“Thus it happens that aspiring young minds, setting out in pursuit of originality, are sometimes led to seek it in affectations of style, rather than in genuine, clear thinking” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 133).
Shaking Us Loose
“We have no right to take for granted that commentaries and theologians are correct in their opinions; and in fact theological discord and conflicts, with all their evils, have this advantage, that they compel the most trusting and the most slothful of us somewhat to feel the necessity of thinking for ourselves” (Broadus, Preparation and …
Churn, Church Splits, and the Cross of Christ
A preacher’s task is to declare the cross of Christ in such as way as that it deals with sin. The death of Jesus was the place where God brought the issue of sin to closure. The death of Jesus in a sermon is intended to be the place where that same closure is brought …
The Bucket or the Well
“If one merely scrapes together thoughts around a subject, so as to make a sermon, then every sermon consumes part of his material, and leaves him poorer. But if he habitually penetrates into a subject and masters it, every sermon leaves him richer” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, pp. 125-126).
A Man Has Got to Know His Limitations
“He who would become really a man must abandon as early as possible the childish dream of reading everything. Except what is done for recreation — and excessive recreation is destruction — he must have a limited field of study, and must cultivate that field with the utmost possible thoroughness” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. …
Not Safe at All, Either Way
“Exegesis and Systematic Theology properly go hand in hand. Neither is complete, neither is really safe, without the other” (Broadus, p. 123).
No Substitute for Repeated Reading
“Young ministers, even graduates of colleges, are often found sadly deficient as to this general knowledge of the Bible” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 121).
Put It All to Use
“No kind of knowledge can be utterly useless to a preacher” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 120).
Filling the Storehouse
“It follows that, next to the cultivation of personal piety, there is nothing for which the preacher should so earnestly labor, from his first call to the close of his life, as the acquisition of abundant general materials for preaching” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p.119).
And Not By Dumbing Down
“Learning how to preach to children may make them better preachers in general” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 115).