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Speaking recently to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Rupert Murdoch — founder and chairman of News Corporation, which includes Fox News — tried to explain the changing reality of communication in the brave new world in which we live: "What is happening right before us is, in short, a revolution in the way young people are accessing news. They don't want to rely on the morning paper for their up-to-date information. They don't want to rely on a godlike figure from above to tell them what's important. And to carry the religion analogy a bit further, they certainly don't want news presented as gospel. Instead, they want their news on demand, when it works for them. They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it. They want to question, to probe, to offer a different angle." If you've dealt with many urbanized young adults — imbued with a postmodern sensibility — then you've experienced that same attitude. It's not limited to their approach to news; it carries into many areas of their lives, including issues of faith and religious commitment. This reality is what's driving much of the debate within the contemporary church: how do you share an authoritative gospel in terms that can be grasped by people who don't recognize any authority beyond their own brains — if there? If you've been reading PreachingNow for awhile, you know that we frequently offer quotes and observations on this topic from a variety of perspectives within the church. Have you faced this trend in your own ministry? Do you have a story or example you can share, or some other thoughts on the topic? Pass them along to us at feedback@preaching.com, and we'll share some of them in an upcoming issue. Michael
Duduit, Editor If you missed this year's National Conference on Preaching, click here to learn about ordering audio cassettes and CDs of conference sessions and workshops. And mark your calendar for April 24-26, 2006 — the 16th annual National Conference on Preaching at Fellowship Church in suburban Dallas, where our theme will be "Preaching Creatively."
Fathers matter to God With Fathers Day on the way, we turn to a new book by Stephen James and David Thomas called Becoming a Dad (Relevant Books): "Fathers are important to God. The significance of the theme of fatherhood in Scripture cannot be overlooked. A common and pervasive expression of God's character in Scripture is that of Father. Many stories of God's faithfulness in Scripture hinge on God's paternal perspective. "Take a look at the first parents. If you read closely the account of Adam and Eve, you will notice that their encounter with God in the Garden did little to soften their hearts toward a deeper surrender to God. It is not until their children rebel, bleed, suffer, and die that Adam and Eve turn to God for help. It's not until Cain's rebellion that men begin to "call on the name of the Lord." Parenthood is expressly tied to holiness. And for us men, fatherhood is the door toward a return to our own hearts and God's heart. "Many of the stories throughout Scripture speak to the importance of fathers. There are only two sentences that describe Noah: the first as a righteous man, the second as a father (Gen. 6:9). Abraham's promise of being a great nation ("I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth" Gen. 13:16) was tied to his paternity; Abraham and Isaac's relationship was a cauldron for faith (Gen. 22). Wisdom Literature contains dozens of references to father/child relationships, and, when Satan attempted to drive job to despair, he killed his children. The Gospels, too, are rich with the significant role a father plays. Even Jesus' Messiahship was confirmed by His paternal line from the royal House of David. When Christ wanted to paint a picture of God's endless mercy and power to forgive, He told of a father and son's reunion (Prodigal Son)." (Click here to learn more about the book Becoming a Dad)
Writing sermons for the ear, not eye One of the challenges young preachers face, after many years of academic preparation, is the tendency to write sermons in a style similar to that demanded by the professor. In his book The Practice of Preaching (Abingdon), Paul Scott Wilson talks about this issue: After
often eighteen years of academic training for ministry, most of
it for the page, our theological writing tends not to imitate
speech; rather, our theological speech normally imitates writing.
Speech that imitates academic writing often sounds like a lecture,
or an essay being read. When using it, we will repeat the theological
language and jargon of articles we have read; we will probably
stay in our 'heads' and not move into our 'hearts'; and we will
keep experience at arm's length. Once we conceive of preaching
as an oral event, we begin to shift our ways of thinking. Instead
of composing with the eye for the page, we begin to compose with
the ear for oral delivery and aural reception, attentive to various
needs of the listeners." (Click
here to learn more about the book The Practice of Preaching)
Parables and postmoderns In his new book Preaching Parables to Postmoderns (Fortress), Brian C. Stiller observes, "The form of public speaking perfected in first-century Palestine by Jesus offers a way of speaking into the mind/heart of a person of the twenty-first century. Image-driven and story-taught, these current generations not only have enormous experience in operating within stories, they know how to exegete, making sense of what is said by way of image and metaphor, applying to life the lessons taught. "For all generations, the parabolic form has been a powerful tool in communicating the message of Jesus to any culture and people. Today it has increased suitability. The postmodern mind is remarkably open to this form of thinking about life. This, in the end, is biblical preaching, even if hearers may not think of it that way. The parabolic form is like a stealth bomber, sweeping undetected under the radar of postmodern angst, yet able to deliver that which is biblical and Christ-centered." (Click here to learn more about the book Preaching Parables to Postmoderns)
Mark your calendar Make
your plans now to be part of the 16th annual National Conference
on Preaching, April 24-26, 2006 at Fellowship Church in Grapevine,
Texas (suburban Dallas). Our theme will be "Preaching Creatively,"
and speakers will include some of the most creative preachers
in America. Plan now to be part of NCP 2006!
