If you haven’t already, check out my wifes blog. We’ve got big news!

I’m trying to to hone the craft of preaching (I don’t usually call it preaching, usually I just refer to it as teaching or speaking, but in the end who really cares?). I’m trying to be very purposeful in my learning and development of this art form. As a general rule in the past I just spoke. I prepared and spoke. I thought very little about the way in which I spoke or the way in which I tried to approach the Scripture from which I was speaking. Pretty much I would try to figure out what the Bible was saying in that particular place and then I would attempt to communicate that idea to the group.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken multiple preaching classes in college. I’ve learned some of the “scholarly” stuff about speaking (not that I remember any of it!): different approaches, forms, theories, etc. I’ve spent time creating a well thought out Craddock-style “overhearing the gospel” sermon and all that. But it’s not me. Those kinds of sermons are polished. I don’t prefer Polish. Those kinds of sermons can seem showy. I don’t prefer show.
So now I’m wanting to grow up, to learn, to really develop a style or form or way to speak that is effective for me and for the community at large. Something that is effective and fits who I am and whom I want to communicate to.

Here’s what I see:
Some people when they speak read from the Text and give running commentary. They go verse by verse and give thoughts to go with it. At the end they then give the application.

Some people preach from illustrations. Though the message is directly connected to Scripture the way in which people understand the message is through the illustrations. Illustrations play the primary role in the message.

Some people kind of just talk. In the end you’re not sure about the direction that they took (i.e. you don’t remember any specific points or a flow) but you enjoyed what you heard and feel like you’ve left with something important. It’s more of a conversation (though you’re not actually talking on the other end).

Some people use humor.

Some people try to grab your emotions and tug at your heart strings.

Some people try to keep your attention through well crafted “tricks”. I don’t mean “tricks” in a bad way, but rather as a means to keep the lesson interesting or to make the final point more memorable. You make everyone think that you’re going one direction but then just when you’ve hooked ’em you switch it…something like that.

Some people preach straight from their powerpoint.

Some people jump around from verse to verse all over the Bible. It’s all on the same theme but it encompasses the whole gamut of Scripture.

I’ve tried to couch all these in positive light. I think whatever works works. These were all off the top of my head and in no way are considered a full list. My question is this, what do you enjoy listening to? What forms generally leave you wanting to change your lifestyle? What sermons/talks/lessons teach you the most about God, spirituality, etc? What types help you to have a greater understanding of the Word?

…in other words…what types of preaching do you prefer? Why?

Did you know I’m in the top 11% richest people in the world! Pretty sweet huh? It’s nice to know that I live like royalty while others only hope to sleep without rats eating at their feet. It gives me that good feeling inside to know that I throw away leftovers while others starve. My wife runs while listening to her ipod while others run for their life from persecution, evil regimes, and civil war. I don’t drive a car older than 2001 while others can only hope to have a pair of shoes that new.

And here’s what I’d like to propose. Here’s my solution. I’m going to feel very guilty about having so much and wanting so much more. I’m going to view the problem as something that is so huge and distant from me that I just might be able to let my conscience forget about it. I’m going to continue to let food mold in my cupboards and my fridge. I’m going to toss the freezer burnt stuff in our alternate chest freezer in my parents garage and maybe add some new stuff that I can throw away one year from now. I’m going to justify my actions through rationalization. And all the while I’m going to revel in the fact that I’m considered poverty level in our wonderful United States. Poor me. Poor poor me. I’m so dang poor. Please send me money so I can afford to pay my bills (which includes my cell phone, my high speed Internet, and my air conditioner).

I’m realizing that cynicism and sarcasm are good things to hide behind. That way I can make absolutely no changes in the way I live my life…maybe I’ll write an update blog once I’ve done some journaling and once my wife and I figure out how we can simplify even more…or maybe, in all honesty, I’ll just get caught up in life and forget to ever write or thing about this again. God knows. And I pray I do the former, not the latter.

Final addendum: After some quick thinking I’ve realized that I’ve written this blog before. That I’m guilty of the latter and not the former. May Johno’s words be true about me, I don’t ever want to be the person I was yesterday. May the cycle stop.

I’m at this odd juncture in my life.
In the past everything was so cut and dry. You were a youth minister and therefore had teenagers looking up to you. You had to act a certain way in order to fit the mold and also to fit the roll of a roll model. If you weren’t a youth minister you were a preacher. As a preacher you must fit into many molds, mainly you have to be an official adult. You can’t be quite as jokey (at least not in a way that all will see) you’ve got to carry yourself with some respect (unlike the youth minister), and all that jazz.
Me, I’m just a minister. Connections minister is what I might call myself, but who knows. Jess prefers Ass Pastor (a poor abbreviation of associate pastor). I’ve got no unspoken (or spoken) boundaries that our Christian culture has developed over time. Instead I’m issued the charge of living recklessly for Jesus, being myself, and loving people. Not so black and white really.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it. It’s liberating. It’s dangerous.
Point A.) Two blogs ago I wrote a post jokingly about sex and different pre-sexual acts. It was a funny blog and actually turned into a fairly valuable conversation about sex before marriage and all the artificial lines we draw connected to it. It was a funny blog, but it was a dangerous blog. If you don’t know me, or if you don’t have the same sense of humor as me, or if you don’t have the same world view as me, or if you don’t have the same theology as me, or if you have a different personality than me, or if or if or if. There are so many variables! The potential is there for severe offense to be made at my doing.
Point B.) I don’t generally care what people think too much. I mean that in a nice and positive way, not in a negative, I only think of myself, kind of way. I care about those I’m in contact with. I try to love thoroughly. But I always try to just be myself in as many areas as possible. I understand systems psychology. I understand that we act different in each and every different system because we play a different rolls in those systems. I understand that stuff enough to know it’s true. But I do pride myself on being a genuine person who is fairly consistent in nearly every situation. Concerning blogging, I like that my blog is a fairly healthy representation of what I am like if you hang out with me. I’m a bit random, a bit crass, a flawed follower of Christ, a church planter, a dad, husband, etc.
Point C.) I want people to read my blog. It’s on my business card. It’s on our website. I tell people about it. I’m proud of it (not of it’s quality, but of it’s minimal entertainment value). With all that said, does my roll as a minister preclude me from writing anything and everything on my blog? Thats what I’ve always done. I just write. Often, after finishing a blog, I find that I wish I had thought more before I made it public. But thats just me I guess…it’s me, but should it be? Do I need to start censuring myself for the sake of JC? It’s not that I say horribly crass things all the time, but if I’m planting a church and people look to me as their spiritual leader and they see that I’m writing about Southpark or dry humping will that cause more problems than it solves (and trust me, those two things do solve some problems in life)? Can I no longer have a blog that is straight up me? Do I need to change me?

I’m not looking for answers from you dearest blogmunity. I’m just doing what I always do: thinking out loud without too much forethought on the open and public World Wide Web.