Stephen F. Olford: Expositor Of The Word
By Roger D. Willmore
Miss Victoria Kuhl, who served as Olford’s secretary for more than thirty years, made this observation: “I have seen him sick, I have seen him well; I have watched him laugh, I have seen him cry. In all the years I have known him he has never wavered in his character or in his commitment to the Lord. Ever and always there has been that eager pursuit after more holiness and conformity to Christ. You can’t be in his company long before you sense, ‘an other Presence’. Here is a man who never lost his glow of his first love for Christ. It is no wonder that the ‘shekinah’ shines through his face and comes through his message. He makes you want to stretch spiritually—and in every other way—and to emulate his example, even as he followed the Lord.”5 The secret to his power in the pulpit was his personal walk with Christ.
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In an article entitled, Why I believe in Expository Preaching, Stephen Olford observed, “St Augustine once wrote: ‘When the Scriptures speak, God speaks’. I believe that with all my heart. That is what makes me an expositor. What I, or any other human, has to say is quite secondary; it is what God says that matters. My task as a preacher, is ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’ (2 Tim. 2:15).”6
As we remember Stephen F. Olford, may we hear and heed his admonition to us: Preach the Word.
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Roger D. Willmore is Senior Pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville, AL, First vice-president, Alabama Baptist State Convention; and minister at large, Olford Ministries International.
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NOTES:
1. Stephen Olford, Preaching the Word of God (Encounter Ministries, Inc., Memphis, TN, 1984,1989) p. 32
2. Stephen and David Olford, Anointed Expository Preaching, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1998) p. 69
3. Roger Willmore, The Preacher (Institute for Biblical Preaching, Memphis, TN, 1993) p.16
4. Jeff Robinson, Baptist Press Online, Minister must meet spiritual needs not ‘felt’ needs, March 23, 2004, Nashville, TN)
5. John Phillips, Only One Life, (Neptune, NJ; Loizeaux 1995) p. 298
6. Stephen Olford, The Preacher, Institute For Biblical Preaching, Memphis, TN, 1987), p. 3