“Preaching is a speaker-hearer relationship, and the preacher has to learn to give the hearer space to listen” (Motyer, Preaching? p. 11).
When Preaching to Humans, In Other Words
“In preaching to children, and to the great mass of adults, illustration is simply indispensable . . . The example of our Lord decides the whole question” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 216).
On Knowing Where You Have to Land
“The preacher, of all men, should study the common mind, and seek fully to understand, not only its forms of expression, but, what is still more important, its ways of thinking” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 210).
And Fat Targets Are Everywhere
“Though it be not true that ‘ridicule is the test of truth,’ it is certainly a very effective way of refuting pretentious falsehood” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 203).
Preaching in the Stratosphere
“The love of purely abstract reasoning leads many minds astray as to religious truth” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 195).
He Got to Meddling
“Men can be content to have other sins declaimed against, but if the minister puts his finger on the sore, and touches this sin, their hearts begin to burn in malice against him” (Watson, as quoted in Hughes, Expository Preaching With Word Pictures, p. 273).
Sermonic Sloth
“Sloth is as inexcusable in a minister as sleeping in a sentry” (Watson, as quoted in Hughes, Expository Preaching With Word Pictures, p. 252).
He At Least Knew
“Jesus professed to work miracles; he cannot by possibility have been deceived on the subject; and so, either he did work miracles, or he was a bad man. Against his character all the objections to miracles must shatter, like surf against the rock. And this is not arguing in a circle; not proving the miracles …
Hammer and Fire
“The Word preached is the engine God uses to effect repentance. It is compared to a hammer and to a fire (Jer. 23:29), the one to break, the other to melt the heart” (Watson, in Hughes, Expository Preaching With Word Pictures, p. 252).
For Is That Not My Brand?
My new goal is to think inside the box, which is increasingly hard these days. At the same time,because so many people are trying to think outside the box, I get a lot of time to myself. On top of that, I begin to suspect that those who have decided to think outside the box …