Preaching advice for all my preaching buddies

Here are some great thoughts by mark Driscoll on how to work through a text for preparing and preaching:


I prayerfully choose a book of the Bible (and sometimes a thematic theological series) that bites me and plan on spending months, sometimes years, studying that book in preparation to preach it. A book like Genesis will take me over 1,000 hours of work to study, write commentary, and preach.

I continually pray for the Holy Spirit to teach me His Word as I am studying the Scripture. No amount of theological training can overcome the deficit of a preacher who is not led by the Holy Spirit to understand and proclaim the very words that He inspired.

As I study, I wrestle with tough texts as Jacob wrestled Jesus. I find that preaching tough texts such as gender roles, the flood, hell, etc., are much like driving a car into a steep curve. If you hit the brakes in fear you will lose control, but if you accelerate into the tough turns, gravity actually slingshots you through smoothly. In the pulpit, momentum and authority come through accelerating into tough texts in the study and then driving the church through them.

As I study Scripture I steep in the verses/phrases/words/pictures that bite like tea flavoring in hot water. Too often the principles of Scripture are preached when the images and word pictures are far more impacting and memorable. For this reason other movements have even adopted the biblical images so that a dove now represents peace, not the Holy Spirit, and a rainbow represents gay rights, not the Flood, by which God killed people for sin (including sexual sin). I find that sermons are memorable if the images in the Scriptures can be drilled into the imaginations of people. Perhaps the master at this was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who would not just describe a scene of Scripture, but actually put you in it through your imagination.

Only after I have spent considerable time in the naked text do I check my studies with trusted teachers to ensure that I have not come to heretical conclusions. I try not to pick up the commentaries until I have had many months in the Scripture I am preaching to ensure that I do not get lazy or simply rely on another man's walk with God. I will read it repeatedly in multiple translations, and read every decent commentary from every theological persuasion I can find to examine the book from every angle.

I live what I learn, teach it to my family, and spend a lot of time repenting of sin and seeking to obey God's Word by the grace He provides. Much of my sermon is simply explaining what the Scripture says, how that has changed my life, and how that is transforming my family and those people with whom I live in community. In this way I hope to demonstrate to my church what it means to come under Scripture; by talking about my own sins and flaws, they see me struggling through Scripture and not just preaching my tidy answers at the end of my studies. Because of this my sermons are long, anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half.

I find myself continually coming back to five questions that shape every one my sermons:

What does Scripture say?To answer this we need to check translations, do our word studies, and find out exactly what words best convey the meaning of Scripture.

What does Scripture mean?Here we need to interpret what is said, which requires commentaries, cultural background studies, etc. At this phase John Glynn's Commentary and Reference Survey is a must-have for every preacher and teacher as he rates all of the best commentaries and other reference material on various books of the Bible and theological topics.

Why do we resist this truth?Here we are assuming that people will not simply embrace God's truth but fight it with their thoughts and/or actions because they are sinners who, like Romans 1:18 says, suppress the truth. So, we attempt to predict their objections and resistance so that we can answer them and remove their resistance to get them to embrace God's truth for their life. This part of the sermon must be confrontational and often ends up in people walking out, standing up to argue, and sending nasty emails, all of which indicates you've hit a nerve like God wants you to. The real fight begins at this point and a preacher needs to come with his hands up looking for an opening much like a boxer.

Why does this matter?We need to connect all that we have said to a missional purpose for our lives, families, church, and ultimately God's glory. Something may be true but if people do not find it to also be important they tend not to act on it. On this point I like to connect Scripture a lot to the character of God, nature of the gospel, our mission in our city, and the quality of our lives both individually and collectively as a city of God within our city.

How is Jesus the hero?The Bible is one story in which Jesus is the hero. Therefore, to properly teach/preach the Bible we have to continually lift Him up as the hero and any sermon in which the focus is not on the person and work of Jesus will lack spiritual authority and power because the Holy Spirit will not bless the teaching of any hero other than Jesus.

