Good Preaching

Certain circles in which I meander have been talking a lot about preaching lately. You see, preaching is kind of important. Jesus did a whole lot of it. The guys in Acts did a whole lot of it. And commands all through the Bible to preach and proclaim and declare are quite plentiful.

Other circles in which I meander seem to think that preaching can get too offensive. Humility has come to mean being shy and not speaking up. Keep peace means not stepping on anyone's toes and not saying anything like we might have any sort of authority. We'd rather have a casual chat over coffee, or let our actions do the talking. But, I might suggest--starting first by looking at my own life--that the casual chats rarely seem to get around to God and if they do, they don't get much towards the truth, and the actions are often sketchy at best, hit or miss.

We need preaching and we need to hear the Word of God.

Part of the problem is preaching is a lost art. Most Christians don't know what they're missing. They don't know the difference between good and bad preaching, or maybe more specifically, inspired and uninspired preaching.

Dr. Erik Thoennes is one of the only chapel speakers I remember from my time at Taylor University. I remember him bringing me to tears a couple of times, stirring me, his words waking me up from a slumber. The truth he delivered tugged at my heart, trying to uncover it from all the crap it had been buried in over the years.

He came back to Taylor after I was gone, and I just finished listening to a 4 part series he did in 2008. They have done me quite well, again, each one choking me up a bit and leaving me emotional for a couple days after. I'm not exaggerating.

So do yourself a favor, carve out some time, and give them a listen:

1 - Depending on Christ
2 - Obeying Christ
3 - Proclaiming Christ
4 - Suffering like Christ