There has got to be some thought given so that what I am saying to the people today accurately reflects the dynamic of its original situation as well as the concept that comes out of it. That takes more thought than most of us have given it in the past. I think often, therefore, we fill people with guilt because they don't do what we say this text says we could do; we really say the text says this is what you must do. If you put a "Thus saith the Lord" by it, you have all kinds of power over people who take God seriously.

On another level just on application, I think it is a good thing for a pastor to make a grid of his congregation. Make the grid any way that you want it, but on the one side put down different age groupings in your church -- the boomers, the busters, the millennials. Then come across the other side and have single living with parents, married with no children, married and divorced. You can have a number of those grids. Then look at those grids and say, "If what I am saying today is God's truth, and I believe it is, how would it apply to a young person who is 18, living at home single? Does it have anything to say to the young woman who is out in the business world and living with a roommate?"

If I have that grid and when I look at those boxes, things will come to mind, and I will say, "Yeah, if that person was sitting in my office and they said to me, "How do you cope with a difficult roommate, or how do you handle frustration of having a boss that is always on your back?" Does this text have anything to say to that person? Sometimes you say, yes it does. So it enables you to think of your audience -- to take them more seriously because you can see individuals or groups of individuals more clearly.

Preaching: It seems like this area of application may be one of the greatest places where you need some sanctified imagination, mixed with a large dose of humility.

Robinson: That is the great advantage that a pastor has over someone like myself at a seminary. I am sometimes asked, "Who are the great preachers of our day?" and my wife says, "It is one less than you think." I really do believe the great preachers are pastors of congregations at Sixth and Main of some town that know the people. He takes the biblical text and relates it to those people's lives because he knows them and knows them well. So the pastoral side of ministry fuses relevant preaching that applies to life. In fact, often the big problem that kind of preacher has is he knows the people so well that if he applies this, Aunt Milly in the church will be absolutely sure he is talking about her. But someone said that the mark of a great sermon is that the person in the pew wonders how in the world the pastor knew that about me. So you learn a lot just by living among people and being perceptive. That is a great advantage when it comes to applying the truth.

Preaching: What are some of the best things that are happening in preaching today? What are some positive trends that you see?