Normalization

So I was watching some hack journalism show the other night (20/20 or Primetime, i can't remember), and the whole show was designated to "Outsiders"--people who live outside the bounds of the normal, every day folk. They have been doing this special on "Outsiders" for about a month and they have covered several different groups of people such as the Amish community, people who belong to the Children of God (a sexual cult), people who live with wild animals. In each of these shows these different groups have truly been seen as outsiders. This last week they featured moms who strip for a leaving, and couples who swing. Now i don't know if it is because my ears go to attention when these types of moral/ immoral topics are discussed, but i found each feature normalizing. It was made to appear that this things were no big deal. The interviewers asked the common questions, but there were no hard hitting questions or even the same intensity used as in the other interviews. Maybe it was just me, i don't know. Whatever the case, these moral questions are being discussed in the media marketplace and there is only one side being voiced--those who are participating in the immoral behavior. What say you?

Cultural Critique

Here is a great cultural critique by my good buddy m. woodside (he sometimes asks me for advice!!!). Go here to read it: http://mwoodside.blogspot.com

Wasteland

"The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is not inadequate technique, insufficient organization, or antiquated music, and those who want to squander the church's resources bandaging these scratches will do nothing to stanch the flow of blood that is spilling from its true wounds. The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, his grace is too ordinary, his judgment too benign, his gospel too easy, and his Christ too common." David Wells, God in the Wasteland, p. 30

The need for me to be a man

I just finished reading the book of Matthew last week and I came across a passage that I have been stewing over. Matthew 16 recounts for us the conversation of the apostles and Jesus as they are traveling. The apostles notice that they do not have any bread for supper, and they very worriedly tell Jesus this. Jesus tells them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The apostles are confused-do they sell out of date leaven? Jesus was referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees teachings, not their bread. Here is the deal--we should be more concerned about living out theology, doctrine, and the teachings of Christ than where the money for our next value meal is coming from. We should also be more concerned about protecting our families and church from false doctrines. Jesus had previously proven himself as the provider for physical needs (see chapter 15-16). We should trust him to do so for us, while being aggressively engaged in expanding our minds and deepening our lives with his word.

As a husband, and future father, the responsibility falls on me to lead my family to live this way. Men in our society are far too concerned with salaries, boats, trucks, real estate, etc. I want to be the man who can discern between good leaven and bad leaven.

the beauty of weeping

This past week has been very tough for a few of my close friends. When they hurt, I hurt. An car accident took the life of a friend's daughter, and this reached to the depths of the souls of many of my good friends. Words don't help much in these situations, but my friend who preached the funeral did an excellent job and i just want to share a few comments on what he said about the death of a saint.
First, He spoke from the passage Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one His saints." Scott simply told us that weeping is an appropriate and biblical response at this time because not only does it honor the life of the one lost, but also glorifies God. There would not be much crying over the death of someone who was not honorable. That is why there is a ton of crying at a soldier's funeral. Also, we see Jesus give us the example of crying over a lost loved one. We cry because a life well lived has left the earth. A life that reflected the image of God departed. That calls for tears. These thoughts brought me comfort and i hope you can find comfort in knowing that it is right, biblical, and godly to cry your brains out at times.

Banners and what not

Here is a passage from a book i am currently reading that rocked my world:

"'His (Christ) banner over me is love.'" The banner is an emblem of safety and protection--a sign of the presence of a host...Christ has a banner for his saints; and that is love. All their protection is from his love; and they shall have all the protection his love can give them. This safeguards them from hell, death--all their enemies. Whatever presses on them, it must pass through the banner of the love of the Lord Jesus." John Owen, Communion with God.

Can i get a witness?

