 |
|
|
I saw an ad for a movie called "Snakes on a Plane." I've got no need to go see it, because I've lived it -- except that the version I experienced would more properly be called "Snakes in a Church." I preach in a lot of churches, and so far I've never been to one where I stood up to preach and was handed a couple of rattlers -- though that would sure make for a lively homiletic adventure. As the old Ray Stephens' song put it, it wouldn't matter where the door was -- I'd just add a new one on my way out. However, the snakes I've encountered in church aren't the belly-on-the-floor slithering kind; they are the kind who walk on two feet but still manage to speak with forked tongues. Some of them can spit venom every bit as destructive as the most deadly cobra. It's the ones who smile and whisper ssssoft words to your face while they proceed to sink fangs into your back that make a lot of pastors consider going into the insurance business every Monday morning. Fortunately, for every "snake in a church" there are many more faithful followers who really do love the Lord. And best of all, we serve a Lord who can handle snakes on a plane, in a church, or anywhere else they might be. You and I just need to stay near Him, and let Him deal with the snakes. Michael
Duduit, Editor Click here to visit "I Was Just Thinking" (Michael’s blog) for insights and observations about faith and culture issues. Recent topics: The Lion in Winter; Happy Birthday Mark your calendar now for the third International Congress on Preaching, April 17-19, 2007, in Cambridge, England. For more information visit www.preaching.com/icop.
Let stories do their job In a recent issue of Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox newsletter, storyteller Steven James encourages preachers to "Trust the story to do its work. In nearly every book on public speaking and preaching I've read I see the same advice: 'Tell 'em what you're gonna say. Say it. Then tell 'em what you said.' "That might be a good way to teach someone how to bake a casserole, but it sure stinks when it comes to telling a good story. Maybe that's why Jesus never did it. Not once. Instead, he spoke in metaphor, story, and imagery that appealed to curiosity and imagination. He didn't preach three-point sermons, he preached one-point sermons -- and most of the time he didn't even tell people what that point was! "Jesus rarely explained his stories, in fact only once in Scripture are we told specifically why Jesus told a story (Luke 18:1), and only a couple of his story explanations appear. Jesus trusted his stories to do their work in the hearts of the people listening. This leads us to one of the great paradoxes of education: The more you explain a story the less impact it has. Think about it. Haven't you heard someone use a great illustration and then spend the next 30 minutes draining all of the impact out of it? We end up diminishing rather than expanding the impact of a story by explaining to people what we think it is supposed to mean." (Click here to read the full article.) http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=271&artid=9713&expand=1
Our creative source Paul Johnson is an outstanding historian and writer, and I found his new book Creators (HarperCollins) to be an enjoyable and intriguing read. A sequel to his earlier book Intellectuals, Creators is a study of men and women whose amazing originality helped shape the world of arts and letters in which we now live -- people like Chaucer and Shakespeare, J.S. Bach and T.S. Eliot, Mark Twain and Walt Disney. In addition to what we learn about the creative process, the reader also receives a fascinating journey through the lives of those whose work has influenced all of us. In his initial chapter on "The Anatomy of Creative Courage," Johnson talks about the importance of creativity, and its source: "Creativity, I believe, is inherent in all of us. We are the progeny of almighty God. God is defined in many ways: all-powerful, all-wise, and all-seeing; everlasting; the lawgiver; the ultimate source of love, beauty, justice and happiness. Most of all, he is the creator. He created the universe, and those who inhabit it; and, in creating us, he made us in his own image, so that his personality and capacities, however feebly, are reflected in our minds, bodies, and immortal spirits. So we are, by nature, creators as well. All of us can, and most of us do, create in one way or another. We are undoubtedly at our happiest when creating, however humbly and inconspicuously" (Click here to learn more about the book Creators.)
'Preaching Truth' conferences resume in September A new series of Preaching Truth in a Whatever World events are planned for Fall 2006. These one-day preaching conferences explore strategies for effective biblical preaching in a postmodern world. Led by Preaching editor Michael Duduit and a variety of guest speakers, these conferences offer a valuable time of insight and refreshment for those who proclaim the Word. Preaching Truth conferences will be held in the following cities: Shreveport,
LA -- Sept 14 For more information or to register, call (800) 288-9673, or visit the website at www.preaching.com/truth
Commandments for worship music Denver pastor Jim Shaddix -- who has spoken at several Preaching-sponsored events -- recently spoke to the LifeWay Worship Conference about "10 commandments" for creating a theology of music in worship. Among his commandments: •
Thou shalt worship God, not worship worship (Click here to read the full article.) http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23626
ILLUSTRATION: Sanctification, Transformation You might remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff. When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk -- you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice -- you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to my self, 'What a country!'" Smirnoff is joking but we make these assumptions about Christian Transformation -- that people change instantly at salvation. Some traditions call it repentance and renewal. Some call it Sanctification of the believer. Whatever you call it most traditions expect some quick fix to sin. According to this belief, when someone gives his or her life to Christ, there is an immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character. We go to church as if we are going to the grocery store: Powdered Christian. Just add water and disciples are born not made. Unfortunately, there is no such powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. They are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. A study has found that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith, rising to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults. Why? Because true-life change only begins at salvation, takes more than just time, is about training, trying, suffering, and even dying (eSermons.com; adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church).
