PreachingNow

January brings with it an opportunity to make plans for a new year. And the January-February edition of Preaching is our annual "books" issue, which includes a look at the best books for preachers published over the past year.

Looking back, I recently tried to determine how many books I read in 2004. As best I can recall, I read about 30 books from cover to cover, and read portions of another 100 or so. (Some of those portions because of time constraints, some because of . . . Well, never mind.)

Now it's 2005, and time to look at a whole new group of interesting volumes crying out for my attention. In addition to all the great books on preaching on my list — see my article on pages 36-37 of the January-February Preaching for some ideas — I'm keeping a list of other books that I'm hoping to read this year.

I'm particularly fond of biography and history. Three volumes I'm hoping to get to in 2005 are Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer, Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, and His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis.

Another intriguing book is The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett. I heard Barnett present a lecture on C-Span a few months ago, and I was fascinated by his gifted interpretation of world events. He has insights into world events that are rarely heard elsewhere in the media.

Finally, lest my reading be all work and too little fun, here are two collections I certainly hope find their way to my bookshelves during the coming year: The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson, a cartoonist whose quirky take on reality never ceases to make me laugh, and The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, edited by Robert Mankoff. This once great magazine is hardly worth the read anymore, but the cartoons are still worth the price of admission. This book and CD combo include every one of the 68,647 cartoons in the 80-year history of the New Yorker, including 2,004 in the print edition and the rest on two CDs.

So if you forgot to send me that Amazon gift certificate you had planned . . .

Michael Duduit, Editor
michael@preaching.com
www.michaelduduit.com

Click here to visit "I Was Just Thinking" for insights and observations about faith and culture issues.

Don't be a professional

Preaching from John 1 and John 3 at the 194th commencement of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, R. Albert Mohler told the graduating class that John the Baptist serves as a model of ministerial faithfulness.

John the Baptist "was not a religious professional," Mohler said. "The professionalization of the ministry is not a recent development, but it is one of the most tragic developments to befall the church. Ministry is not a profession. It's not a career, and it's not a job."

Many pastors in postmodern America see themselves as media moguls, political negotiators, therapists, managers and activists, Mohler said. But the true minister of God must see himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.

"Professionalism kills," Mohler said. "The spirit of the professional is not the spirit of Christ. The talent of the professional is not the gift of the ministry. The aim of the professional is not the mission of the true servant of Christ. The professional would not say, 'In the cross of Christ I glory.' But the minister of God must." (Click here to read the full Baptist Press article.)

http://www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?ID=19753

Recognize that you need a team

In his Dec. 15 Ministry Toolbox newsletter, Rick Warren pointed to one of the great challenges for many pastors: acknowledging that they can't do it all alone. He writes:

"The problem that I see with a lot of pastors, and I'm being frank here, is that too many of us are afraid to admit there are some things we cannot do. In a sense, the first real step toward teamwork is for you to admit you need a team.

"The success of Saddleback is not about Rick Warren. The success of Saddleback is really about the many people who worked together toward a common goal. No doubt I provided the vision, but it's guys like Glen Kreun, who came on staff two years after I founded the church, who turned the vision into a reality.

"That's why, at Saddleback, I intentionally choose staff people with strengths that compensate for my weaknesses. I think the secret of a good church is that you hire people who are smarter than you, particularly in areas that you know nothing about." (Click here to read the full article.)

http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=185&artid=7770&expand=1

We should heed God's warnings

Jerry Sutton, a Nashville pastor, has written an excellent little book — The Way Back Home (Broadman & Holman) — which can be effectively used to encourage people who need a second chance. He shares this story about the need to respond to God's warning signals:

"The worst industrial accident in history occurred on April 26, 1986, in the town of Chernobyl in north central Ukraine of the former Soviet Union. It was caused by two electrical engineers who were playing around with one of the nuclear reactors. They were conducting an unauthorized experiment trying to see how long a turbine would freewheel (or keep spinning) when the power was turned off. To do this, they had to manually override six separate computer-driven alarm systems. Each time the computer would warn, 'Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!' Each time the warning was foolishly disregarded. The end result was a major explosion, thirty-one immediate deaths, untold eventual deaths, and the release of 100 million curies of radionuclides into the atmosphere that circulated worldwide. Only time will determine the full extent and destruction of the accident.

"Often, we — like those foolish engineers — fail to heed the warning given to us by the Holy Spirit: 'Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!' As a result, there comes a point when our restlessness and refusal to listen to the Spirit's warning leads us to cross the line from restlessness to rebellion." (Click here to learn more about the book The Way Back Home.)