Da Vinci Code

So my wife and I (actually, just me, i dragged my wife along) went to see the most talked about movie of the year, until next week when another random movie comes out. I wanted to find out what all the frenzy was about. And so i did. What was the frenzy all about, you ask? Well, it seems that the movie has received lots of press because of an attack on historic Christianity, more specifically the deity of Christ. What should the response be of an evangelical Christian? Laughter first of all. Laughter because there is not going to be one credible historian who will back these "facts" regarding Jesus, Mary Magdelene, and secret societies. Secondly, i am concerned. I am concernced because we live in a society that believes anything that is written down on paper and claimed as fact. This movie will move self-absorbed people deeper into their self-absorbed, self-centered worldview. Gnosticism and mysticism will flourish because you are your own guide in those philosophies, no Lord, no one to answer to but yourself.
As far as a movie goes, it was exciting, entertaining, and fiction. Here is a discussion question posed by Al Mohler that i am interested in receiving comments about: Should Jesus even be a subject of fictional stories?

Why do we trust the loofah?

As i was in the shower the other day, i had this thought (who doesn't have their greatest thoughts in the bathroom?)--why do we trust the loofah? Why do we think that the loofah does not ever get dirty? If it were simply a washcloth we were using we would trade it in for a clean one after each use. But this is not so with the loofah. So have i missed something? Am i not thinking straight about the loofah? I understand that you put soap on it to clean your body and therefore should stay clean, but this same reasoning does not hold true for towels does it? any comments or conspiracy theories would be much appreciated.

I wasted $8

How, you might be asking, did I waste $8. I went to the movies and watched The Sentinel. The movie stars Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Douglas, and some girl from Dsprt Housewives (that was my first clue that this movie was headed south). It was your typical government conspiracy, assassination attempt on the president. It was very mediocre, with no engaging highs or lows. The worst of it is this--the movie tries to make you respect and feel for one of the characters that does not deserve it. He ends up being a good guy, when in reality he is very bad, but just not as bad as the really bad guys. I am asking you if you can think of any more movies that do this. This seems to be a trend of recent, or maybe i am just now picking up on it. What do you think?

New posts are coming soon!

I Promise!

scripture memory, prayer, and grasshoppers

I am going to say one of those things that most evangelicals agree with, but rarely put into practice: scripture memory aids prayer.

Who will not agree that memorizing scripture is important? And who doesn't offer up prayers? I have noticed that a lot of prayers that are recorded for us in the Bible quote other passages of scripture. So this should tell us something about how we should pray. We should fill our prayers with scripture. This accomplishes several things. First it makes our prayers scriptural! Have you ever been frustrated with not being sure if you are praying the right thing? Pray scripture--you can't go wrong (keeping in mind contextual analysis). Praying scripture also elevates your view of God. What you will find out is that most of scripture speaks things and truths about God and not necessarily about you and me. So when you use scripture in your prayer, more times than not your prayers become God glorifying. When you get a better picture of who God is, by default we also get a clearer picture of ourselves.

For the past several weeks i have been working on Is. 40:12-end of chapter. It has been really good for my soul to see this hyper exalted view of God from this text. And just today i got a clearer picture of God and myself from verse 22. It says this--"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." My view of God has been shaded with a new brilliant color because of this text. It was effortless for him to spread out the heavens. He did it with ease--just as easy as we toss a sheet in the air to spread it out! So God becomes bigger to me, and i also get a right view of myself--i am a grasshopper!

A world-view lesson from phonics

I work in a school. However, i am not skilled in educational techniques, strategies, or methods. So i have been doing some study and research on my school's philosophy of education and the methods they employ. One method is the regimented use of phonics in order to learn reading. Phonics is a demanding and successful method that uses memorization of letters, sounds, and special sounds. Once the student has mastered the sounds, they can begin to sound out words and read. So basically, it works from the piece to the whole, from the letter to the word. However, phonics is not always the recommended technique, especially in public education. A different approach called whole language is sometimes employed. Whole language seeks to do just the opposite of phonics. It teaches the student memorize the shape of a word and then works down to the sound of the letter. So basically, the student memorizes word shapes, but may not be able to actually read the words.