ILLUSTRATION: Service, Commitment Fred Craddock tells this story about a wealthy man who "went to his priest with a check for fifty thousand dollars made out to the church. He handed the check to the priest and the priest looked at it. It was a lot of money! Then the priest handed it back and said, 'Go cash it in. Cash it in for quarters or dollar bills and spend fifty cents or a dollar at a time doing the Lord's work.' The man exclaimed, 'But that will take the rest of my life!' 'That's right!' answered the priest. 'That is the point!'"
ILLUSTRATION: Management, First Impressions A company, feeling it was time for a shake-up, hires a new CEO. This new boss is determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO notices a guy leaning on a wall. The room is full of workers and he thinks this is his chance to show everyone he means business! The CEO walks up to the guy and asks, "And how much money do you make a week?" Undaunted, the young fellow looks at him and replies, "I make $200.00 a week. Why?" The CEO then hands the guy $200 in cash and screams, "Here's a week's pay, now GET OUT and don't come back!" Feeling pretty good about his first firing, the CEO looks around the room and asks, "Does anyone want to tell me what that slacker did here?" With a sheepish grin, one of the other workers mutters, "He's the pizza delivery guy."
ILLUSTRATION: Cleverness, Crime When a man pulled two guns on convenience store clerk Wazir Jiwi and demanded money, Jiwi asked how much he wanted for one of the guns. He said $100, which Jiwi paid him. Then Jiwi offered to buy the second gun. The robber handed it over, grabbed the cash and headed for the exit. But Jiwi had pushed a button under the counter that automatically locked the door. "He turned to me and asked what was going on," Jiwi says. "I told him to bring the money back and I would let him go. He brought the money back, and I opened the door." (from Cybersalt Digest)
Books Worth a Look . . . We've just received several books with practical resources for planning worship events, including these: Reinventing Worship (Judson Press) by Brad Berglund includes a variety of prayers and resources that can be used in worship. The book also features a CD-ROM which contains the resources from the book along with more than 75 photographic images that can be used in worship settings. Abingdon Press has started a series called "Just in Time" offering brief, practical resources for worship. Two volumes in this series have just been released: Baptism Services, Services and Prayers by Kenneth H. Carter Jr. (with liturgies and sermon helps for baptism services) and Palm Sunday and Holy Week Services by Robin Knowles Wallace (with lectionary-based worship resources for Palm Sunday and Holy Week). (Click on the title of the book to go to an Amazon link for that title.)
"Experience comes from what we have done. Wisdom comes from what we have done badly." (Theodore Levitt)
ILLUSTRATION: Marriage, Sharing Several couples were attending a pre-birth class aimed at parents who had already had at least one child. The instructor raised the issue of breaking the news to the older child. It went like this: "Some parents," she said, "tell the older child, 'We love you so much we decided to bring another child into this family.' But think about that. Ladies, what if your husband came home one day and said, 'Honey, I love you so much I decided to bring home another wife.'" One of the women spoke up immediately. "Does she cook?" (Mikey's Funnies)
"All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed." (Sean O'Casey)
And the Witness Says ATTORNEY:
What is your date of birth? ATTORNEY:
What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? ATTORNEY:
Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep,
he doesn't know about it until the next morning? ATTORNEY:
The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he? ATTORNEY:
She had three children, right? ATTORNEY:
How was your first marriage terminated? ATTORNEY:
Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice
which I sent to your attorney? ATTORNEY:
Doctor, how many of your autopsies were performed on dead people?
ATTORNEY:
ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? ATTORNEY:
Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
And finally . . . Scrappy has got to start making better wardrobe choices. The 10-year-old bottlenose dolphin was spotted in Florida's Sarasota Bay this summer wearing some unlikely attire: a black, Speedo-brand man's bikini swimsuit. According to biologist Randall Wells (quoted in an August 17 Chicago Tribune story), "Somehow he got his head and torso through the waist and one of the leg holes of the suit, and it was hugging him right where his pectoral fins and body meet." Recognizing that the Speedo was cutting into Scrappy and could eventually sever arteries, a rescue team spent a day trying to corner the elusive creature. After capturing Scrappy, they removed the swimsuit, cleaned the wounds and gave him an antibiotic. They also attached a small radio tag, which allows scientists to track Scrappy. So far he shows no lingering ill effects from his wardrobe malfunction. "The lesson in all this is that Speedos can be a threat to more than just good taste," Wells said. So far no one has come forward to claim the Speedo. (Click here to read the full story.) http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0817Dolphin-ON.html
Not a current subscriber to Preaching magazine? Why not share PreachingNow with a friend? Missing
an issue of PreachingNow? Problems
with links? Received
this by mistake? |
|
PreachingNow
is a publication of Salem Publishing. Editor: Dr. Michael Duduit.
|