What is good preaching? – part 2

It has been a while since I have updated this blog.  I have no particular reason for the hiatus, other than I stopped blogging.  However, I am committing to blogging again, so I need to finish what I started in discussing good preaching.  In the last entry, I talked about being led by the Spirit.  Preaching without the Spirit is not preaching, it is rhetoric or oration, but not preaching.  I believe the Apostle Paul agrees with me here, listen to what he said to the Corinthian church:

1 Corinthians 2:3-5 (NASB95)
“I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Another essential element to good preaching is the Bible, meaning that preaching must be biblical to be good preaching. This would seen obvious, but much of the church’s preaching today is devoid of a primary biblical focus.  We hear sermons that are grounded in philosophy, self-help, and pyscology but not Holy Scripture.  In themselves all these disciplines can be useful to preaching as tools, but they are never to be the focus of preaching.  Scripture must always be the focus of preaching.  Why?  I believe this is so because the Holy Scriptures are God’s words, and God’s words bring life.  I also believe that good preaching must be biblical because the Holy Scripture is the only reliable source of absolute truth.

What is good preaching? – part 1

One of the books I have been reading and throughly enjoying is D. Martyn Lloyd Jones classic Preaching and Preachers.  More than just a 10-step process of developing a sermon, this book is a combination of lectures on the hows and whys of preaching.  When I read it, I feel like I am having a conversation with an experienced preacher about the ministry ahead.  It is a great read!

One of the underlying themes of this book is the definition of good preaching, or more aptly put, the definition of biblical preaching.  I remember before I was called to ministry, I would hear a sermon and say, “That was a good sermon!” or “Rev. did a good job.”  After being called and having the privilege of preaching, I began to wonder, what is a good sermon?  I asked myself this question because there are varying definitions to good preaching.  In this book, Dr. Lloyd-Jones covers some of what I would call essentials to preach good sermons.  One that I will mention, which to me is primary, is being totally submitted to the Holy Spirit in the act of preaching.  The Holy Spirit has the ministry of guiding believers (preachers and teachers included) in all matters of truth.  Since sermons are to be based on the eternal truth of God’s word (another essential of biblical preaching), preachers NEED to have the Spirit lead in presentation of that truth.  The preacher who is not fully submitted to the Spirit in the preaching act is not preaching a good sermon, even if a host of other elements are present.  This is my opinion, you may agree or disagree.

Discerning God’s Will

God, am I doing what you want me to do? That is the question I have been asking the Lord the past few days. I have felt for a long time (6 years to be exact), that God has called me to church planting. The idea was birthed in my heart in 2002 on a military deployment. I prayed to God and asked him to help me by sending me to a place where I could learn church planting. When I returned from deployment, my family and I joined Mountain View Community Church (a 7 year old church at the time led by its founding pastor). I served there 4 years. In 2005, my family and I became core members of Diamond Valley Community Church (a daughter church of Mountain View Community Church). We served there for 2 years in key positions. I loved both churches and felt that God was preparing me for church planting along the way.

Now I am unsure. I have been asking God if church planting is my assignment, or did I misread Him. My uncertainty has been brought on by conversations with family members that I love and respect. In the face of this uncertainty, I have decided to ask God for confirmation of His will. At my best, I can be stubborn and single-minded. I want to know that I am following Him and not my perception of what I think He wants.

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17 (NASB95)

Spiritual Encounter with lasting effects?

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Spiritual Encounter 2008 at New Light Christian Center Church in Houston, Texas. It was a blessing to see the thousands of teenagers from all parts of the country decend upon that place. I was chaperoning my own group of teenagers (I am a Student Ministries Pastor) to the event. During the two nights that we went, I often found myself wondering what kind of impact would a huge event like this have on the thousands of teenagers after the event. To be honest, I was very skeptical of any lasting spiritual impact. I know that many experienced the presence of God. I know that many enjoyed the contemporary music (Christian rap and modern praise). I did not know that things would be truly different in their lives on Monday.

I was surprised that, at least among my group of teenagers, they really had a new zeal to serve God. A few talked about how awesome the experience was. More important, a few volunteered to help plan activities to reach their friends during our up and coming Youth Month. To God be the glory that my skepticism was proved wrong among a few. I hope many youth workers and pastors around the country are experiencing the same thing.