I am going somewhere with this. What is a worldview? A worldview is what we believe to be wrong with the world, and what we believe the solution is. How we act, talk, vote, educate, spend our money is all based on our worldview. The Christian should have a phonic-like worldview. The very beginning place for the Christian is God Himself and God is the redemptive solution for the marring of the world. Everything revolves around Him and what He says. Everything in our life finds its base and outworkings in His word. It starts with Him, and works itself outward into how we think, act, and live. However, I have noticed (and been guilty of) that most Christians do just the opposite. They pay no attention to what they say is the center of their life. Instead, they just act, spend, talk, and live as it seems most advantagous to their own self. They make decisions, not based on God's word, but rather based on emotion, greed, profit, status, etc. In the end they may discover that God is truly not the center of their life and thereby are spiritually illiterate. May God grace us with the knowledge and ability to anchor our whole lives in Him.

WD-40 please

I just started working out again this week. I have not done anything of this sort in about 5 months so i have to go through the excruciating pain of being sore for about 3 days. If only they made WD-40 for joints.

But as i go about living a healthy lifestyle i am reminded that the upkeep of the body is not near as important as the upkeep and maintanence of the soul. So my question for myself is, "Do you Clif, care for your spiritual health as much as you take time to invest in lifting weights?" Now the obvious solution to this would be to stop lifting, right? If i stop caring for the body, then it wouldn't take much to outdo that measure for the soul. But that will do me no good spiritually or physically. So i must resolve to pray for a ferocious appetite that can only be satisfied with deep communion with God. And i guess my physical soreness can parallel to the pain it sometimes is in getting started in different disciplines. But it is only a preliminary stage until you begin to receive the fruit of your efforts--the fruit being more of a love for God.

It still wouldn't hurt to have a little WD-40 though.

Tozer Tuesday

"Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of securuty that comes from knowing what God is like, and what He is like is of course a composite of all the religious pictures we have seen, all the best people we have known or heard about, and all the sublime ideas we have entertained...If what we conceive God to be He is not, how then shall we think of Him?...The answer of the Bible is simply 'through Jesus Christ our Lord." Knowledge of the Holy.

Oh the beauties of dwelling on the Messiah. When we dwell on Him, we dwell on God.

Wife's are good

The last week has been a long week for me. I was without my wife for about 5 days and i felt as lost as (insert funny metaphor). She had precooked meals for me and told me where they were in the fridge and what containers held what so i would not microwave the cole slaw. Yet, with all the instructions, I still felt lost, not knowing what to do. It has been a long time since i was a bachelor, and i have never lived alone, so this was foreign territory for me. I stayed up late watching stupid programs until i fell asleep and then i went to the bed only to put on my ipod until i really fell asleep. I don't like going to bed alone. To be honest, it is scary: the noises, the creaks, the shadows. How do you single people do it? So needless to say (but i will say it anyway), I was overjoyed when my wife made her arrival a few days ago. Now all is right in the world again. I love her.

Tuesday's with Tozer

"All the problems of heaven adn earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him. The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled upon another...The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them." Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer

New Book!

This is the latest book I have spent my money on and actually enjoyed reading. Ryken is pastor of a presy church that James Boice pastored(http://www.tenth.org). The content is meditations and talks Ryken gave to his church on Sunday nights. The book reminds of Piper's Godward Life series. If you are looking for a book that will help you think through your faith and how it applies to the everyday marketplace, this is a good one. Ryken says that he talks about everything because theology is about everything since it is about God. Hope you enjoy.

Valentine's Day emergency help

I have found the aid all men are looking for right now. Follow the link to blissfulness

http://evangelicaloutpost.com

Revival and success

So i just got back from preaching a revival this week and many people have asked me, "How did it go?" I know the question is asked with the purest of intentions and interest, but how do you respond to that? No one was converted that i know of; there was no move of mass repentance; in fact, there was barely any movement at all! But does that mean the revival was unsuccessful? I don't think so (and i say that not just for my own sake and pride). So what are some responses that you would give?