The preacher was a well-respected pulpiteer. The sermon was doctrinally sound. He seemed to preach with sincerity, reverence, and passion. But the sermon felt like we were driving on a flat tire. What went wrong? At the end of the service, the friend sitting next to me leaned over a said, “He had four alliterated points with three sub-points each. I don’t care what you say, he had sixteen points!” Yep. That’s what went wrong. A good sermon has purpose, unity, and movement. Well-crafted structure makes this possible. But an overcooked structure messes up the whole meal. On the other...

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned his followers not to practice spiritual devotion with ulterior motives (Matthew 6:1-18). Do not give to the needy to be celebrated for your generosity. Do not pray to be heard by men. Do not fast so people will consider you spiritual. How do you avoid practicing Godward acts with man-centered motives? Jesus teaches that acts of devotion should be done in private, before God not man. Preachers also struggle with the temptation to make their charge from God a performance before men. But we cannot overcome this temptation by moving the pulpit...

  I publicly pray before I start my sermons. I also privately pray as I preach. Can you preach and pray at the same time? You better! Multiple things go through the preacher’s mind as he preaches. I’m not sure the preacher thinks about multiple things at the same time. Rather, the mind quickly and constantly shifts from one thing to another – consisting of good and bad thoughts, true and false, wise and foolish. This is why I pray as I preach. There are three fundamental things I need God to do for as I preach. I Need God...

This is episode #020 of the On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  This week's podcast is from an interview that I had with Dr. Maurice Watson who is both a friend and mentor. Maurice Watson is the former Pastor of Beulahland Bible Church in Macon and Warner Robbins, Georgia. Watson now serves as the Senior-Pastor of the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. I affectionately called Maurice Watson, "Mr. Preacher." He is a faithful, model preacher, who has been a pastor, mentor, and friend to me. The following is the audio from...

This is episode #019 of the On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Mac Brunson, a neighbor and friend some time ago and wanted to share it with you today. It was a pleasure to have Dr. Brunson as one of the speakers recently during Word Encounter 2015 at the Shiloh Church. Dr. Brunson is the Pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Jacksonville which is only a few blocks from the Shiloh Church Downtown. He is a faithful and powerful preacher of the word of God....

Reginald C. Payne is my oldest friend. We grew up in the same congregation. We basically started preaching together. We were ordained together. My father died as I was flying home to Los Angeles from Detroit. Reginald picked me up from the airport that day. We were roommates for several years. And we served together during the beginning of my first pastorate. Reginald was also my first preaching assistant. We called him "Ready Reggie." Twenty-two years ago, Reginald was called to pastor the Full Gospel Baptist Church in Los Angeles (not affiliation with denomination). Three years ago, he was also called...

This is episode #018 of The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my preaching heroes, Dr. Steven J. Lawson - a faithful preacher, seminary professor, and prolific author. Click here to see part 1 of the Steve Lawson Interview. Click here to see part 2 of the Steve Lawson Interview. I so enjoyed the conversation with Dr. Lawson about ministry and preaching, I thought I would share it with my podcast audience, as well. So this is part two audio from my interview with...

The following is a guest post by Dr. Melvin V. Wade Sr., who has served as the Senior-Pastor of the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, for forty years. Check out the Melvin W. Wade Sr. Interview: Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3. The grace-given task of proclaiming the riches of a kingdom that is sure to come is an arduous task. No matter what one’s preaching niche or mode of presentation might be, preaching the gospel is a strenuous assignment. It is a physical, mental, and emotional drain. So how does the preacher develop and maintain the...

This is episode #017 of The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better. I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my preaching heroes, Dr. Steven J. Lawson -  a faithful preacher, seminary professor, and prolific author. Click here to see part 1 of the Steve Lawson Interview.  Click here to see part 2 of the Steve Lawson Interview. I so enjoyed the conversation with Dr. Lawson about ministry and preaching, I thought I would share it with my podcast audience, as well. So this and the following episode will be the audio...

This is part 2 of my interview with Steven J. Lawson, President of One Passion Ministries and Executive Editor of Expositor magazine. Make sure you check out part 1 of my interview with Steve Lawson.  In the first part of our conversation, we talk about Dr. Lawson's background,conversion, education, formal training, and pastoral ministry. Much of this second part of our conversation is about sermon preparation and expository preaching. Steve Lawson is an exemplary preacher. He is faithful to the truth of the word of God. And he is faithful to the hard work of presenting God's word with accuracy, clarity, and boldness....

Steven J. Lawson is the President of One Passion Ministries. He is also a prolific author, seminary professor, and international conference speaker. Lawson is also the Executive Editor of the new preaching magazine, Expositor. I was introduced to Steve Lawson through one of his early books, When All Hell Breaks Loose. It is an exposition of Job. Afterward, I have made it my business to buy and read everything Lawson writes. NOTE: Do yourself a favor and get a copy of Lawson's new book, The Daring Mission of William Tyndale. After reading Lawson for years, I finally heard him preach. And I...

I am preaching through the book of Ephesians. This past week, however, I chose to pause my study until the new year and preach something that directly pointed to Christmas. Seeing it was the staff’s last week in the office before the holidays, I decided to pull of file and preach an old sermon. I landed on a Christmas message that I preached five years ago. It was a seven-page manuscript. At this point, I labor to keep my manuscripts between five to six full pages. So all I had to edit the sermon down one page, set it to...