The pastor left his sermon manuscript in the pulpit. When the janitor found it, he couldn’t resist the urge to read it. He was impressed, until he stumbled over a note in the margin: “Argument weak here. Start yelling!” Old story. Timeless truth: Passion is never a substitute for clarity. If you write yourself clear, you won’t have to yell to cover up a weak argument. I am a manuscript preacher who cheats. Most weeks, I write a complete manuscript. Most weeks, I do not carry anything to the pulpit but my Bible. I believe both practices sharpen the preacher...

"You have to do whatever the Lord says you have to do in order to preach that Bible." When I heard a friend say this in a conversation with a group of preachers, I laughed. He was asked his philosophy of sermon preparation. Specifically, they wanted to know what steps he takes to get from text to sermon. How long does it take him to prepare? Things like that. His answer: "You have to do whatever the Lord says to do in order to preach that Bible." I laughed. (Some things we laugh at because they are funny. Some things...

It was youth Sunday afternoon. I was hanging out on the church grounds with my dad, waiting for the youth musical to begin. A car pulled up and a woman got out and walked up to me and asked, “Are you ready?” She was the lady assigned to pick me up to preach the youth service at her church that afternoon. The service my father forgot to tell me about. As a boy preacher, just into his teens, this was an indescribable crisis. But I got through it. Barely. This early experience taught me to always be prepared to preach....

"You have to do whatever the Lord says you have to do in order to preach that Bible." When I heard a friend say this in a conversation with a group of preachers, I laughed. He was asked his philosophy of sermon preparation. Specifically, they wanted to know what steps he takes to get from text to sermon. How long does it take him to prepare? Things like that. His answer: "You have to do whatever the Lord says to do in order to preach that Bible." I laughed. (Some things we laugh at because they are funny. Some things...

I am way behind my in my sermon preparation for Sunday this week. I am really looking forward to preaching in the morning. But I have not really had the time or energy or focus to spend the time in the seat that I needed to this week. So I am in the seat today until I have finished preparing myself and my sermon for preaching. I am going to take a detour from my study of the Sermon on the Mount tomorrow. And I am planning to preach on Proverbs 3:5-6. This is one of those weeks when I...