Covenant Marriage Sunday is February 13

Sunday, February 13 is Covenant Marriage Sunday in congregations across America. The Covenant Marriage Movement seeks to motivate entire congregations to take a stand for marriage in their own communities.

God continues to raise up congregations around the world to celebrate marriage as a covenant relationship through the observance of the Covenant Marriage Sunday and you can be a part of this coordinated nation-wide effort. Celebrating marriage as a congregation can occur anytime your church deems appropriate. However, as the Bride of Christ we have a unique opportunity to display to the world God's intent for marriage to be an exciting journey together as husband and wife with Him at the heart of the relationship.

For more information on how you and your church can participate in this day of celebration, contact them at www.covenantmarriage.com or call 1-800-311-1662.

ILLUSTRATION: Jesus, Good Shepherd

In his book, A Turtle on the Fencepost, Allen C. Emery tells of a night he spent on the Texas plains with a shepherd who was keeping two thousand sheep. The shepherd prepared a bonfire for cooking supper and providing warmth. The sheep dogs lay down near the fire as the stars filled the sky.

Suddenly Emery heard the unmistakable wail of a coyote with an answering call from the other side of the range. The dogs weren't patrolling at the moment, and the coyotes seemed to know it. Rising quickly, the shepherd tossed some logs on the fire; and in this light, Emery looked out at the sheep and saw thousands of little lights.

Emery writes, "I realized that these were reflections of the fire in the eyes of the sheep. In the midst of danger, the sheep were not looking out into the darkness, but were keeping their eyes set toward the shepherd."

We're to keep our eyes on our Shepherd, to be always looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. If a coyote is wailing within earshot of you, turn your eyes upon Jesus. (Turning Point Daily Devotional, 12-10-04) (Click here to order the book A Turtle on the Fencepost)

Register now and save for 2005 National Conference on Preaching

Register soon and save $25 off the regular registration fee for the 15th annual National Conference on Preaching, slated for April 18-20, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee. The theme of NCP 2005 will be "Preaching With Passion," and an outstanding line-up of speakers will be participating, including William Willimon, Dave Stone, H. Beecher Hicks, Ray Ortlund, Jr., Robert Smith, Jim Shaddix, Bill Self, Carol Noren, R. Leslie Holmes, Mike Glenn, and more. The annual conference is sponsored by Preaching magazine.

In addition to the plenary sessions and workshops for preachers, NCP 2005 will also have workshop tracks for worship leaders, student/youth pastors and ministry spouses. So plan to bring your entire leadership team!

The regular registration is $250, but if you register before March 1 the cost is only $225 — a $25 savings! Additional registrants from the same church (and spouses) can register for just $100 per person. For more information or to register, call 1-800-288-9673 (outside the US call 615-599-9889), or visit us on the web at www.preaching.com/ncp.

ILLUSTRATION: Profanity, Example

A little boy was caught swearing by his teacher.

"Jeffrey, you shouldn't use that kind of language," she said. "Where did you hear it?"

"My daddy said it," he responded.

"Well," explained the teacher, "you don't even know what it means."

"I do, so!" Jeffrey corrected. "It means the car won't start." (Pastor Tim's Sermon Illustrations and Inspirations List )

ILLUSTRATION: Time, Urgency

In his devotional book To Live in a Gentle and Simple Way, David Enyart shares the story told by Tricia McCary Rhodes about a biologist who went to an African country to study vegetation.

"He hired some natives to help transport equipment as they traveled afoot into the deep jungle. The first day they covered a lot of ground. He thought to himself, 'Another couple of days like this and we will reach our destination.' But the next day, the natives refused to move. 'Why?' asked the scientist.

"Through an interpreter, the natives responded: 'We went too hard and fast yesterday; today we must wait for our souls to catch up to our bodies!'"

Enyart adds, "Our souls know when it's time to slow down, but only if we are listening!" (Click here to learn more about Enyart's book.)

ILLUSTRATION: Discipleship

Dad decided it was time to talk to his six-year-old son about giving his life to Christ, so he sat down with him one day and said, "David, would you like to have Jesus in your heart?"

David thought for a moment, then replied, "No, I don't think I want the responsibility."

FROM THE JANUARY-FEBRUARY ISSUE OF PREACHING . . .

