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Any time I include a comment or excerpt in PreachingNow that touches on plagiarism, I get lots of notes from pastors. (Click here to see last week's issue.) Some sincerely wonder where the lines are drawn -- what is "stealing" and what is honest research? Others bristle at the very concept of plagiarism, insisting that everything should be "fair game" and that there is nothing wrong with using someone else's sermon (even preaching the whole thing verbatim) if the original author doesn't care. Recognizing there are varying views on this issue, here's a brief summary of my position on pulpit plagiarism -- so if you write to take me to task, you'll at least know what I actually think! We all share ideas. I get ideas from others, and I hope they get some from me. There is no problem in using ideas and stories from one another. But if I'm drawing a significant amount of material from a book or sermon by another person, it's appropriate to briefly mention the source. How tough is it to say that a particular story was told by Chuck Swindoll or Max Lucado? (Some of our folks have read their books; they know our sources.) I edit a magazine about preaching, and we work hard to provide useful illustrations and ideas for preachers to use in their sermons. There's nothing wrong with that, and we don't expect you to "footnote" us in your sermons. (If you are then publishing the material, it is appropriate to credit any published sources you use.) Of course, if you are quoting someone, it's good to mention who you are quoting. The problem that is increasingly developing today is when a pastor copies or downloads the sermon of another person and preaches it as his own. Why is this a problem? 1. It is dishonest. It is presenting someone else's work as my own. If I did that in the business world or in higher education I'd be fired. Do we think preaching has less ethical demands than the secular world? Deception is deception, whatever the context. 2. It cheats the congregation of the anointed passion that comes from a God-called messenger working through the biblical text to uncover the truth God has for that congregation that day. Our congregations deserve better than generic, off-the-shelf sermons. 3. It cheats the preacher. When we simply take a shortcut and use someone else's sermons instead of doing the prayerful study to prepare our own messages, we shortchange our own process of growing as spiritual leaders. If we fail to let God grow us in this way, then down the road we will find ourselves wondering why we are so spiritually empty. If God called you to be an actor or performer, then people expect you to perform scripts written by others. But when a congregation hears a preacher stand before them to present a message from God, they expect that person to have prayed and studied and struggled through to find the message God has for them. And I believe that is what God calls us to do. Why would we settle for less? 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: Celebrities and charity; Responding to plagiarism questions
Writing for preaching requires different approach In a recent issue of the PreachingTodaySermons.com newsletter, Haddon Robinson writes: "While rules governing good writing also apply to the sermon manuscript, a sermon is not an essay on its hind legs because what you write serves only as a broad preparation for what you will actually say. Your manuscript is not your final product. Your sermon should not be read to a congregation. Reading usually kills a lively sense of communication. Neither should you try to memorize your manuscript. Not only does memorization place a hefty burden on you if you speak several times a week, but an audience senses when you are reading words off the wall of your mind. "Agonize with thought and words at your desk, and what you write will be internalized. Rehearse several times aloud without your manuscript. Make no conscious effort to recall your exact wording. Simply try to get your flow of thought clearly in mind. When you step into the pulpit, your written text will have done its work to shape your use of language. Much of your wording will come back to you as you preach, but not all. In the heat of your delivery, your sentence structure will change. New phrases will occur to you, and your speech will sparkle like spontaneous conversation. Your manuscript, therefore, contributes to the thought and wording of your sermon, but it does not determine it. "Writing a sermon differs from writing an essay or a book. Write as though you were talking with someone, and as in conversation, strive for immediate understanding. Authors know that their readers need not grasp an idea instantly. Readers can examine a page at leisure, reflect on what they have read, argue with the ideas, and move along at any rate they find comfortable. Should they stumble across an unfamiliar word, they can get up and consult a dictionary. If they lose a writer's path of thought, they can retrace it. In short, readers control the experience. "Listeners, on the other hand, cannot afford the luxury of leisurely reflection. They cannot go back to listen a second time. If they do not take in what is said as it is said, they will miss it completely. Should they take time out to review the speaker's argument, they will miss what the speaker is saying now. Listeners sit at the mercy of the preacher. Speakers, unlike writers, must make themselves understood instantly." (Click here to read the full article, adapted from Robinson's book Biblical Preaching. Click here to learn more about the book.) http://pttranscripts.stores.yahoo.net/dressofthought.html
Church is good for children A May 1 Baptist Press article reports that a new study says young children of churchgoing parents fare better behaviorally, emotionally and cognitively than do children of parents who never attend church. In fact, the more often the parents attend, the better off the kids are. The study by sociologist John P. Bartkowski and a team of researchers at Mississippi State University examined data from the nationwide Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which evaluated first-graders by interviewing parents and teachers. . . . Examining the ECLS data, Bartkowski and his team concluded it is "quite clear" that religious attendance impacts children positively. His research -- which claims to be a "first of its kind" study on the subject using "nationally representative data" -- will be published in the journal Social Science Research. "[R]eligion does seem to be good for young children," the study says. "The religious attendance of parents and a cohesive religious environment in the home yields significant benefits for children's behavioral, emotional, and cognitive development, and such outcomes are most pronounced when both partners attend services frequently." (Click here to read the full article.) http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25549