ILLUSTRATION: Haste, Schedules God's Word declares: "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." (Proverbs 19:2 NIV). The following news story serves as a tragic example: Anywhere else in the world, a train running 90 seconds late would perhaps be considered on time. But in Japan, 90 seconds would foil commuters who depend on trains connecting to one another with balletic precision, often with only a couple of minutes to spare. An investigation revealed that in an apparent attempt to make up for a lost 90 seconds, a 23-year-old train driver was speeding when his train jumped off the tracks at a curve in western Japan and hurtled into a nine-story apartment building on Monday morning, April 25, 2005. Four days later the death toll of the deadliest train accident in Japan in four decades stood at 106, Japanese news media reported. (Source: "Punctuality Takes its Toll" by Noramitsu Onishi in Lexington Herald-Leader, May 1, 2005; submitted by Neil Bennett)
ILLUSTRATION: Success, Age In
his Tuesday Mornings newsletter, Tom Barnard points out
that Christians everywhere have been blessed by reading the devotional
book, My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. It
consists of notes taken by his wife, Biddy, of her husband's lectures
and sermons during his years in ministry. Chambers was born in Scotland in 1874 and as a teenager became a Christian under the ministry of Charles Spurgeon. He was educated at London's Royal College of Art and the University of Edinburgh. He would have pursued a career as an artist, except that at the age of 22 he felt God was calling him to become a minister. After studying and later teaching in a small theological college in Dunoon, Chambers did itinerant Bible teaching and preaching, mostly in Britain. In 1908 he met and eventually married Gertrude ("Biddy") Hobbs. In 1911 they founded a small Bible college in London, but the school closed in 1915 due to World War I. Following the closing of the school, the YMCA commissioned Chambers to go to Zeitoun in Egypt, where as a chaplain he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops. Two years later Chambers died of complications following surgery to remove his appendix. He was 43 years of age. Longevity does not define a person's work. Neither does worldly success. Chamber's major work, My Utmost for His Highest, was first published in 1923, six years following his death. Millions of copies have been published in numerous languages since then. It has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935, and is still considered one of the best-loved devotional books of all time. Small beginnings . . . huge outcomes.
ILLUSTRATION: Fathers Current studies show the importance of a father's gentle strength in affirming his daughter's self-worth. A recent series of articles in the Wall Street Journal featured women writing about their fathers. A woman named Sylvia wrote to share her most treasured memory of her father, a moment that occurred forty-five years ago when she was eight years old. She'd fallen asleep on a family drive and woke up as her dad was carrying her into the house. In her semiconscious state, she felt totally loved and secure in her father's arms. What a perfect picture of meekness: a tired little girl being carried by her daddy. By contrast, a lack of tenderness from Dad can have devastating consequences. One woman wrote in to say, "My father was emotionally detached from me . . . He never told me I was pretty, so when the first knucklehead came along and said it, I jumped right in. I was promiscuous, which led to unwanted pregnancies." A father won my heart with the words he wrote about his daughter, "I feed her nutritiously, help her read, tuck her in every night and tell her she's perfect just the way God made her, with glasses and asthma." Blessed are the children of the meek, for they shall inherit a sense of well-being and security. (Vic Pentz, Sermon: "Quiet Strength," 2-15-04)
ILLUSTRATION: Father's Day According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 72 million children in the U.S. under the age of 18, and one-third of them live in a home without a biological father. Yet growing up with two biological parents is exceptionally important. According to a study of Lang and Zagorsky in the Journal of Human Resources (2001), children who grow up with both biological parents get better grades, complete an extra year of schooling (on average), are 10 percent more likely to graduate from high school, are more likely to get married, will probably earn more income and will accumulate more wealth over their lifetimes. Dads
make a difference.