In a sermon called "Sin Vaccination," Max Lucado notes, "It took three hundred years, but the Black Plague finally reached the quaint village of Eyam, England. George Viccars, a tailor, unpacked a parcel shipped from London. The cloth he'd ordered had arrived. But as he opened and shook it, he released plague-infected fleas. Within four days he was dead, and the village was doomed. The town unselfishly quarantined itself, seeking to protect the region. Other villages deposited food in an open field and left the people of Eyam to die alone. But to everyone's amazement, many survived. A year later, when outsiders again visited the town, they found half the residents had resisted the disease. How so? They had touched it. Breathed it. One surviving mother had buried six children and her husband in one week. The gravedigger had handled hundreds of diseased corpses yet hadn't died. Why not? How did they survive?

"Lineage. Through DNA studies of descendants, scientists found proof of a disease-blocking gene. The gene garrisoned the white blood cells, preventing the bacteria from gaining entrance. The plague, in other words, could touch people with this gene but not kill them. Hence a subpopulace swam in a sea of infection but emerged untouched. All because they had the right parents. What's the secret for surviving the Black Plague? Pick the right ancestry.

"Of course they couldn't. But by God you can. You can select your spiritual father. You can change your family tree from that of Adam to God. And when you do, he moves in. His resistance becomes your resistance. His Teflon coating becomes yours. Sin affects you, but never infects you. Sin may, and will, touch you, discourage you, and distract you, but it cannot condemn you. Christ is in you, and you are in him, and 'there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.'"

Every issue of Preaching contains insightful articles on preaching, plus great model sermons and practical resources. If you're not a current subscriber to Preaching magazine, click here (or call, toll free, 1-800-288-9673) to go begin your subscription!

Also in the January-February issue of Preaching: Interviews with Ed Young, Jr., and Robert Smith, our look at the past year's Best Books for Preachers, and much more. Order your subscription today!

LINK OF THE WEEK

Here are two links relating to the recent tsunami that has devastated portions of South Asia:

First, if you are seeking to identify appropriate agencies through which to funnel personal and/or church gifts for the tsunami victims, you will want to visit

http://interaction.org/sasia/index.html

This is the website of the American Council for Voluntary International Action, a coordinating group which works with many relief agencies. That page will update you on the work of many such agencies in the tsunami-affected areas (like World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, Christian Children's Fund and more). The information provided here will help you make sure your gifts are going to groups that will make the greatest impact in this area of so much need.

Second, one of our frequent Preaching contributors, Marvin McMickle — pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio — has provided an outstanding sermon that talks about the tragic events that took place in south Asia. We have made this sermon available to everyone in the public area of our website:

www.preaching.com/preaching/pastissues/marvinmcmickle.htm

Here's an excerpt: "The events of last week represent a tragedy of epic proportion, and David Brooks was correct when he wrote in yesterday's New York Times editorial page that none of us have words or emotions to fully explain what happened in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the other South Asia nations and islands that were impacted and often obliterated. Human beings have not tamed nature; we just live on the outskirts of its mercy. Every time we begin to think that we are the master of our fate and the captain of our soul" (to quote the words of William Ernest Henley in his poem 'Invictus'), something happens like a flood or an earthquake, or a tsunami which is an earthquake that results in a flood, to remind us that life is fragile, time is limited and tomorrow is not promised.

"As this New Year dawns upon us we would all be wise to remember that the tsunami was not just an event that occurred in the Indian Ocean. It was also a reminder to every one of us that we can be sitting pretty one minute and knocked down tomorrow. We can be on "easy street" one minute and find ourselves on "skid row" in the twinkling of an eye. Our economic security can be undermined by the loss of a job or the loss of the primary breadwinner in the family. A disease or an accident that can turn our world upside down in the twinkling of an eye can compromise our health status."

ILLUSTRATION: Religion and Media

In a recent column, Brent Bozell points out, "America broadly believes in God and, in particular, the divinity of Christ. A 2003 Harris poll found 90 percent believed in God and 80 percent believed in the resurrection of Jesus. To see how Hollywood reacts to that norm, the Parents Television Council, along with the National Religious Broadcasters, conducted a study of one year of prime-time television treatments of religion on the seven broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, WB and Pax — from September 2003 to September 2004.

"For an industry that claims to reflect reality, the results are not good. Religion is virtually ignored, and when covered, more often than not it's attacked.

"PTC analyst Caroline Eichenberg found that TV writers were kindest to private expressions of faith, with more than 50 percent of those lines or scenes positively treated. For a typical example, when the lead character of 'JAG' is hospitalized, another character prays for his health . . . .

