What Happens After The Preacher Speaks?
By Bill Denton
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14, NASB95)
A few months ago I was invited to speak at a 20-something conference. I was driving north on interstate 95 listening to a CD when I heard something totally deflating if you're a preacher by trade: "Studies indicate that we forget 95 percent of what we hear within three days."
And that's if your sermon was good!
-- Mark Batterson, “Red Pill Preaching,” www.preachingtoday.com
Batterson goes on in his article to talk about communication, and the importance of saying old things in new ways to better communicate and thus help people remember more. That’s a goal to which every communicator can relate.
It does bring to mind a very real concern for every preacher. If people so quickly forget so much of what they hear, then why did God choose this medium by which to communicate such important truths? Sometimes, we get bogged down in wondering about all the imponderables and forget that whether or not we understand everything, we can understand some things. Let’s go for the understandable. Here are a couple of things you need to know.
Preachers stand in a long line of vital communicators. Though we hesitate to employ the word “prophet,” the truth is that the main job of prophets was not to foretell the future, it was to deliver God’s message to the people of their time. Preachers do that today. We deliver a message from God to people who need to hear what God says.
Don’t pick on your preacher too much. He doesn’t have to be the most eloquent fellow around. He doesn’t have to be the wittiest, or the smoothest. He doesn’t even have to be the most excited or animated person you know. He doesn’t even have to say what you like to hear or what you want to hear. He does have to be faithful to his job. He must tell you what God wants you to hear. That responsibility sometimes grates on both you and your preacher!
Sure, it helps if a preacher has developed an interesting delivery method. It helps if he’s got at least a vague handle on the language, and is able to illustrate and word things in ways that make the message of God memorable. But, you won’t find our modern concern with preaching methods, communication principles, etc., in the Bible. God leaves those up to us, I think. He’s much more focused on what he wants us to know.
Next time your preacher stands up you listen up. At the heart of all he’s doing there in the pulpit, is something vitally important to you. God has a message. The preacher is delivering it. What happens after that is your responsibility -- the biggest responsibility in preaching.
© Copyright 2006, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy. http://www.crossties.org
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Monday, January 30, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
CrossTies Devotional Article For January 8, 2006
The Fool’s Creed
By Bill Denton
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God . . . .” (Psalm 14:1, NASB95)
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said: "God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools, and he has not been disappointed. If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world."
Penny Brown Roberts, “Scalia: Faithful Live for Christ,” theadvocate.com
It seems that from whichever direction one chooses to consider things, somebody is a fool! The Psalmist declared that the fool has announced to himself, “There is no God.” On the other hand, the worldly view of the non-God crowd is that those who believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, are just a bunch of fools. See, somebody is a fool.
Consider for a moment the person who believes in God and Jesus. This person doesn’t come to believe in a vacuum. After all, he or she has had to deal with the biblical explanation of the Universe itself. They have been forced to confront the obvious about themselves: there is something terribly wrong with people, and it’s called sin. They have heard that there is good news proclaimed in the name of Jesus and it’s good because it has to do with the solution to our sin problem. They have it on the word of God that while life may bring sorrows and tragedies, and end in death, ultimately there is a resurrection to life and an eternal home in heaven. Foolishness, declares the non-God folks.
So what does the unbeliever have to offer us? Frankly, nothing. Any appeal to human wisdom immediately runs into the reality wall. Any appeal to technology, philosophy, or any number of promising areas of benefit to humankind fails to generate much hope. After all, the evidence in whatever area one might care to explore, reveals not just failure, but hopelessness.
Which fool’s creed is better? One that consistently produces hopelessness or one that consistently produces hope? In one sense, we get to choose what kind of foolishness we’ll believe, and what kind of fool we’ll be.
If the biblical message about Jesus isn’t true, if he didn’t take away our sins, if he didn’t rise from the dead and if he’s not coming back to gather us to our eternal reward, then it doesn’t matter what we choose. If it’s true, then it makes all the difference in the world. Perhaps this is one reason the Psalmist understood so well the root problem of the real fool. He is the one who declared God nonexistent. He says to himself that God isn’t true. But, God if God is true, then the real fool is the one who says he isn’t. I believe God is! I know. I’m a fool. What are you?
© Copyright 2006, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy. http://www.crossties.org
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By Bill Denton
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God . . . .” (Psalm 14:1, NASB95)
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said: "God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools, and he has not been disappointed. If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world."
Penny Brown Roberts, “Scalia: Faithful Live for Christ,” theadvocate.com
It seems that from whichever direction one chooses to consider things, somebody is a fool! The Psalmist declared that the fool has announced to himself, “There is no God.” On the other hand, the worldly view of the non-God crowd is that those who believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, are just a bunch of fools. See, somebody is a fool.
Consider for a moment the person who believes in God and Jesus. This person doesn’t come to believe in a vacuum. After all, he or she has had to deal with the biblical explanation of the Universe itself. They have been forced to confront the obvious about themselves: there is something terribly wrong with people, and it’s called sin. They have heard that there is good news proclaimed in the name of Jesus and it’s good because it has to do with the solution to our sin problem. They have it on the word of God that while life may bring sorrows and tragedies, and end in death, ultimately there is a resurrection to life and an eternal home in heaven. Foolishness, declares the non-God folks.
