Welcome to the first issue of PreachingNow... a weekly e-mail newsletter designed specifically for those who proclaim God's Word.

Each issue of PreachingNow will contain ideas about preaching, illustrations, resources and links to preaching materials, and much more. We know your time is limited, so we'll keep it to the point.

Our goal is to make PreachingNow one of those key tools you'll read with pleasure (and value) as soon as it hits your inbox. And because we want it to be something you'll find useful, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Let us know how we can make PreachingNow a more valuable resource for you and your ministry. Feel free to pass along a favorite illustration or a link to a favorite website. Just write us at preaching@springmail.com.

Blessings!
Michael Duduit, Editor

GRACE IN THE PREACHER'S LIFE

Bob Russell has served for more than three decades as pastor of Louisville's Southeast Christian Church as that congregation has grown from 125 members to a congregation of more than 14,000 each week. In his book, When God Builds a Church (Howard Publishing Co., 2000), he points out that as preachers we speak as those who have been touched by God's grace, yet we must be careful to balance our confessional approach in the pulpit.

"When we preach as sinners saved by grace, instead of superior saints with a condescending spirit, people are encouraged to trust in Christ's love. Be careful that you don't go too far in your efforts to convince people that you, too, are in need of God's grace. We don't need to exaggerate our sins ' they're bad enough as they are. You may have some past sins that you shouldn't share. If God has buried our sins in the deepest sea, we don't need to be dredging them up. Share your spiritual victories too. Keep a balance so that people see the real you but still respect you as their leader. People have a right to expect a higher level of spirituality among their leaders, but your preaching and teaching should always be full of grace."

ILLUSTRATION: Facing Life's Challenges

A young woman went to her mother lamenting the difficulties of her life. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that every time one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter." When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? (Author unknown)

ILLUSTRATION: When action is required

In the October 2001 issue of Business 2.0, management guru Peter Drucker recalls a conversation he had years ago with Eugene Meyer, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under President Herbert Hoover. In that conversation, Meyer pointed out that the Great Depression of the 1930's could have been avoided.

"The country was recovering from a mild recession when Europe crashed, and that started a run on American banks," Drucker says. "(Meyer) knew perfectly well how to stop a run on the banks. Anybody knew this. You just pay out, you just print money. What can people do with the money? One night they put it under their mattress, then the next day they have to deposit it again. Meyer knew he should just pay out. He went to Hoover after the 1932 election, and Hoover said, 'I am a lame-duck president. Immediate action has to be sanctioned by the president-elect.' So Meyer went to Roosevelt. But Roosevelt said, 'This is Hoover's watch.'

"If he had paid off the banks and stopped the run," Drucker explains, "there would have been no bank holiday and there would have been no Depression, except perhaps in the farm sector. Hoover and Roosevelt never met in those four months. They hated each other. Meyer said he should have gone ahead without the president's approval, but that was in hindsight."

Drucker, known as the father of management science, draws his own conclusion from this incident: "You go ahead and do things." Meyer's unwillingness to act without permission led to terrible consequences.

There is another insight to be drawn from this tragic episode in American history: leaders need to work together, even if they don't like each other personally. If Roosevelt and Hoover had just met and agreed on a course of action quickly, untold misery could have been avoided. But they let their personal antagonism get in the way of effectively serving the nation. (To read more of this fascinating interview with Peter Drucker, go to www.business2.com/guru)

IMAGINATION & PREACHING
In his book "Preparing to Preach" (Providence House, 1999), Bill Whittaker talks about the importance of the preacher using imagination in presenting the message.

"A student showed imagination in an illustration describing the meeting of two friends. 'The sight of his old friend made him so happy, his heart seemed to applaud with excitement.' Words are the preacher's servants. Use them to picture your ideas. Stott wrote: 'It is by imagination that men have lived; imagination rules our lives. The human mind is not . . . a debating hall, but a picture gallery." (Between Two Worlds)

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PREACHING AND THE CHURCH
The nature of preaching makes it easy to focus on the sermon as the work of a single inspired individual, but in his Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale in 1910, pastor Charles E. Jefferson reminded his listeners that the sermon is not simply the product of an individual minister but of the church:

"The sermon comes not out of the preacher alone, but out of the church. The preacher gives back what he receives. He cannot feed himself. He is nourished by his environment ' the family of Christ. He cannot shape himself. He is molded by the body of believers. He cannot grow in isolation. He is a plant dependent on the atmosphere and the weather, both of which are largely the creation of the Christian people. The church cannot wisely be ignored in any comprehensive study of the preacher's work, nor can it be shoved into the background without loss." (From "The Building of the Church" by Charles E. Jefferson. Jefferson spent four decades as pastor of New York's Broadway Tabernacle Congregational Church.)

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AND FINALLY . . .
Reuters reports that voters in Thailand could make instant financial gains from voting in elections, if a plan to set up an election lottery is implemented. Parliament President Uthai Pimchaichon told an academic seminar on Feb. 18 that costly campaigns to convince people to vote had failed and people were fed up with elections. His idea is to launch an election lottery, with a first prize of 100,000 baht ($2,200) and second prize of 20,000 baht. People would register for the lottery when they vote, with the drawing held at a later date.

"This is not an attempt to encourage vice - it will give people some motivation to vote and prevent the problem of their rights being abused by cheaters," Uthai said. He pointed out that the Election Commission had spent over 400 million baht on public relations campaigns to raise voter turnout in the January 2001 elections with little success. (Reuters wire story, Feb. 19, 2002)

I suppose it's only a matter of time until an enterprising church recognizes the potential in the lottery idea. "Just drop your tithe in the offering plate and you're automatically entered in our next drawing to win fabulous prizes!" Oh, never mind. It's probably been done already.

PreachingNow is a publication of Preaching magazine and preaching.com. Editor: Dr. Michael Duduit.
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