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Expository Preaching Blog #51 – “Can You Trust the Preacher?”

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The direct answer is no you cannot trust any preacher. You can only trust God. You cannot trust the preacher just because he is the preacher. You must check to see if he is accurate. Accuracy is everything. If I find that a preacher is not accurate on one subject then I am naturally suspicious on other subjects. Let me illustrate. One on my pet peeves is when I hear a preacher say “We are adopted into the family of God.” Frankly nothing is further from the truth. I have devoted another blog post solely to this issue and to the statement “we were orphans.” Neither of these statements are in any way supported by Scripture. They are man-made ideas and man-made twists on verses in the Bible. They stem from things in modern western culture and not from the Biblical text. The words are used in the Biblical text but they are nothing like our modern understanding in our culture. Preachers need to be accurate about this and not spin or flippantly use Scripture to use phrases that seem to appe
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Expository Preaching Blog #50 – “Distractions to Expository Preaching”

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True Expository Preaching is very specific and very deliberate. It takes work, effort, concentration and a deliberate effort to be an expository preacher. Full expository preaching is very intentional. BUT there can also be distractions during an expository sermon that take away from the expositional nature of the sermon. Let me illustrate. We now have a visual content to sermons. This can be good and this can be bad. I have been using visual tools in my sermons for years. I started using PowerPoint in my sermons in my last ministry in Austin, MN from 2006-2012. Studies and statistics show that people remember 80 more when they see something and not just hear something. I believe that to be true. I remember much better what I see rather than just hearing it. I have been very careful how I used visual and video tools. I find that if done well they can be very helpful. I had some guidance early on that helped my fine tune what I did. There was a big push a few years back to use video
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Expository Preaching Blog #49 – “The Theme of the Book”

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Every book of the Bible has a theme. In expository preaching you must preach God’s Word as God wrote it. You must say what God wants to say not what you want to say. Therefore you must understand each book in its entirety first and what God is trying to say through that entire book. I have heard too many sermons lately where men are just pulling what they want out of a few verses in a book without considering at all the context of the paragraph, the context of the whole chapter and especially the content of the whole book. God did not write the Bible in a compilation of a lot of random thoughts. He wrote the books with a main thought or main theme for each book. Then each chapter builds or explains on that theme. And the verses in that chapter build or explain the thought of the whole chapter. If you don’t preach this way you are not preaching God’s word the way He intended it and you are usually therefore misinterpreting God Word and you are not saying what He said. You are only say
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Expository Preaching Blog #48 – “Holding Fast the Faithful Word” (BBC & CSU)

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On July 1, 2024 it was announced that Clarks Summit University in Clarks Summit, PA was permanently closing. This is was my alma mater. When I attended there from 1976-1981 it was known as Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania. The school began as Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, NY in 1932. It moved to the Clarks Summit campus in 1968. I loved the school and deeply appreciated the education I received there. My mother, my brother and both of my sisters attended and graduated from the school. I graduated from the local high school in Clarks Summit and then stayed on for my college years. I lived in the area for a total of 11 years until I moved to SE Pennsylvania to take my first church as a pastor. I am very sad to see it close. Faculty and staff have to find new employment elsewhere. Students have to find other colleges or universities to attend. Area businesses and local churches will be effected. It is not known what will become of the 35 acre campus. I met my wife Trici
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Expository Preaching Blog #47 – “God Doesn’t Clone, God Creates”

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No one understands the mind, heart and thinking of a pastor unless they are a pastor. It is a unique role and a unique position and responsibility. They have a different and distinct view of their church and their congregation that no one else has or can comprehend. A pastor is always thinking about his church and his congregation. As he prepares a sermon that is on his mind. But any honest pastor should realize that every member of his congregation is different. He should also honestly understand that he knows little about each member. He only knows what that member allows him to know. In this understanding he needs to stop and realize that God has never created two totally identical people. Everyone sitting in a service listening to him preach or teach is different from the person sitting next to them in the pew. God does not clone people, God creates people. Therefore one size does not fit all and your message is but one message for dozens or hundreds or thousands of people. How d
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Expository Preaching Blog #46 – “It’s What You Don’t Know!”

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How does a preacher/pastor choose what he is going to preach on, on any given Sunday? How does a preacher/teacher decide what he is going to preach or teach in any given service? I believe that the preacher tries to figure out what the needs are of his congregation. He tries to know what would be the most beneficial for his hears. He might try to determine what is most needed in society at that time. I would think that way when I was pastoring. I was never very successful at it. Frankly 99% of the time I never knew what my congregation really needed. I certainly did not know what individuals needed. Yes I knew the members of my church and they knew me. But I did not have a look into their day to day lives minute by minute. I would often learn later of things going on in their lives that I did not have a clue about. I know that now especially as one sitting in the pew. The preacher has no idea what is going on in my life day by day. It is impossible for him to know. It was impossible
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Expository Preaching Blog #45 – “Why I Believe It’s The Only Way”

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I know many do not agree with me on this but that is okay. I frankly like it when people disagree with me because it tells me that they are listening to what I say or they are reading what I write. Then we can have a healthy dialogue. I do believe the expository preaching is the only right preaching. Let me share why. I do not believe in adding to or taking away from God’s Word. It takes work. It takes effort. It takes time. BUT it is worth it in eternity. Only 1% or less of current preaching is true expository preaching. Now let me share my reasons why I believe this so strongly. #1. It preaches only God’s message. I believe that every word and every thought of the Bible is inspired and accurate. I believe it is trustworthy in every area in which it speaks. The Bible is different than every other book in the world. It is God’s Word. It was written by human authors but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Every word is God inspired and ultimately from Him. See II Peter 1:19-21
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