a man of character in peace is a man of courage in war. Is it not true that the early discovery of fear is as important in one army as the other? [Page xx]
Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007
Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007
Introduction: By General Sir Peter de la Billiere
1.Courage conquers fear. Fighting in war creates an environment where fear is prevalent, and unless courage prevails, all is lost. [Page xi]
2.Courage is not preserve of any one service; it is critical to the morale and battle effectiveness of servicemen and women in ships or in air combat, as well as in the army on the ground. Courage and fear are in constant conflict in war, for without fear there would be no requirement for courage. [Page xii]
3.Leadership in war at junior ranks places great emphasis on the individual’s personal courage, tactical flair and ability to communicate. At a more senior level all these characteristics remain essential ingredients, and other qualities come into play. However at any rank the one constant essential is courage, regardless of a person’s position or service; without it, all is lost. With customary perception Churchill, who possessed extensive experience as a fighting soldier, commented; ‘Courage is rightly esteemed… because it is the quality that guarantees all others.’ [Page xii]
4.Moral courage is higher and rarer in quality than physical courage. It embraces all courage, and physical courage flows from it. We are all faced with decisions requiring moral courage in our daily lives, even at home – disciplining and teaching our children for example. It is applicable in business, in law, within institutions such as schools and hospitals. It takes moral courage to stand up against the crowd, to assist a victim of bullying or to reveal negligence where others would prefer it to remain hidden. Moral courage implies the belief that what you are doing or saying is right, and are willing to follow through your conviction regardless of personal popularity or favour. So easy to expound, so demanding to achieve. In my experience a person of high moral courage will seldom fail to demonstrate an equally distinguished level of physical courage. [Page xii, xiii]
5.Fear in war is contagious, and unless disciplined can destroy a whole unit, let alone one individual. It can only be overcome by courage backed by discipline and motivation. [Page xiv]
6.As with money, your courage credit-worthiness can steadily diminish, depending upon the level of sustained stress experienced in battle or in other demanding situations. Physical courage is achieved through personal self-discipline, governing and subordinating the innate fear possessed by all humans. [Page xiv]
7.The most important personal requirement for those who go to war is to understand the enigma of courage and its critical importance in overcoming fear. [Page xvii]
Preface to the second edition
8.…the martial spirit of a race is in a measure a crucial test of its viriliy, and that a man of character in peace is a man of courage in war. Is it not true that the early discovery of fear is as important in one army as the other? [Page xx]
Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007
Monday, March 1, 2010
Needy pastors lost study Bibles and books in recent Manila typhoons and flooding
Needy pastors, many of whom earn less than $20 monthly, lost most of their ministry books in the recent flood last September and October, including their cherished study Bibles. These are crucial tools for their preaching and teaching. Funds are needed to replace them and other study books.
Please Help!
A gift of $30 will help provide a library of 14 books valued at $200. Perhaps you could help provide one pastor with a small library ($30) through ACTION BookShare ministry.
Please send you gift to:
Action International Ministries, PO Box 398, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-0398.
For more information, please contact our web sites: www.actioninternational.org or www.equippastors.org.
Action International Ministries
Please Help!
A gift of $30 will help provide a library of 14 books valued at $200. Perhaps you could help provide one pastor with a small library ($30) through ACTION BookShare ministry.
Please send you gift to:
Action International Ministries, PO Box 398, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-0398.
For more information, please contact our web sites: www.actioninternational.org or www.equippastors.org.
Action International Ministries
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Enough of Me Already!
It's time to find other ways to illustrate sermons than me, me, and mine.
by Mark Galli
I can think of no better way to show how insidious personal illustrations are to preaching than to share a personal illustration. I'm aware of the irony, but it can't be helped.
Trying to drive home a point about grace in a sermon I preached at my home church, I told about the time when my wife made me angry and I put my fist into a wall in our dining room. Unfortunately, I picked a place in the wall behind which stood an immovable two-by-four. I broke a knuckle. My wife, who had every reason to avoid me for a week or so, treated me gently and took me to the emergency room.
Any preacher worth his or her salt will know how to take this bare outline and milk it to the max. And I did. I inserted telling details and funny one-liners. I paused dramatically at the right moments to let the tension build. I ended with a nice turn of phrase that put the whole incident in a poignant cast. I mean, it was good.
Too good, apparently, because to this day, years later, people will remark, "I still remember that sermon you preached where you told about putting your fist into the wall."
They don't remember Jesus. They remember me. They tell me how vulnerable I was to tell such a story on myself. They tell me how much they laughed. They never talk about grace.
Truth through my personality
This sort of thing happens innocently, starting with the best of motives. A friend on the East Coast told me recently about his pastor. Apparently the man is a gifted communicator. He struts up and down the stage like a comedian at a night club. His sermons are always biblical in content, orthodox in theology, and aiming to bring people to Jesus Christ.
