How not to preach boring sermons!
Stuart Olyott made the following points:
1) Reflect on when you last switched off
2) Learn communication skills
3) Be expository
4) Use stories
5) Ask questions
6) Keep eye contact
7) Use the spoken language (not the written language)
8) Take care of your voice
9) Remember that less means more
10) Be the slave of structure and logic
11) Be in the message
12) Assault the conscience
13) Conquer God before you start (in prayer)
The videos are linked here.
Your brain without Dad?
Read the rest of Al Mohler’s commentary here and the original Wall Street Journal article here. Does this have any implications for biblical counseling?
Pastors and suicide?
HICKORY, N.C. — What kind of personal pain would cause a 42-year-old pastor to abandon his family, his calling and even life itself? Members of a Baptist church here are asking that question after their pastor committed suicide in his parked car in September.
Those who counsel pastors say Christian culture, especially Southern evangelicalism, creates the perfect environment for depression. Pastors suffer in silence, unwilling or unable to seek help or even talk about it. Sometimes they leave the ministry. Occasionally the result is the unthinkable.
Read the rest here and ask yourself: “What can I do to help my Pastor?”
Why are we so angry?
Innovative diagnosis. Wrong prescription. Read whole article here.
Cure unhappiness – get alone!
I’m just back from Ontario, Canada, where I gave an address at Redeemer University on the Christian response to digital technology. I wish I’d had this Pascal quote (supplied by Justin Taylor) before I went:
I have often said that the soul cause of man’s unhappiness is that
he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.
Read the rest of the blog post and some helpful responses here.