"But when TV writers construct a plot with clergy or one discussing church institutions, the portrayals are more than twice as likely to be negative than positive. Indeed, only 11.7 percent of treatments of religious institutions or doctrines were positive. The clergy were depicted positively only 14.6 percent of the time. You don't get much more out of sync with American popular opinion than that." (Click here to read the full commentary.)

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/bb20041224.shtml

ILLUSTRATION: Misunderstanding

A truck driver had to deliver five hundred penguins to the state zoo. As he was driving through the desert, the truck breaks down. After waiting by the side of the road for about three hours, he waves another truck down and offers the driver $500 to take these penguins to the state zoo for him.

The next day the first truck driver arrives in town and sees the second truck driver crossing the road with 500 penguins walking in single file behind him.

The first truck driver jumps out of his truck and says, "What's going on?
I gave you $500 to take these penguins to the zoo!"

The second truck driver replies, "I did take them to the zoo. And I had enough money left over so now we're going to see a movie." (Pastor Tim's CleanLaugh List)

"If you've always done it that way before, maybe you've been doing it wrong." (Stan Toler)

This month's Leader Links features an article by Bill Hybels on "Building a Kingdom Dream Team," plus an article by Bob Buford on "Redefining What Makes You Get Up in the Morning," and much more. Leader Links is a monthly web-based publication for Christian leaders. Interested readers can also go to www.leaderlinks.com (or just click here) and subscribe to LeadingNow, a monthly e-mail newsletter featuring ideas and resources for Christian leaders. Leader Links is a publication of American Ministry Resources, which is the publisher of PreachingNow, Preaching magazine and preaching.com.

ILLUSTRATION: Law, Obedience, Pride

Here's an illustration from the movie "The Aviator," courtesy of MovieMinistry.com:

After months, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, Howard Hughes is about to climb aboard his experimental airplane and attempt to break the air speed record.

Hughes is getting ready to start the test, and one of his engineers is explaining the rules to him. The engineer tells Hughes that in order to decrease the weight, and allow the plane to fly faster; they have only put in enough fuel for Hughes to make two passes at the airfield. The flight must be carefully controlled, or the plane will run out of gas and Hughes will crash and possibly die.

Hughes appears to understand the instructions. He gets into the plane and the engines are fired up. He catapults into the sky and is immediately absorbed into the flight, exhilarated by the speed. He makes one pass, and then another — each pass faster than the previous pass. Instead of landing, however, he chooses to go for a third pass — and in doing so, breaks the air speed record. He also, of course, runs out of fuel, just as he was told he would, and has to ditch the plane in a beet field. Hughes is injured in the landing, and the plane is completely destroyed.

Application: "Rules are made to be broken" is a popular phrase in entrepreneurial cultures. We are constantly pressing at the limits, trying to do things faster and better than they were done before. There is, however, a difference between boundaries that are imposed by the limitations of imagination, and laws that are universal. It is unfortunate that some people believe that even these kinds of rules do not apply to them — that they are the exception.

Laws exist for a reason. Violation brings consequences. Hughes was not free to violate the law that says that without fuel you cannot fly — the first is a precondition of the second. Just as there are physical laws in the universe that cannot be violated without putting people in peril, there are moral laws in the universe as well. When people believe that their money, or fame, or pride places them above the need to obey moral law — and when a star-struck culture refuses to hold them accountable — that lawlessness will reign. But it cannot go on forever. Eventually the fuel — whatever is supporting the bad behavior — will run out, and the consequences of violating moral principles will send them crashing to the ground. (More illustrations from this and other films are available at www.MovieMinistry.com.)

Top 10 things not to say to a policeman

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer.

2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People?

4. Hey, you must've been doing about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job!

5. Are you Andy or Barney?

6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.

7. You're not going to check the trunk are you?

8. Hey, Officer! That's terrific. The last cop only gave me a warning too!

9. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

10. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That's how far ahead of me they are!

(from Pastor Tim at www.cybersalt.org)

And finally . . .

Maybe it would have been better if they hadn't found each other after all.

According to a Jan. 7 Reuters story, a British man has been sent to jail for three years for repeatedly stabbing a long-lost best friend he had traced via the popular "Friends Reunited" Web site. The 27-year-old man nearly killed his old friend when he stabbed him seven times in a drunken rage.

Fortunately, the man immediately became full of remorse, called an ambulance and his friend was rushed to a hospital. Doctors said it was a miracle he had survived a stab wound to the heart.

Amazingly enough, the victim says he still wants to be buddies. No word on whether one of those wounds was to his head.

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