My friend has noted though how this pastor begins every sermon with a personal illustration. The illustration may be about something that happened to him in college, or to him and his wife on a recent trip, or to his kids (three boys between first and fifth grade). Lately this pastor has also been concluding his sermons with a personal illustration, and a few times, a personal illustration has been the hinge in the middle of the sermon.
My friend says he's slowly become aware that the medium has become the message—the sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith—and this by a pastor who my friend describes as humble and desperate to win people to Christ.
Phillips Brooks once described preaching as "Truth through personality." Indeed. But with the flowering of the personal illustration, preaching often morphs into "the truth of my personality."
Saturday night temptation
It was just a generation ago that the personal illustration was suspect. Homiletics professors frowned on the preacher bringing himself or his family into the sermon. It was unseemly, not serious exposition. But the 1960s introduced the therapeutic age. Today, the personal illustration is de rigueur. If you don't use personal illustrations, people wonder whether you are authentic.
The sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith. Less about the centrality and greatness of Jesus.This is one reason we're so easily tempted to illustrate the gospel with our lives. In a therapeutic culture, we are anxious to connect with listeners in a personal way. The personal illustration is the easiest way to do that, especially if you can describe a personal flaw or mistake humorously.
Here's another reason we're tempted: When it's Saturday night, and you are desperate for an illustration to kick off the sermon or drive home the main point, there is nothing so handy as a quick mental search through our memories. It's almost as instant and reliable as Google! And so much easier than plowing through dozens of books, publications, or even illustrations on PreachingToday.com.
Finally, we're hooked on personal illustrations because our listeners adore them. They love a good story, especially if it's a funny story about a pastor's most embarrassing moment or about cute kids doing cute things in the pastor's home. It makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy and connected. It's so much more interesting than theology or the Bible! And it makes people like the pastor. Who doesn't want to be liked?
Three new homiletic habits
I've come to believe, however, that if we can't break the personal illustration addiction, we'll slowly but surely leave listeners with a new gospel: "Pastor Bill is such an authentic man, with a wonderful family—and such a great sense of humor!" People will recall vividly stories about the pastor's kids or those marital spats, or that sudden revelation at the Grand Canyon, and only have a relatively vague idea of the grace and greatness of Jesus Christ.
To battle this addiction in my own preaching, I'm trying three approaches, which I've rediscovered are classic homiletic moves.
1. Illustrate like Jesus. I'm trying to draw more examples from everyday life, and not my everyday life. I try to think of things I've observed about nature or daily life in the suburbs. Or I'll create an analogy or make a stab at a parable.
2. Illustrate with the Bible. This was a favorite technique of the early church fathers. A preacher in my church is a master of this. To illustrate how we disobey God, he rehearses the story of Jonah. To illustrate the feeling of despair, he'll read something from the Psalms or Lamentations. This not only illustrates the point at hand, but it helps biblically illiterate listeners learn their Bible.
3. Illustrate with discretion. Sometimes I build from a personal experience, but do so in a way that doesn't draw attention to me. If I want to show how fickle we are at being grateful, I could describe a scene at my dinner table when my kids were young, how they'd argue about who "had to" say grace. This could easily be crafted into a cute homiletical story about my family. Or it can be universalized, that is, it can be told in such a way that it is about an experience everyone has had: "Many families know how reluctantly we are to give thanks—just think of how many dinner table arguments we've heard over whose turn it is—and isn't!—to say grace …"
If well crafted, an allusion communicates that, yes, I have experienced this sort of thing—thus helping people see that I'm not preaching six feet above them. But it doesn't draw their attention to me, but to the common human experience we all share.
Even if we avoid personal illustrations altogether, it does not guarantee people will remember and have a vivid impression of Jesus Christ. But at least we will not inadvertently become the focus. To be sure—to boycott or severely restrict the number of personal illustrations makes sermon preparation much harder! But in the long run, I believe it will make us better preachers through whom the truth of Christ reverberates.
Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today, and author of A Great and Terrible Love: A Spritual Journey into the Attributes of God (Baker).
Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
by Mark Galli
I can think of no better way to show how insidious personal illustrations are to preaching than to share a personal illustration. I'm aware of the irony, but it can't be helped.
Trying to drive home a point about grace in a sermon I preached at my home church, I told about the time when my wife made me angry and I put my fist into a wall in our dining room. Unfortunately, I picked a place in the wall behind which stood an immovable two-by-four. I broke a knuckle. My wife, who had every reason to avoid me for a week or so, treated me gently and took me to the emergency room.
