I know. You want to say, "Hey. Wait just a minute! This is not a distinct style; it is simply a bad sermon from an unprepared preacher."

My gut reaction is the same. But consider this: not only are these sermons preached in thousands of pulpits every Sunday, but many pastors like preaching this way -- they intentionally plan on having no plan for their message. Still they face several challenges.

First, few of us have a thirty-minute stream of thought that is worthy of putting on paper, let alone show-placing in front of a congregation of spiritually hungry Christians.

I suppose a highly imaginative and entertaining speaker has the best chance of success with this style of preaching. Perhaps the sermon could mimic the modem comic's monologue -- one humorous story flows into the next, building and reinforcing a few general themes.

All of us would agree that a good, clean comic is great fun; we might even pay money to hear him. But comics plan their routines. They work hard on the jokes they tell. They know what stories they will share and in what order they will share them. Despite appearances, it really isn't a stream of consciousness at all. And if you wanted to learn something comics fall woefully short.

A second problem with stream of consciousness preaching is that it can lead to topics and statements that are wholly inappropriate.

Have you ever said something that you wished you could take back? All of us have. The potential for this happening in a Stream of Consciousness sermon is high. Since the speaker often has little clue ahead of time what thoughts the sermon will reflect, any direction is possible.

A colleague once preached about death the Sunday before Christmas. The sermon might have been OK if the topic were "Victory over Death," or "Christ born to die for us." But one of his friends had died the week before. And his heart felt futility, sprinkled with a dose of self-pity.

Remaining true to his Stream of Consciousness form, his Christmas sermon was an extension of his feelings. His topic? "Death: I will die, you will die, we all will die." Christmas is always a tough time for those who have lost loved ones. Perhaps, if he had offered some word of comfort, the sermon might have worked. But he simply shared "whatever was on his mind." His emotional state was a poor roadmap for a sermon.

A third difficulty with this type of sermon is that new themes are rare. All of us have favorite topics and issues. We have certain stories we use over and over because they received a good response the first time or we like the sound of the words.

Stream of Consciousness preachers rely on preexisting knowledge, not preparation. But without quality time in study they eventually have nothing new to say. There's one explanation for short terms of service at a church.

Some people claim the Holy Spirit guides them when they speak -- they don't need preparation or organization. I wonder if they relied on the Spirit to guide them when they took tests in college, or if they studied in advance. It seems to me that many prayers for Holy Spirit help in test taking come from unprepared students and not unfettered spirituality.