Top Highlights

• Those of us who have preached for a time realize that there are no real clear clues as to our effectiveness. If a number of persons respond to our preaching, we know that the seed was planted and watered by our predecessors. The preaching we do today may be just planting seeds that will be harvested after we are long gone. Neither popularity nor un...
• People develop ears for our preaching as we grow into a relationship with them as pastor, which is no measure really of the sermon but of a relationship.
• We need, therefore, to encourage each other because what we want to do and what we have to do—while they coincide sometimes, a lot of times—stand at some distance from each other, and the call to faithfulness is more painful than usual.
• It is prayer to God that authorizes our speaking about God. And I can tell when preachers are busy talking about God or whether they are persons who speak with God. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we’re just making speeches.
• The Bible takes listening very seriously. The Bible’s term for “listening” is translated most often as “obey.” But the Bible doesn’t know the difference between “listen” and “obey.”