Any preacher worth his or her salt will know how to take this bare outline and milk it to the max. And I did. I inserted telling details and funny one-liners. I paused dramatically at the right moments to let the tension build. I ended with a nice turn of phrase that put the whole incident in a poignant cast. I mean, it was good.
Too good, apparently, because to this day, years later, people will remark, "I still remember that sermon you preached where you told about putting your fist into the wall."
They don't remember Jesus. They remember me. They tell me how vulnerable I was to tell such a story on myself. They tell me how much they laughed. They never talk about grace.
Truth through my personality
This sort of thing happens innocently, starting with the best of motives. A friend on the East Coast told me recently about his pastor. Apparently the man is a gifted communicator. He struts up and down the stage like a comedian at a night club. His sermons are always biblical in content, orthodox in theology, and aiming to bring people to Jesus Christ.
My friend has noted though how this pastor begins every sermon with a personal illustration. The illustration may be about something that happened to him in college, or to him and his wife on a recent trip, or to his kids (three boys between first and fifth grade). Lately this pastor has also been concluding his sermons with a personal illustration, and a few times, a personal illustration has been the hinge in the middle of the sermon.
My friend says he's slowly become aware that the medium has become the message—the sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith—and this by a pastor who my friend describes as humble and desperate to win people to Christ.
Phillips Brooks once described preaching as "Truth through personality." Indeed. But with the flowering of the personal illustration, preaching often morphs into "the truth of my personality."
Saturday night temptation
It was just a generation ago that the personal illustration was suspect. Homiletics professors frowned on the preacher bringing himself or his family into the sermon. It was unseemly, not serious exposition. But the 1960s introduced the therapeutic age. Today, the personal illustration is de rigueur. If you don't use personal illustrations, people wonder whether you are authentic.
The sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith. Less about the centrality and greatness of Jesus.This is one reason we're so easily tempted to illustrate the gospel with our lives. In a therapeutic culture, we are anxious to connect with listeners in a personal way. The personal illustration is the easiest way to do that, especially if you can describe a personal flaw or mistake humorously.
Here's another reason we're tempted: When it's Saturday night, and you are desperate for an illustration to kick off the sermon or drive home the main point, there is nothing so handy as a quick mental search through our memories. It's almost as instant and reliable as Google! And so much easier than plowing through dozens of books, publications, or even illustrations on PreachingToday.com.
Finally, we're hooked on personal illustrations because our listeners adore them. They love a good story, especially if it's a funny story about a pastor's most embarrassing moment or about cute kids doing cute things in the pastor's home. It makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy and connected. It's so much more interesting than theology or the Bible! And it makes people like the pastor. Who doesn't want to be liked?
Three new homiletic habits
I've come to believe, however, that if we can't break the personal illustration addiction, we'll slowly but surely leave listeners with a new gospel: "Pastor Bill is such an authentic man, with a wonderful family—and such a great sense of humor!" People will recall vividly stories about the pastor's kids or those marital spats, or that sudden revelation at the Grand Canyon, and only have a relatively vague idea of the grace and greatness of Jesus Christ.
To battle this addiction in my own preaching, I'm trying three approaches, which I've rediscovered are classic homiletic moves.
1. Illustrate like Jesus. I'm trying to draw more examples from everyday life, and not my everyday life. I try to think of things I've observed about nature or daily life in the suburbs. Or I'll create an analogy or make a stab at a parable.
2. Illustrate with the Bible. This was a favorite technique of the early church fathers. A preacher in my church is a master of this. To illustrate how we disobey God, he rehearses the story of Jonah. To illustrate the feeling of despair, he'll read something from the Psalms or Lamentations. This not only illustrates the point at hand, but it helps biblically illiterate listeners learn their Bible.
3. Illustrate with discretion. Sometimes I build from a personal experience, but do so in a way that doesn't draw attention to me. If I want to show how fickle we are at being grateful, I could describe a scene at my dinner table when my kids were young, how they'd argue about who "had to" say grace. This could easily be crafted into a cute homiletical story about my family. Or it can be universalized, that is, it can be told in such a way that it is about an experience everyone has had: "Many families know how reluctantly we are to give thanks—just think of how many dinner table arguments we've heard over whose turn it is—and isn't!—to say grace …"
If well crafted, an allusion communicates that, yes, I have experienced this sort of thing—thus helping people see that I'm not preaching six feet above them. But it doesn't draw their attention to me, but to the common human experience we all share.
Even if we avoid personal illustrations altogether, it does not guarantee people will remember and have a vivid impression of Jesus Christ. But at least we will not inadvertently become the focus. To be sure—to boycott or severely restrict the number of personal illustrations makes sermon preparation much harder! But in the long run, I believe it will make us better preachers through whom the truth of Christ reverberates.
Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today, and author of A Great and Terrible Love: A Spritual Journey into the Attributes of God (Baker).
Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
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