ILLUSTRATION: Incarnation Bill Hinson became a Contributing Editor of Preaching magazine during his service as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston, TX, and worked with us until his death last December. Speaking at his funeral, Bill's former associate Stan Copeland shared this illustration: "I can hear him illustrate the incarnation again by using one of his favorite stories. He loved to tell about how Cathy once had a little puppy that would not go in the big doghouse Bill had built. They tried everything. Putting the puppy's food in the doghouse didn't work. Coaxing the puppy with a favorite toy didn't solve the problem. Nothing seemed to work — Bill was frustrated and Cathy was upset. He loved to tell about a short time later finding little Cathy and the puppy both asleep in the big doghouse. Can't you hear him say, 'Isn't that just like God who left his home and crawled down into ours with us so that we could have salvation and a Silent Night sleeping in heavenly peace.'"
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ILLUSTRATION: Trinity Augustine, while puzzling over the doctrine of the Trinity, was walking along the beach one day when he observed a young boy with a bucket, running back and forth to pour water into a little hole. Augustine asked, "What are you doing?" The boy replied, "I'm trying to put the ocean into this hole." That's when Augustine realized he had been trying to put an infinite God into his finite mind. (Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching)
ILLUSTRATION: WWJD, Cars Most people assume WWJD stands for "What would Jesus do?" But the initials really stand for "What would Jesus drive?" One theory is that Jesus would tool around in an old Plymouth because the Bible says, "God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden in a Fury." But in Psalm 83, the Almighty clearly owns a Pontiac and a Geo. The passage urges the Lord to "pursue your enemies with your Tempest and terrify them with your Storm." Perhaps God favors Dodge pickup trucks, because Moses' followers are warned not to go up a mountain "until the Ram's horn sounds a long blast." Some scholars insist that Jesus drove a Honda but didn't like to talk about it. As proof, they cite a verse in St. John's gospel where Christ tells the crowd, "For I did not speak of my own Accord . . . " Meanwhile, Moses rode an old British motorcycle, as evidenced by a Bible passage declaring that "the roar of Moses' Triumph is heard in the hills." Joshua drove a Triumph sports car with a hole in its muffler, "Joshua's Triumph was heard throughout the land." And, following the Master's lead, the Apostles car pooled in a Honda, "The Apostles were in one Accord." (from Cybersalt Digest)
"A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be." (Frank A. Clark) "A child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father." (Austin L. Sorenson)
Warning: Labels Attached Here are some of our favorite "warning labels" attached to real products: • Sign on the side of a massage chair: "Do not use massage chair without clothing." • "Do not use snow blower on the roof." • "Do not allow children to play in the dishwasher." • A warning on an electric router made for carpenters: "This product not intended for use as a dental drill." • On a baby stroller: "Remove child before folding." • On a bottle of prescription sleeping pills: "Warning: May cause drowsiness." • A sticker on a toilet at a public facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan: "Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking." • An "Aim-n-Flame" fireplace lighter cautions: "Do not use near fire, flame, or sparks." • On a cartridge for a laser printer: "Do not eat toner." • On a household iron warns: "Never iron clothes while they are being worn." • On a blanket from Taiwan: "Not to be used as protection from a tornado" • On a Taiwanese shampoo bottle: "Use repeatedly for severe damage" • On a hairdryer: "Do not use while sleeping" • On a bag of corn chips: "You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside." • On a bar of Dial soap: "Directions: Use like regular soap." • On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: "Product will be hot after heating" • On a Korean kitchen knife: Warning: Keep out of children" • On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights: "For indoor or outdoor use only" • On a Superman Halloween Costume: "This costume will not enable your children to fly" (from the Sermon Fodder list. To subscribe drop an email note to Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.)
And finally . . . A Durham, NC man has learned that it's best not to show up in court drunk — especially if you're facing charges relating to drunk driving. According to a June 6 Associated Press story, a 55-year-old man arrived in traffic court last week stumbling and smelling of alcohol. He was there to respond to allegations that he had failed to comply with penalties arising from a drunken driving case. So court officials performed a blood alcohol test on the man right there in the courthouse. He registered a concentration of 0.23 percent, nearly three times the state's impairment standard of 0.08 percent and more than double the 0.10 he registered at the time of his driving-while-impaired arrest. The District Court Judge promptly found him in contempt of court Friday and jailed him for three days.
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| PreachingNow is a publication of American Ministry
Resources. Editor: Dr. Michael Duduit. |