So what does the unbeliever have to offer us? Frankly, nothing. Any appeal to human wisdom immediately runs into the reality wall. Any appeal to technology, philosophy, or any number of promising areas of benefit to humankind fails to generate much hope. After all, the evidence in whatever area one might care to explore, reveals not just failure, but hopelessness.
Which fool’s creed is better? One that consistently produces hopelessness or one that consistently produces hope? In one sense, we get to choose what kind of foolishness we’ll believe, and what kind of fool we’ll be.
If the biblical message about Jesus isn’t true, if he didn’t take away our sins, if he didn’t rise from the dead and if he’s not coming back to gather us to our eternal reward, then it doesn’t matter what we choose. If it’s true, then it makes all the difference in the world. Perhaps this is one reason the Psalmist understood so well the root problem of the real fool. He is the one who declared God nonexistent. He says to himself that God isn’t true. But, God if God is true, then the real fool is the one who says he isn’t. I believe God is! I know. I’m a fool. What are you?
© Copyright 2006, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy. http://www.crossties.org
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Sunday, January 01, 2006
CrossTies Devotional Article For January 1, 2006
I Feel Like A New Man
By Bill Denton
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB95)
See each day as a chance for something new to happen, something you never experienced before. -- Sadie and Bessie Delany, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 2.
Watch what happens during the last week of one year and the first week of the new year. People start talking about making resolutions, others get out their “goal setting” lists, and a few dispense with the formalities and just set out to improve themselves. There is something about a New Year that triggers brain cells to gear up, make plans, and do better.
I’ve got nothing against this at all. In fact, I sometimes make New Year’s resolutions. Not that I’m necessarily any more successful at achieving them than the next fellow, it’s something I feel compelled to do. The New Year blows in with all sorts of promise and hope and opportunity. Why not take advantage of it?
Christians should be thoroughly immersed in “newness.” When we became a Christian, we put off the old man and put on the new one. For us, old things passed away and new things were ushered in. Our baptism brought is into a new life as we experienced the passing of the old one. We live in relationship with God through the new covenant based on Jesus Christ. We practice a new commandment as we love one another as Jesus loved us. We are the new Jerusalem, the bride made ready for her husband. A new song is on our lips. Even the future is painted with scenes of a new heaven and a new earth. We have been renewed by the Holy Spirit, whose work involves the renewing of our minds, and transforming us from a sin-stained wretch to saint. Even as our physical bodies are wearing out, the inner man is being renewed daily. That’s a lot of “new” going on!
The point is simply this: Every day you wake up, God is at work in your life to make possible new things. Some of these new things you’ve never experienced before. They are new in the sense of time. Others compare to things you’ve experienced many times before, but they are new in the sense that they are renewed, made better, improved, better equipped, or simply made possible. You don’t have to wait for the New Year to show up. This is all happening to you, for you, and in you every moment you experience life.
I suppose New Year resolutions and goals could fit into our effort to participate in all this newness. Surely, there is something about the season that encourages these things. What I want you to see, though, is that each day the Lord blesses you with 24-hours worth of new. Then it starts over again the next day. Someone was once having one of those superb days of good health and great blessing. He said to his friend, “I feel like a new man!” In the truest sense, that’s us.
© Copyright 2005, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy. http://www.crossties.org
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By Bill Denton
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB95)
See each day as a chance for something new to happen, something you never experienced before. -- Sadie and Bessie Delany, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 2.
Watch what happens during the last week of one year and the first week of the new year. People start talking about making resolutions, others get out their “goal setting” lists, and a few dispense with the formalities and just set out to improve themselves. There is something about a New Year that triggers brain cells to gear up, make plans, and do better.
I’ve got nothing against this at all. In fact, I sometimes make New Year’s resolutions. Not that I’m necessarily any more successful at achieving them than the next fellow, it’s something I feel compelled to do. The New Year blows in with all sorts of promise and hope and opportunity. Why not take advantage of it?
Christians should be thoroughly immersed in “newness.” When we became a Christian, we put off the old man and put on the new one. For us, old things passed away and new things were ushered in. Our baptism brought is into a new life as we experienced the passing of the old one. We live in relationship with God through the new covenant based on Jesus Christ. We practice a new commandment as we love one another as Jesus loved us. We are the new Jerusalem, the bride made ready for her husband. A new song is on our lips. Even the future is painted with scenes of a new heaven and a new earth. We have been renewed by the Holy Spirit, whose work involves the renewing of our minds, and transforming us from a sin-stained wretch to saint. Even as our physical bodies are wearing out, the inner man is being renewed daily. That’s a lot of “new” going on!
The point is simply this: Every day you wake up, God is at work in your life to make possible new things. Some of these new things you’ve never experienced before. They are new in the sense of time. Others compare to things you’ve experienced many times before, but they are new in the sense that they are renewed, made better, improved, better equipped, or simply made possible. You don’t have to wait for the New Year to show up. This is all happening to you, for you, and in you every moment you experience life.
I suppose New Year resolutions and goals could fit into our effort to participate in all this newness. Surely, there is something about the season that encourages these things. What I want you to see, though, is that each day the Lord blesses you with 24-hours worth of new. Then it starts over again the next day. Someone was once having one of those superb days of good health and great blessing. He said to his friend, “I feel like a new man!” In the truest sense, that’s us.
© Copyright 2005, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy. http://www.crossties.org
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