Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I want to talk to you about preaching under pressure. In every life, some rain must fall. So it is with every ministry. For that matter, there will be times when the rains fall, the winds blow, and the floods rise. The pastor-teacher is foolish to think that you can make it through ministry preaching under blue skies of congregational peace. There will inevitably be times when you will have to preach under pressure. How do you faithfully preach...

A friend and I talked about a conference we both attended, during different years. I told him about the year I attended. Then he told me about the year he attended. As he listed the speakers he heard, I asked about a particular name. I knew of this man’s ministry but had never heard him speak.  I inquired, “Can he preach?” My friend answered affirmatively and emphatically. “He knows how to handle the text,” my friend expanded. “And you can tell he’s been with Jesus.” The conversation ended there, because I did not say anything else. I could not. I...

The Light of the World

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I talk about preaching and preachers with Steve N. Wagers (Twitter: @BishopWagers), who is the Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church near Louisville, Kentucky. Before leading the Calvary Baptist Church, Wagers served congregations in Virginia, Kentucky, and Florida - spanning some 25 years of pastoral ministry. Steve Wagers is a faithful, dynamic, and compelling preaching of the gospel. He also a prolific author, having written books of expositional messages on Jonah, Ecclesiastes, Joshua, Habakkuk, Esther, & Nehemiah. After he preached our...

  But he replied to one of them, "Friend I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me. Or do you begrudge me my generosity?" - Matthew 20:13-15   In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the Parable of the Landowner: A landowner went to the marketplace, cut a deal with some eager looking guys for a denarius, and put them to...

  Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better!  In this episode, I talk about how to preach through distractions. All kinds of distractions may arise as you preach the word. Sound issues, temperature extremes, crying babies, walking people, ringing cellphones, medical emergencies, intentional disruptions can happen during any sermon and distract away from the message. How do you preach through distractions that may arise as you preach? Ignore it. Remain calm. Practice "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23). Address the distraction directly. Ask for help. Use humor to ease...

The Salt of The Earth

  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15   I love the word of God. I love preaching and preachers. And I love the local church. For this reason, I launched the Cutting It Straight Expository Preaching Conference almost five years ago.The goal of Cutting It Straight was and is simple and straightforward:   To train, model, and promote biblical preaching and teaching.   Faithful churches start with faithful pulpits. To that end, this conference seeks to...

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode of the podcast, I want to talk to you about how to preach a better sermon next week. We have all had those weeks when we've prayed, "Lord, if you get me through this Sunday, I promise I will do better next week"? How do you keep that promise? Here are seven practical principles to help you preach better this week... Start earlier. Guard your study time. Focus. Strive for clarity. Talk it through with someone. Be content with a B-...

I met Dennis Jones some years ago, as we preached a citywide revival together. We enjoyed one another's company so much, we concluded that we must be cousins! And that is what we have called one another since then. Pastor Dennis Jones is a native of Louisiana. But for the past two decades (since 1998), he has led the Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He also leads the foreign missions work for the National Baptist Convention of America. Johns is passionate about gospel of Christ, biblical preaching, and the local church. And he is used of the Lord...

  For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. – Psalm 84:11 Psalm 84 is about the heart of a true worshiper. It reads like a Song of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). But it is actually a song of trust. It is a psalm of the Sons of Korah. But we do not know who wrote this psalm. And we do not know the occasion that moved the psalmist to write it. But the message of is clear: Nothing in the world can...

                Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. In this episode, I want to talk to you about five neglected tools for sermon preparation. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15 Every workman needs tools to accomplish his work, including preachers. Especially preachers. Books are a preacher's tools. Effective preaching requires specialized tools. But no preacher should neglect the most...