“Ministers must use great wisdom and discretion in managing their public discourses . . . They must preach necessary and seasonable truths” (Foxcroft, The Gospel Ministry, p. 27).
You Have to Think About This One for a Minute
“Any preacher who does not fail, and fail dramatically and often, to communicate the good news is not communicating the good news that is Jesus Christ” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 53).
Working in a Thick Medium
“To be a biblical preacher is to relish the delight of working so thick, demanding, and resourceful a medium as Holy Scripture” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 49).
Despite the Threats
“As ministers then would deliver their own souls, and at last appear before the judgment seat of Christ pure from the blood of all men, they must warn every man, and teach every man without fear of undue censures or threatening dangers” (Foxcroft, The Gospel Ministry, p. 20).
Which Causes Trouble More Often Than You Might Think
“The biblical preacher attempts to talk like the Bible, in order that the congregation might inculcate a scriptural way of construing the world” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 47).
Diagnosis First
“Until men are convinced of sin, they will not be instructed in righteousness” (Foxcroft, The Gospel Ministry, p. 11).
The Devil’s Substitute for Love
“Too often, in too many congregations, unity is purchased by the world’s means — suppression of information, deceitful flattery, niceness, and subterfuge — rather than through the Christ-appointed means of speaking the truth in love” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 30).
The Applause Comes a Century Later
“In other words, The Holy Spirit produces uppity speech” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 27).
And Which People are Usually Unwilling to Hear
“Prophets are those who have unusual gifts for discernment into the purposes of God and who are unusually bold in bringing those purposes to speech” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 22)
What a Herald Does
“Without hearing that Word, preaching has nothing to say. Otherwise preaching is but a blasphemous attempt to speak in the place of God rather than to speak for God” (Willimon, Proclamation and Theology, p. 21).