ILLUSTRATION: Priorities "It was a hot, 99-degree August day in San Antonio when a ten-month-old baby girl was accidentally locked in a parked car by her aunt. Frantically the mother and the aunt ran around the auto in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes hanger. The infant was bawling at the top of its lungs, beginning to turn purple and foam from the mouth, a combination of anxiety and the intense heat inside the car. "It had quickly become a life-and-death situation when Fred Arriola, a tow-truck driver, arrived on the scene. He grabbed a hammer from his truck and smashed the back window of the car to free the baby. Was he heralded a hero? Not so. According to an article in the San Antonio Tribune, he is quoted as saying, 'The lady was mad at me because I broke the window. I just thought, 'What's more important -- a baby or a window?'" (eSermons.com)
ILLUSTRATION: Mothers Day Mother's Day has a very special place in the hearts of the majority of people in America. Hallmark estimates that 150 million Mother's Day cards will be sent this year (but only 95 million Father's Day cards), making Mother's Day the third largest greeting card holiday of the year. U.S. Americans spend an average of $105 on Mother's Day gifts, $90 on Father's Day gifts. The phone rings more often on Mother's Day than Father's Day -- though Father's Day will have more collect calls. The busiest day of the year at car washes? The Saturday before Mother's Day. What mom thinks still matters. (Ray Ellis)
ILLUSTRATION: Work, Waste A passerby noticed a couple of city workers working along the city sidewalks. The man was quite impressed with their hard work, but he couldn't understand what they were doing. Finally, he approached the workers and asked, "I appreciate how hard you're both working, but what on earth are you doing? It seems that one of you digs a hole, and then the other guy immediately fills it back up again. One of the city workers explained, "The third guy who plants the trees is off sick today."
"Personally I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught." (Winston Churchill)
On the preacher's bookshelf . . . The master of great preaching stories, Max Lucado, will soon be back on the bestseller lists with his new book Every Day Deserves a Chance (Thomas Nelson). He challenges readers to make every day a "blue ribbon day," and seasons the book with lots of stories many of us will be borrowing for future sermons. (Remember, it's not plagiarism if you tell them where the story came from, and it also reminds your listeners that you read on occasion!) If you want a book with a bit more meat on its bones, then turn to Graeme Goldsworthy's new volume Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics (InterVarsity). This brilliant Australian scholar gives us a survey of the hermeneutical history of the church, then offers a solid model of evangelical biblical interpretation that finds its foundation in the gospel. This is a book well worth your time. Can contemporary leaders learn anything from the Apostle Paul? That's the issue taken up by Canadians Richard Ascough and Charles Cotton in their book Passionate Visionary (Hendrickson). Using various biblical texts to identify Pauline leadership principles, they argue that Paul is a model for transformative leadership. Finally, Steve Brown's books are always insightful, usually fun, and frequently provocative. (And I suspect he wouldn't have it any other way.) What Was I Thinking? (Howard Books) is subtitled "Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All." Read it and you may discover a few things you hadn't previously discovered. (Click on the title to learn more about the book or order from Amazon.)
When his car broke down on a rainy night, the driver started walking down the country road and he came upon a monastery and requested shelter there. Fortunately, he's just in time for dinner and was treated to the best fish and chips he had ever tasted. After dinner, he went into the kitchen to thank the chefs and was met by two of the Brothers. The first one said, "Hello, I am Brother Michael, and this is Brother Charles." "I'm very pleased to meet you," said the visitor. "I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful dinner. The fish and chips were the best I've ever had. Out of curiosity, who cooked what?" Brother Charles replied, "Well, I'm the fish friar." He turned to the other Brother and said, "Then you must be . . . ?" "Yes, I'm afraid I'm the chip monk."
"A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." (Tenneva Jordan)
Things Mom Would Never Say 1. "How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?" 2. "Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too." 3. "Just leave all the lights on . . . it makes the house look more cheery." 4. "Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week." 5. "Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day." 6. "Well, if Timmy's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me." 7. "The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here." 8. "I don't have a tissue with me . . . just use your sleeve." 9. "Don't bother wearing a jacket -- the wind-chill is bound to improve."
And finally . . . Accused of writing a threatening letter to a judge, Anthony Turner insisted in court that prosecutors never presented any evidence at trial that anyone saw him write the letter or that the handwriting was his. In fact, there was only one reason that a Wisconsin appeals court last week refused to overturn the man's conviction: his name and address were on the envelope. According to a May 2 AP story, in 2004 Turner was convicted of sending a letter to Waukesha County Circuit Judge James Kieffer telling him he was going to kill him, according to computerized court records and a criminal complaint. Kieffer had sentenced Turner to 15 years in prison a year earlier on assault-by-a-prisoner and reckless injury charges. After the letter to the judge, Turner had six more years added to his sentence. Turner filed to have the appeals court overturn his conviction for lack of evidence, but the court refused, saying the envelope containing the threatening letter was marked with Turner's name, inmate number and the address of his prison in Green Bay.
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